Chapter 29
Saturday late morning
JP offered to drive to Vista, but Rourke said he was going to San Diego anyway. They met at a coffee shop on Balboa. JP arrived early, ordered coffee, and took a seat near the window.
Rourke showed up right on time. He saw JP and came straight over to shake his hand.
After Rourke ordered, he settled back like he had nowhere else to be. “Have you come up with something new?”
“You tell me. I didn’t find anything in your report about Nigel Gates. Did you investigate him?”
“Oh yeah. I looked at him.”
“What’d you find?”
“He had a prior sexual abuse, a felony,” Rourke said. “That’s what put him on the radar early. The cops checked him out, and he had an alibi for that afternoon. Not airtight, but solid enough for them.”
“Did you ever talk to him?”
“I tried,” Rourke said. “He didn’t engage much. Kept his answers short.”
“Do you think he was involved?”
Rourke shook his head. “Not really.”
“So, you focused on Hayes,” JP said.
“That’s where the evidence led me, and the cops as well. Hayes was a mess. He had access and opportunity. The kids were afraid of him. He lied about everything, and the mother continued to cover for him.”
“Even after he was arrested?”
“I’m not sure about that. I didn’t really have much contact after the arrest. We continued to look for Hannah, but we were no longer searching for the perp. And Hayes told different versions of his day, and at least one I personally know to be false.”
“What was that?”
Rourke’s coffee arrived and he took a sip. “I had been tailing Hayes earlier that day and followed him to a bar. He was there a couple of hours and came out staggering. He had no business driving.”
“Why were you tailing him?”
“Because I suspected he was living at Hannah’s house against the court order. Or, at least hanging out there.”
“That makes sense. I’d have done the same. Where did he go?”
“He seemed to be heading home. He had the good sense to stay off the freeway, but he was driving pretty erratic.”
“Did he go home?”
“I don’t know. He could’ve gone to the school because that would’ve been the same direction, and it was about the time school got out.”
“So, you stopped following him?” JP asked.
“I got a call on another case, one I couldn’t ignore. I pulled over to write something down and lost him. I drove by Hannah’s house to see if his car was there. He wasn’t supposed to be in the home at all, but I was pretty sure he was living there.”
JP took a sip of his coffee. “And that time frame lines up with the disappearance?”
“It does.”
“Who else were you looking at?” JP asked.
“The mother, although she didn’t seem likely,” Rourke said. “There was also another registered sex offender a few blocks away, but he was in therapy at the time. So, that was dismissed pretty quickly. I can text you the name if you want it.”
“Sure. It wouldn’t hurt,” JP said. “Was the half-brother ever a suspect?”
“Not really. Lots of people verified that he was at basketball practice. There weren’t many likely suspects,” Rourke added. “It could’ve been a complete stranger, but in my experience, if a kid gets into a car like that in the middle of the day she knows the person.”
“Anything else stand out to you now that didn’t then?”
Rourke considered it. “Nothing I can think of. This whole case rubs me raw every time I think of it.”
“Me too. I can’t imagine what it’s like for you since you knew the little girl.”
“It’s not easy,” Rourke said. “I’ve played the if only game over and over, blaming myself, blaming the system, and anyone else I could. I just wish the cops could’ve got Hayes to talk.”
“I don’t get that either, but this whole case fits together like a saddle on a sow.”