Chapter 44
Wednesday late afternoon
Sabre looked from the bracelet to JP. She hadn’t touched it. Her hands stayed flat against the desk, as if contact with the thing might make it more real.
“A ladybug?” he said.
Sabre nodded, her eyes still fixed on the empty loop where the missing charm should have hung. “That spot is right where I clipped it.”
“We’re not sitting on this,” JP said.
Sabre was already reaching for her phone. “Detective Nelson,” came the answer after three rings.
“It’s Sabre Brown.”
“The attorney?”
“The same one who told you your murder suspect wanted me instead of counsel.”
JP smirked faintly.
Nelson sighed into the line. “What do you need?”
“I received something tonight that is tied to an old missing-child case and possibly tied to your current homicide.”
“How tied?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“That’s not helpful.”
“I’m trying.”
“Bring it in,” Nelson said. “I’m at the station another hour.”
“We’re coming now.”
They packaged the bracelet in a clean evidence envelope from Sabre’s supply cabinet. Neither handled it directly. JP sealed the envelope, wrote the date and time across the flap. He gathered up the packaging, then looked at Sabre.
“El Cajon?”
She was up and ready to go.
~~~
Detective Nelson met them in an interview room instead of the lobby. He was in his mid-forties; the fluorescent lights made him look tired.
He glanced at the envelope. “Is this the mystery gift?”
JP slid it across the table.
Nelson opened it carefully and tipped the bracelet onto a sheet of clean paper. He frowned. “That’s it?”
“It was messenger delivered to my office. No sender.”
Nelson examined the bracelet. “Why do I care about a kid’s bracelet?”
“Because it’s tied to the old Hannah Caldwell disappearance from about eight years ago,” Sabre said.
“Now things are starting to make some sense. So, Maddox and an eight-year-old cold case are connected through jewelry.”
“Bay asked for me before anyone should’ve known my connection to her,” Sabre explained. “Then I receive the text referencing Hannah. And now this shows up.”
“That still doesn’t explain the bracelet.”
Sabre pointed, but did not touch. “There should be seven charms. The missing one is a ladybug that I gave Hannah at the end of her case.”
Nelson’s eyes went wide. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He jumped up. “Wait here.”
He hurried out of the room.
JP looked at Sabre. “I wonder what that’s about.”
Five minutes later Nelson returned carrying a clear property bag. Inside was a small enamel charm, red with black dots. A ladybug.
He set it on the table. “This was removed from Bay when she was booked. She had no wallet. No ID. No phone. No cash. Just this in her front pocket.”
Sabre stared at the bag.
JP stared at the detective. “You didn’t think to mention that earlier?”
Nelson shrugged. “It was a trinket.”
“It’s more than that now.”
Nelson slid the evidence bag closer to Sabre. “Do you recognize it?”
She leaned in, careful not to touch.
Her eyes moved over the tiny scratches in the enamel, the worn clasp ring, the chipped edge near one wing.
“It’s the one I gave Hannah,” she said quietly.
Nelson folded his arms. “Or one just like it.”
“Yes. That’s possible.”
But none of them believed in coincidences that neat.
JP sat back. “So, Bay had the missing charm from Hannah’s bracelet.”
Nelson corrected him. “Allegedly.”
JP ignored that. “Then somebody wanted us to know.”
Sabre’s gaze stayed on the charm. “No,” she said quietly. “Somebody wanted me to know.”
The fluorescent light hummed above them. Nelson looked from the bracelet to the charm, then back to Sabre.
“Has Bay told you anything about her background yet?”
“No.”
“Do you think she is Hannah?”
“Maybe. I just don’t see it when I look at her. But either she is Hannah or she knows Hannah.”
“Or she knows Hannah’s abductor,” Nelson said. “You need to tell me everything you know.”
Sabre met his eyes. “That’s the problem, Detective.” She glanced once more at the ladybug. “I don’t think I know anything yet except that these two cases are somehow connected.”
As Sabre and JP walked out, he said, “I think it’s time to see Rourke again. Maybe he can give us some insight.”