“Was there any sign of a struggle in the house?”
“No. She had a few toys on the ground, but nothing else. Her bed was neatly made and her shoes from school were in front of her closet.”
“Did you have any pets at the time?”
“No. Carl was allergic to cats, so we never tried to get any animals.”
“Okay.”
Now we were getting down to the moment she realized Dakota was gone, and the next part was going to be hard.
“When you realized she wasn’t there, what did you do?”
“I ran around the house, sure she was hiding somewhere. Then I checked the front closet, and her coat was gone. So were her snow boots.”
“Did she have any friends close by that she might have gone to see?”
“She had a friend across the street. That was the first place I looked. I thought for sure she was over there, and I didn’t want to panic, so I took my time putting on my boots and coat. Then I marched over there and knocked on the door, ready to yell at her for leaving. But when Shelly answered the door, she looked surprised to see me.”
I glanced out the window, looking at how close the houses were. There were a few houses sitting on maybe a half acre, but others were closer.
“Are any of these houses new?”
“Uh…yes. The one across the street was built about seven years ago.”
“And what was there at the time?”
“Trees. It was an empty lot.”
What is beyond the trees?I jotted down in my notes. I would have to check my notes again to see if anyone had looked into the empty lots around here. Maybe Dakota hadn’t died at Murky Falls. What if she had been moved there first?
It was just so odd that a little girl could wander out of the house, and yet, no one had seen a thing. The Walker house was on the edge of town, but still, someone should have seen something.
“Mrs. Walker, why did everyone assume she had wandered outside?”
“The police said there was no sign of forced entry. And since her coat was missing, it seemed most likely that she had gone out to play in the snow and had wandered too far.”
“But isn’t it just as likely that someone she knew lured her outside? Shewas only seven at the time. This town is very friendly. Wouldn’t she have trusted pretty much anyone around here?”
“Yes, I’ve considered that a lot over the years,” she sighed. The weight of the conversation was getting to her. I could see the tired lines etching her eyes and the slump of her shoulders. That was enough for today.
“Well, that’s a good start. How about we pick up another day?”
“Yes, that would be good.”
I stood, holding out my hand to her. “I really hope I can bring you closure.”
“Me, too,” she said, her chin wobbling as tears sprang to her eyes. “It’s been too long with no answers.”
As I headed out, the weight of the case bore down on me. When I said I would take the case, this little girl was just another face. Her parents were just another couple who had lost a child. But I lived in this town now, and I would have to deal with the outcome of what I found.
And for the first time, I wondered if it would be someone I knew.
12
MICHAEL
“Hey ho!”Krista called out as she walked into my house like she owned the place.
