Hadley wasn’t going to get much more from Amelia, other than her steadfast belief that Missy hadn’t run off to Nashville. It was best to start asking direct questions.
“The Solomon boy?” Amelia paused to take a sip of her tea. There was a slight tremor in her hand that probably had more to do with age than the topic. “I know of him. Why?”
“It’s come to my attention that Missy was taking guitar lessons from him,” Hadley shared, not seeing any reason to keep such information from Amelia. “Did Missy ever mention him?”
Amelia seemed at a loss for words. She parted her lips to reply, but then just as quickly pressed them together in disbelief.
“I’m going to be honest with you, Ms. Claymont. Lucas explained that the reason Missy didn’t tell you she was spending time with him was that she believed you wouldn’t approve. And from my understanding, there was nothing untoward going on between them,” Hadley said in reassurance. “But Lucas did mention Missy’s desire to leave town at any cost.”
“I already told you that was her dream, but we had it all worked out,” Amelia insisted, barely noticing when Hadley leaned forward and took the teacup from her hands. “She wouldn’t have left town without telling me. Someone took her.”
“Did Missy mention anything troubling in the weeks before her disappearance?” Hadley asked, shifting the conversation toward something general. “Problems at school, feeling like someone was watching her, anything out of the ordinary at all?She didn't mention feeling uncomfortable around anyone? No new people in her life?”
Amelia's negative responses came as expected, but it was clear that she was still rattled about discovering Missy’s secret guitar lessons with Lucas.
“Pearl thought someone followed her home on the first night of the festival,” Janet inserted, her voice soft but determined. The statement drew Hadley's full attention. Amelia, on the other hand, let her gaze drift toward the window. “She was seventeen, and just like Missy, eager to leave Whistlerun behind. Pearl came home early, around nine-thirty. She came running into the house, telling her father that she thought she had heard footsteps behind her on the walk home. She was frightened enough that my husband, God rest his soul, went outside with his shotgun to check. He didn't see anyone.”
“I’ve read the missing persons report filed by Chief Garber,” Hadley replied as she reached over and covered Janet’s hands. “I’m truly sorry that she was never found, Mrs. Shepley.”
“The following night, Pearl vanished into thin air.” It was like Hadley had never spoken. Janet was staring at Amelia in sorrow. “Just like Missy. Just like all those other girls.”
“Why is it that everyone thinks our girls just ran away?” Amelia asked, her voice barely a whisper. She finally dragged her gaze from the living room window. “Why?”
Though Hadley had been hoping to use this visit to unearth details that might have been overlooked last year, she wasn’t going to pass up the chance to connect the investigations. Even though Lucas’ story sparked a bit of doubt, Hadley was going to trust her instincts.
“Did you know that Police Chief Garber claimed Pearl was pregnant? That she ran away to avoid bringing shame to the family.” Janet's voice hardened with four decades worth of indignation. “He even said they'd found a pamphlet in her schoollocker about pregnant teens, along with an appointment card for a clinic in Emberwood, but they both got lost in transportation from the high school to the station. You tell me, Hadley. Can you see that happening?”
She didn’t immediately respond to the question. Since Pearl was one of the eight women, Hadley had read through the former police chief’s reports. Nowhere on any official form did it state that anything of relevance had been discovered during the search of Pearl’s personal belongings.
Janet leaned forward, tightening her fingers around Hadley’s hand.
“Pearl knew how much her father and I loved her,” Janet exclaimed, her voice filled with every emotion. “She would have come to us, and she never would have left on her own free will. And Missy wouldn’t have, either.”
The next hour was spent discussing Missy, her friends, and the weeks leading up to the festival. Hadley concluded that Missy had used Veronica as a decoy. Amelia made mention that Missy and Veronica had been working on an upcoming science project, which would be easy enough to check out. Hadley didn’t believe for a second there had been such a project, which meant that Veronica had known all along about the guitar lessons.
Why wouldn’t Veronica have shared that piece of information with Reed?
As their visit drew to a close, Hadley checked the time on the old-fashioned grandfather clock in the corner. She wasn’t due to speak with Richie McCarthy and Veronica Lane until later this afternoon, which meant she had just enough time to drive out west of town to speak with one person in particular.
“Thank you both for your time,” Hadley said, rising from the sofa. “And the tea.”
“You believe us,” Amelia stated rather than posing a question as she searched Hadley's face. Once again, she noticed thewoman’s attention drawn to the window. “You don't think they ran away.”
Hadley followed the woman’s gaze. She’d scanned the living room several times since her visit, yet she had still missed the handmade charm tucked discreetly in the corner of the window overlooking the front yard. Crafted from slender twigs tied together with frayed string, the delicate web-like structure was a talisman to ward off theThreshing Man.
Growing up in Whistlerun, the pentacle could be found in most homes. Some had dried corn husks woven into their designs for additional protection, and others had small, yellow beads hanging from the bottom to replicate corn. Amelia’s item of protection contained both.
“I’ll do my best to find answers,” Hadley managed to say as she summoned them a reassuring smile. “I’ll be in touch.”
Hadley hadn’t expected her visit to produce such valuable information. She had been hoping to learn a small detail about Missy's friends or perhaps Lucas Solomon. Although she discovered that Veronica was likely the cover story for Missy's guitar lessons, the real surprise came when she found out that the former police chief had lost evidence in a prior missing persons case and chose not to document it at all.
Hadley departed the house, confirming that the screen door closed shut behind her. She then descended the three porch steps, rubbing her chest to ease the burn. The thought of Chief Garber doing something so unethical made her once again question how he’d handled the investigation into Emily Esten.
There had been several times during her teen years when she’d heard the rumors about Chief Garber taking bribes to look the other way on occasion. She’d never given it much thought back then.
Hadhe asked anyone else about Emily’s disappearance?
Had someone paid him to look the other way, or had the answers of a ten-year-old solidified his belief in Mason’s guilt?
