Chapter Five
Bethany hefted her purse onto her shoulder, took a deep breath to gather her courage and entered the police station. She walked up to the reception area and requested to see Detective Colborne. It had been a couple of days since she’d talked to Drew and she had been able to garner more details from the nightmare. Bethany hoped that they might help in an investigation.
A few moments later, Drew came out to see her.
“Ms. Searson,” Drew extended a hand in greeting.
Bethany tried to ignore the fluttering in her stomach over the simple contact from shaking his hand. “Detective Colborne. I was hoping to talk to you.”
“This way,” Drew led her back to his desk. It wasn’t the most private place with other people going in and out, but it would do. “What can I help you with?”
Bethany sat in the chair he provided. She had the feeling it was his chair. He sat at the edge of the desk and patiently waited while she gathered her thoughts.
“I remembered more,” Bethany unconsciously fiddled with her purse strap, tearing away little pieces of the strap with her perfect manicured hands. “I know it’s not much to go on, however I wanted your opinion.”
Drew really hoped again that she wasn’t going to be one of those crazy stalker types. When Colby had gotten one, he hadn’t lived it down for months. He was still the butt of a few jokes now and again. Drew made sure that his tone was gentle. “What did you remember?”
“The voices,” Bethany looked at him with utter sincerity. “I don’t know who they are. They’re familiar but I can’t seem to recognize them. However, I realized that it wasn’t the man who was trying to drown me telling me not to remember. It was the other man. He was pleading for my life. He told him that I wouldn’t remember. That I wouldn’t say anything. That I would be a good girl. That he would make certain of it. I think that was why I’m still alive.”
Drew frowned. “He saved you, whoever this guy is?”
“Yes, I’m certain of it.”
“Yet you still don’t remember who they are?” Drew questioned.
“No,” Bethany sighed in frustration.
“What were you not to remember? What didn’t they want you to see?” Drew questioned her.
“I think it was drugs,” she replied tentatively.
Great. She was probably picking up on things that happened the other day and weaving them into her story. It made her memories possibly unreliable and fabricated. Drew didn’t let that inkling of disbelief creep into his voice as he asked her, “Why do you think that?”
“I thought it was icing sugar,” Bethany gave a sort of half smile. “I felt so silly saying anything before now, so I haven’t told anyone, not even Dr. Urshman. I thought there was icing sugar on the boat. It was on the seats and the floor. Just a dusting of it. I remember, I touched some with my finger and I…”
“You what?” Drew prodded softly.
“I licked it,” Bethany swallowed and looked at her hands. She immediately stopped shredding the strap of her purse, like she had just realized she’d been doing the small action. “I licked it and I spit it out because it wasn’t icing sugar. It tasted awful.”
She looked up at him with large eyes, wanting to know the truth. “It was drugs, wasn’t it?”
“It could have been,” Drew allowed. It was hard to say. They were going on the assumptions of a possible memory over twenty-five years ago. It could have been that someone accidently dropped a cleaning powder. It could all be a figment of her imagination.
“I think it was,” Bethany sensed that he didn’t necessarily believe her. “The man had pink gloves on. The kind you do dishes with. I think they spilled some sort of drug and were trying to clean it up and I stumbled on the whole thing.”
“Let’s write this down,” Drew grabbed a pad and pen. “We’ll put down the details. Maybe if you remember more, we can add to it. Right now, it’s not enough to start an investigation.”
Bethany trembled as she looked up at him. He was humoring her, she was certain of it. “What if I knew the name of the boat?”
“Then I’d have something concrete to look into,” Drew said.
“I think it was called Sweet Bethany,” she replied.
Drew paused. It was too convenient in his opinion. “Ms. Searson, dreams can sometimes do funny things. Are you certain that was the name of the boat?”
Bethany stood and adjusted her purse on her shoulder. “I know it’s not the most believable story. I know you’re just humoring me Detective Colborne. Yet I must live with the nightmares, night after night waking up feeling like I’m drowning. Surely you can understand that I just want to understand why and who did this to me?”
She held her head high and made to move past him. Drew grasped her wrist gently to stop her. “I can understand that.”
