Chapter 58
Monday afternoon
JP parked outside a worn duplex in Lakeside just after noon with Rourke’s notes sitting open on the passenger seat beside him.
The house next door was where Marcus and Rochelle’s mother had lived years ago.
The whole neighborhood looked tired in the permanent way some neighborhoods did. The stucco was faded, the yards dry, and the chain-link fences patched more than replaced. One half of the duplex was boarded over. The other looked occupied.
A woman in her seventies sat beneath the carport shucking corn while a fan pushed hot air around without helping much.
She watched him approach. “Are you selling politics or religion?”
“Neither.”
“Well, that’s refreshing.”
JP smiled and showed his investigator ID. “My name’s JP Torn. I’m looking into someone who used to live next door years ago. Her name is Evelyn Caldwell.”
The woman nodded. “Rochelle and Marcus’ mama.”
“You knew her?”
“I knew everybody on this street before half of ’em died and the other half learned meth.”
JP crouched near the railing. “I understand she had a little girl living with her for a while?”
“She did.”
“Do you remember her?”
“She was a quiet little thing.” The old woman shrugged. “She stayed close to the house mostly.”
“How old was she?”
“Five maybe six.” Another shrug. “Somewhere around there.”
“Did Evelyn say who she was?”
The woman snorted softly. “That changed, depending on who asked.”
“What do you mean?”
“One day she’d say it was her granddaughter. The next day it was her niece.” She shook her head. “That usually means family embarrassment or family crime.”
“Did you ever get a feeling for who she was?”
“Oh, she belonged there somehow,” the woman said. “Just not the way Evelyn said.”
“What do you think?”
The woman laid down a cob of corn.
“I think she was her niece’s kid. Her sister, Opal, had a daughter named Bonnie. I think it was hers.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Because Bonnie’s mama came around all the time.”
“That would’ve been the child’s grandmother, right?”
“Yeah.” The woman pointed toward the street with a corn husk covered hand. “Opal was older than Evelyn, heavyset, and smoked constantly. She came by couple times a week.”
“Was she close with the child?”
“Very. She’d brush the girl’s hair outside sometimes.” A faint smile touched her mouth. “She always talked sweet to her. And she would bring her coloring books and other toys.”
That felt real.
“Did the little girl seem scared?”
“No. Careful, maybe,” the woman added. “But not scared.”
“Did she go to school?”
“For a little while.”
“How long?”
“Not long, a few months maybe. Then they moved.”
“Do you have any idea where?”
The woman shook her head. “Just gone one day.”
JP pulled out Hannah’s photo from when she was five. “Does she look familiar?”
“Of course. Her face was all over the news when she was abducted. And Evelyn was devastated. But if you’re asking me if Hannah was the one living here with Evelyn, I don’t believe so.”
“What about Bonnie, the girl’s mother, did she come around?” JP asked.
“Only once that I remember, and she didn’t even acknowledge the kid.”
“Do you know where she went?”
“Arizona, maybe.” The woman shrugged again. “Or Nevada. Evelyn used to complain Bonnie couldn’t stay put. She said her niece always had a new boyfriend and that she drank too much. That girl was trouble. I’d bet my last dollar that it was her kid living with Evelyn.”
~~~
JP walked back to his truck. The little girl was the right age. There was a family connection, and she had disappeared. If the child was Bonnie’s daughter, then the lead meant nothing. Still, he had to keep looking and see if the trail led back to this old duplex.