“I wouldn’t say you’re naïve,” Whitlock said. “You only became aware a few years ago that Anne knew of its existence.”
Eugene, who’d been quiet for some time, stood and refreshed his coffee. Then he returned to the table.
Whitlock cleared his throat. “I know we went over this a while ago, and I don’t know about you, but when I looked over all my notes, I have to say, some of them were confusing. Guess what I’m saying is, we’d like to hear anything you can share about the summer Anne went missing. Any detail. No matter how small it seems.”
Violet shifted in her chair, thinking. “Anne stayed with my sister Glinda that summer, as you know. They both shared a love for Cambria I never seemed to understand, and Glinda cherished the times they had together. She told me they often walked through the forest, hiked the trails, and explored as much of the outdoors as they could.”
“Did Anne ever mention anyone she hung around with during those summer visits?” I asked.
“Oh, I don’t know. I never heard about any friends she may have made.”
“Tell her about the man,” Eugene said.
“Oh, yes. One day when Glinda and Anne were out walking in the neighborhood, they passed by a man walking in the opposite direction. They waved, and he did the same. Glinda didn’t recognize him, and she thought he was new in town.”
Eugene cut in. “Glinda said they were coming out of their house one morning, and he was across the street, staring at her house,” Eugene said. “She thought something was off about him.”
Whitlock leaned forward. “It’s all coming back to me now. I remember talking to you about him.”
“Your partner brushed it off,” Eugene said.
“He may have, but I didn’t. The guy had a tattoo of a cross on his ankle, didn’t he?”
Violet nodded, and I thought about a man in town who had a tattoo just like the one she’d described.
“Does your sister still live in the same house?” I asked.
“No, she passed away a couple of years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear it,” I said.
“It’s all right. She lived a long and happy life. She’s in a better place now.”
“Do you remember anything else unusual around that time?” Whitlock asked.
“Not about that time, but a few months after Anne went missing, Eugene and I went to Cambria. We stayed with my sister. One morning, I went out to get the paper, and a man was parked in a truck a couple of houses down, just staring at me. I thought he might have been the same man Anne and Glinda saw on their walk.”
Eugene stiffened. “Hun, we don’t know that he was the same man. You didn’t get a good look at him.”
“He was a mysterious man sitting in a dark truck for who knows what reason,” Violet said. “I told Glinda about him, and she thought it was suspicious too.”
“Did the man see you looking at him?” I asked.
“Yes,” she whispered. “He stared at me for a minute and then started his truck and drove off.”
Whitlock let out a slow breath. “This is the first I’m hearing about it.”
“You were out of town when it happened,” Eugene said. “We talked to your partner. We assumed he told you.”
“Yeah, well, he should have, but he didn’t.”
“Do you remember anything about the man?” I asked. “Do you know his hair color, what he was wearing, or his build?”
Violet yawned, looking at Eugene. “I think I’ll take that cup of coffee now.”
He nodded and rose to get it for her.
Turning toward me, she said, “He was wearing a baseball cap the day I saw him, and he had a beard. It was rough, like he didn’t shave often. Glinda told me the man she saw also had a beard.”
