Chapter 26
Friday late afternoon
JP parked a half block down from the corner and waited, watching the street come alive.
Kids walked by in groups, backpacks slung low, voices carrying.
Some walked fast, some didn’t. A few cut across the street without looking.
Most followed the same worn path they probably took every day without thinking about it.
JP watched the corner house. The chair was occupied this time.
Charles Field sat angled toward the street, just like JP had expected. His back was straight, and his hands rested on his knees. He was watching the street with the kind of focus that came from habit.
JP gave it a few minutes, letting the pattern settle. Some kids passed. Some stayed on the sidewalk. A couple crossed early, well before they needed to.
Field didn’t call out or move. He just watched.
When the flow thinned, JP stepped out of the truck and walked up the block. Field noticed him before he reached the yard.
“Good afternoon,” JP said.
Field didn’t stand. His eyes stayed steady. “Afternoon.”
JP stopped at the edge of the walkway. “Charles Field?”
“That’s right.”
JP held out a business card. Field looked at it, then at JP, then took it.
“JP Torn,” Field read. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m looking into something that happened here a while back,” JP said. “A girl named Hannah Caldwell.”
Field’s eyes sparked. “I remember.”
“I figured you might.”
Field gestured toward the empty chair across from him. “You can come up.”
JP stepped onto the porch and sat down. From that position, he could see exactly what Field saw, the full stretch of sidewalk in both directions, the approach from the school, and the corner where kids decided whether to stay on one side of the street or cross early.
“Were you here when it happened?” JP asked.
“I was.”
“What do you remember?”
Field looked out at the street, like he was setting it in his mind before speaking.
“That day is etched in my memory. I racked my brain to try to remember if I saw something that I didn’t realize at first, something that might help. But I had nothing. I didn’t see that little girl that day. I saw her friends though, the older kids that walked with her. Hannah wasn’t with them,
but everyone already knew that.”
He sighed. “And I recall the many days after. The whole neighborhood was out looking for her.”
“Did you go?”
“I did. I had a few skills from my career that I thought might help. But it wasn’t enough.”
JP thought he was sincere, or he was a really good liar. “Do you watch the kids every day?
Field did not take offense. “I do.”
“Why?”
Field rested his hands on his knees. “Because of who used to live next door.”
JP followed his gaze to a neighboring house.
“Nigel Gates,” Field added.
“What about him?”
“He had an interest in children.” Field’s voice was deadpan.
“You mean a suspicion.”
“No,” Field said. “I mean a pattern.”
JP cocked his head. Field continued, still looking out at the street. “I had to warn the kids somehow. So, I told them not to walk alone. I told them to stay together, cross early, keep moving. I did not explain why.”
“Why not?” JP asked.
Field finally looked at him. “Because they’re children,” he said. “And some things are not improved by explaining them.”
“They were afraid of you,” JP said.
Field gave a slight exhale. “Some of them were.”
“You didn’t correct that.”
“No,” Field said. “Fear, in that case, kept them moving.”
JP looked back toward the street.
“He did not sit out here and make himself visible,” Field went on. “That is not how men like that operate. He stayed inside most of the time. I could see the curtains move though. He paid attention without being seen.”
“Did you report it?”
“There was nothing to report that would stand,” Field said. “No contact or overt behavior. No witness who could say more than ‘he looks.’ That doesn’t go anywhere.”
“So, you watched instead,” JP said.
“I watched and warned where I could. I know it made some kids uneasy. That’s why I did it. Many of them crossed the street to avoid me.”
JP thought about what Tyler had said. If he was telling the truth, it worked.
“Did you ever speak to Gates?” JP asked.
“Once,” Field said. “It didn’t tell me anything useful, but I made sure he knew I was keeping an eye on him.”
JP shifted. “Is Gates still around?”
“No,” Field said. “He moved out not long after the girl disappeared.”
“How long after?”
“A couple of weeks,” Field said. “Maybe less.”
“That’s suspicious.”
“It bothered me, but we were keeping an eye on him.”
“Who is we?”
“After Hannah disappeared, I got a visit from her half-brother August.”
“He came to you?”
“He came to everyone,” Field said. “He went door to door asking questions nobody had answers to.”
“What did he want?”
“Answers,” Field said. “Same as everyone else. He just went about it differently.”
“How so?”
Field looked at the corner again, as if the details were still there if he chose to see them.
“He did not wait for someone to tell him something,” Field said. “He asked questions, and when that didn’t get him anywhere, he started watching.”
“And you helped him?”
“It was either that or let him go out on his own. I was afraid of what he might do.”
“How did you help him?” JP asked.
Field took a breath, then answered in the same steady tone.
“We set times, after school, evenings, and weekends. We paid attention to Gates’ routine, when he left, when he returned, whether anyone visited. August kept a notebook. He had dates, times, anything that repeated. And we watched for anything that might suggest he had her.”
“To what end?”
“We got nothing.”
“How did August take that?”
“Not well. In fact, one day he decided to follow Gates. He didn’t tell me beforehand or I would’ve put a stop to it.”
“Where did Gates go?”
“August was on his bike, and he lost him pretty quick. He came back frustrated. I told him not to do it again, and he listened after that.”
JP saw Field’s mouth turn up at the edge and something in his eyes darkened.
“What did you see when you followed him?”
“You’re good at your job,” Field said.
“So I’ve been told.”
“He went to a strip bar just off Rosecrans,” Field said. “He stayed a couple of hours, then went back home.”
“Did the police ever get involved?”
“They came by a couple of times because of the anonymous tips they got.”
“I wonder who made those calls?”
“A concerned citizen, no doubt.” Field sighed. “But that might’ve been a bad idea because Gates moved shortly after the second one.”
A quiet settled between them.
Then JP asked, “What happened with August? Did you ever see him after that?”
Field’s expression softened. “He came back after Gates was gone.”
“For what?”
“He was looking for work,” Field said. “August said he needed money to help his mom.”
“Did you give him work?”
“Yard work mostly and general upkeep, nothing complicated. He showed up when he said he would and did what he was told.”
JP glanced around the property. “Was he good at it?”
“Very. He was good with his hands and he paid attention to detail. That’s not common at that age.”
JP tilted his head. “I bet you taught him a few things.”
Field allowed himself a hint of a smile. “A few things,” he said. “Woodworking mostly. How to measure properly and how to correct mistakes instead of hiding them. He took to it.”
“How long did he stay around?”
“Almost a year, but then his mom moved and he had to go as well.”
“I bet you hated to see him go.”
“I got kinda used to having him around, but life goes on.”
“He ever come back?”
“When he turned eighteen, August came back in uniform.”
“Army?”
A bit of pride crossed Field’s face. “Yes, sir.”
Time to get back on track. “Do you think Gates had anything to do with Hannah?”
“I don’t know, but I think he should’ve been given a closer look. And it’s fishy that he moved away shortly after her abduction.”
They sat in silence for a moment, both looking out at the street. Kids still passed by, fewer now.
JP stood. “I appreciate your time.”
“You’re not done with this, are you?”
“No,” JP said. “I’m not.”
“Good to know.”