Chapter 6 #3
“Our Patricia is great, and she is going to see that no harm comes to Jeremy.”
“It sounds—and feels and looks—that way,” he said lightly.
Skye started to smile, but that smile turned to a frown as he made a sudden turn. “Okay, I do know this area, and you are not heading toward the university dorms—”
“Nope. I’m heading to the fast-food joint just down this corner. You’re welcome to join me in a hamburger and fries. Or not. Fuel, you know, after a morning tramping around the woods.”
“Hey! You’re the one who wanted to tramp through the woods!” she reminded him.
“But—”
“Fish sandwich and fries, please,” she told him. “And no soda—juice. You know. Fuel.”
He laughed softly and continued his way to the drive-through, buying them food they’d be enjoying in the car.
“You’re adept at driving with a burger in your hands, I see,” she told him once their food had been purchased and they were on the road again.
“And you’re not?” he inquired.
“Of course. I was just checking on you—since you’re doing the driving.”
He grinned and moved on.
They finished eating a minute after he parked and headed toward the dorm room.
“Second floor,” Skye said.
He nodded and they headed for the stairs. Evidently, the girls had been waiting for them. The door to room 204 opened before they could get to it.
A young brunette stepped out, a pretty girl with a ponytail, jeans, and a T-shirt that advertised a local band.
“Hey! You’re the Feds, right?” she asked anxiously.
“We are,” Zach assured her, producing his credentials.
At his side, Skye did the same.
“Please come in! We’re so glad you’re here. I’m sorry; I’m Holly Madsen! Please, please, we are so anxious to do anything. Patricia … oh, my God! We all love her so much; someone has to find her. And that awful woman, oh!”
Skye stopped, glancing at Zach and looking at Holly with a frown. “That awful woman? What awful woman?”
“That detective! Brekley, no, sorry, Berkley. Detective Berkley. She suggested that Patricia had killed the great-grandpa and kidnapped Jeremy! She was horrible! But come in, please, please, if we can help, we want to!”
She opened the door, urging them inside. Zach gave her a nod and held the door, letting Holly reenter first, followed by Skye and then himself.
There was a small living area in the dorm, with an even smaller kitchen that backed it. Enough for college years, he thought. A door on either side led to the bedrooms, he imagined.
Two other young women were seated on a sofa; both rose as they entered. A petite girl, with a blond bob, offered her hand, introducing herself as Whitney Nottingham. The second girl, a taller redhead, offered her hand as well, telling them that she was Judy McGrath.
“Sit, please!” Holly said.
There was one sofa and two chairs.
“Scooch!” Holly told the other two, joining them on the couch and indicating that Skye and Zach should take the chairs.
They did so.
Whitney glanced at Holly and she said quietly, “They don’t think Patricia was involved in any way.”
“We most certainly do not!” Skye assured her. “We believe someone came to the door and maybe called out. What we’re wondering is if there might be someone she’s met somewhere, and if she recognized the voice and thought that they just needed something, or—”
“She’d have never opened the door to a wicked witch!
” Whitney announced. “And in the papers and on the news, they’re saying that a wicked witch kidnapped that lady and kid in Swampscott.
Could that be … I mean … it’s not even that close to Halloween yet!
Well, yeah, wait, especially here—but we’re not down to the big festivities yet. ”
“That’s why we’re wondering about people Patricia might have known or even just met—if she recognized a voice and just opened the door?
” Zach asked. “Or we’re thinking that she might have been busy, running between the baby and Jeremy, and opened the door without thinking.
But if you can think of anyone who behaved strangely around Patricia or any of you, or if she even mentioned anyone strange. ”
Judy smiled at them and entered the conversation.
“Thank God! You really don’t think Patricia might be the bad one, like those horrible cops do!
You had to know Patricia. She worked so hard!
And she was so nice. We’ve all tried to help out because our parents pay for our schooling, but Patricia grew up in foster care and doesn’t have anyone to help her financially.
That’s why she works so hard. And it helps that she just loves kids and is a natural with them. ”
“We know she’s innocent,” Skye said.
“Of course—I mean, Patricia was gone when the costume shop got held up or whatever,” Holly said. “Oh! But I bet you the cops that were here think she kidnapped Jeremy and went back for the mom and the other kid.”
“Seriously,” Skye said, sitting forward. “We truly believe Patricia is innocent, a victim, and she needs saving. We need all the help we can get. Can you think of anyone who behaves strangely, said something strange, suddenly asked questions or knew her schedule or … anything at all?”
Holly looked at Whitney. Whitney looked at Judy.
Judy looked at Holly and gave her a little nod.
Holly spoke for the trio.
“We’re afraid to say much of anything because we could be so wrong. But you need to look at Mr. Stanley.”
“Who is Mr. Stanley?” Zach asked.
“He teaches history at the university,” Judy offered.
“He may just be a harmless kook! You know, of course, that you have to take classes that aren’t necessarily in your major.
Patricia was taking his course on American history.
If you read the course description, it takes you from Juan Ponce de Leon, St. Augustine, Florida, and the Pilgrims, Plymouth, Massachusetts, into the decades that followed, up to the present. ”
“But Mr. Stanley obsesses!” Judy exclaimed.
She looked at the others and continued, “Decades and centuries are glossed over. I know because I take his class, too. And all he ever wants to talk about is Salem—and the trials. But,” she added, “he does go on and on about the horror of the trials.” She stopped speaking, looking at Whitney.
Whitney took a breath. “I’m in the class, too. And what he’s so keen on is the idea that people did see the devil in the woods, or that all that was evil within them came out in the woods, so maybe it was the devil taking hold of the Massachusetts Bay Colony!”