Callie sat very still. She watched Lydia push the empty trolley back through the loading dock entrance and disappear inside. The timestamp read 9:52 AM. Five minutes to load what she was loading.
She pulled the staff schedule from the folder beside her. Ran her finger down the column for that date. Lydia Holt. Morning shift. 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Paul was on the day shift. Lydia on the same shift. The breaker tripped sometime between those two windows. Hailey walked into the basement stairwell and never came out on camera. And at 9:47 AM, Lydia wheeled something heavy out of the loading dock and put it in her truck.
Callie pulled out her phone and called Noah. It rang four times and went to voicemail. She tried again. Voicemail.
She typed a text:Call me. Urgent. It's Lydia Holt. She was on shift the night Hailey went missing. Camera footage shows her wheeling something out of the loading dock. Paul was there too. Call me.
The message sat on the screen. Not delivered.
She scrolled through her contacts and found Seraphine's number. The phone rang. And rang. And rang. No answer. No voicemail.
She tried again. Nothing.
Callie turned. "Thank you," she said to Dale. "Don't mention this to anyone."
She walked out of the security office, through the lobby, and into the parking lot. She got into her truck and sat for a moment with her hands on the wheel, thinking. Then she scrolled to another number. Dr. Whitfield. Seraphine's therapist. It rang twice before a woman's voice answered.
"Dr. Whitfield, this is Deputy Thorne with with the Adirondack County Sheriff's Office. I'm trying to reach Seraphine Maddox. Has she been in today?"
"No, actually. She missed her session this afternoon. That's unlike her. I tried calling but she didn't pick up."
"What time was her session?"
"Two o'clock. She's never missed one without calling ahead."
Callie thanked her and hung up.
Paul Holt had left the hospital an hour before she and Noah arrived. Adelaide said he was heading to his sister's in Saranac Lake. Seraphine's studio was in Saranac Lake. Seraphine had missed her session and wasn't answering her phone. And Lydia Holt was on camera wheeling something heavy out of the building.
Callie started the engine and pulled out of the lot. She didn't head north to Saranac Lake. She turned south toward Mountain Lane.
40
"Jessie Maddox. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time."
Lydia set the French press on the counter and leaned against the edge, her arms folded, her expression settled into the same calm composure she'd worn during their first conversation. The kitchen was warm and the radio played softly and the rain streaked down the window above the sink, blurring the view of the barn.
"You said you'd been working at the hospital for a long time. Twenty-seven years, right?"
"That's right."
"So you remember her?"
"I knew Jessie. We worked the same ward for a few years. Nice woman. Quiet. It was sad what happened to her. After she got involved with Three Pillars, I didn't see much of her. The community pulled her away from everyone." She shook her head. "No one knows where she went, but a lot of people believe it was related to that community."
"She got involved through her sister. Tabitha Smith."
"That's right."
"And she gave birth to Seraphine."
"Uh-huh." Lydia lifted her coffee and took a long sip.
"Do you know who Jessie was close to? Any friends from back then?"
Lydia shrugged. "Jessie was friendly with a lot of the nurses. Most of them have moved on or retired. I can't think of anyone who stood out."
