A Shred of Evidence (38 page)

G
ordy Jameson sat in his office reading Thursday’s newspaper and waiting for Billy Lewis to arrive. He wondered if Chet Lewis had been able to help Billy with whatever was troubling him.

The front door opened, and Gordy glanced up at the clock and breathed a sigh of relief. Ten minutes early. Good for Billy! He hurried out to the dining room and almost ran headlong into Weezie Taylor.

“Where’re you goin’ in such a hurry?” Weezie said.

“Sorry. I thought you were Billy.”

Weezie laughed and held out her arms and hands. “Yeah, I can sure see how you got the two of us mixed up.”

Gordy smiled. “He’s been comin’ in late, and I had to call him on it. I was hopin’ he was here early.”

“Since when is Billy late? That kid lives by the clock.”

“Not right now. Something’s on his mind and he’s pretty guarded about it. I’m thinkin’ it’s marital trouble, so I called his dad and gave him a heads-up. Thought he might wanna talk to him. So why’re you here this morning? You’re not scheduled in till two.”

“I just came by to make sure you’re not stealin’ from the place.” Weezie’s booming laughter filled the room. “Actually, I wanted to check the schedule. One of the girls is sick and called me at home. I can’t remember who I’ve got scheduled in.”

“Okay, do your thing and then scat. You need time away from this place. I’ll see you at two.”

Gordy went back in his office and sat at his desk, his hands clasped behind his head, and counted each tick of the clock until 8:31.
Darn it, Billy!

Gordy waited until 8:45, then picked up the phone and called Hank Ordman.

“Hank’s Body Shop.”

“Yeah, this is Gordy. Let me talk to Hank, please.”

Gordy heard the door shut when Weezie left and kept thinking Billy should be walking in at any moment.

“This is Hank.”

“It’s Gordy. Is Billy still there?”

“Nah, he didn’t bother to show. Far as I’m concerned, he’s done here.”

“Sorry, Hank. I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”

“Me either, but I haven’t got time for it.”

Gordy hung up and redialed.

“Hello.”

“Chet, it’s Gordy. Did you have a chance to talk to Billy?”

“No, I called and he was busy. Said he’d get back to me when he had time. Of course, he didn’t. Has he come in yet?”

“No, and he didn’t show up at Hank’s either. Hank’s done messin’ with him. I don’t wanna be hasty. This just isn’t like him.”

“I really appreciate your sensitivity. Let me get to the bottom of this and call you back.”

“Yeah, okay, Chet. Thanks.”

Ellen Jones jogged along the surf, enjoying the morning breeze and praying for Ross and Julie and Sarah Beth. She tried to imagine the jubilation if Sarah Beth actually came home alive—and the profound disappointment and grief if she didn’t.

Ellen thought she saw Ned Norton sitting next to the water about a hundred yards away. She studied him for a moment, then started running in his direction. When she was a few yards
from where he sat, she slowed her pace and waved. “Hi!”

Ned held up one hand, shading his eyes from the sun. “I was hoping to run into you. I heard on the news last night that you were one of the people who spotted the little girl in the pink hat.”

Ellen sat cross-legged in the sand and tried to catch her breath. “Oh, but that’s just part of it. You’re not going to believe everything that’s happened since last time we talked.”

Ellen put into sequence the events that had happened from the time Julie called her Tuesday morning and they spent a few hours at Bougainvillea Park until the Hamiltons and the people from Ellen’s church distributed the last flyer yesterday around noon.

Ned smiled and shook his head. “I’m mighty proud of you, young lady. I haven’t seen such a citywide effort since World War II. I think everybody’s out looking for that little girl now.”

“Well, the print media is what I know,” Ellen said. “Seemed like a perfect opportunity.”

“So what’d you think of Ross?”

Ellen wondered if she looked as sheepish as she felt. “He’s really a sweetheart. Not at all what I envisioned. I’m so ashamed I judged him guilty before I had the facts. But I’m also glad I wised up in time to do something positive.”

“Which reminds me, whatever became of the woman who went to your pastor and said you were cheating on your husband?”

Ellen rolled her eyes. “Oh, the gossip queen of Live Oak Circle still lurks about.”

Ellen told Ned about the note passing and how silly and unnecessary it seemed. “In the one she left yesterday, she wrote, ‘Does your husband know what you were doing till 1:00 AM?’ Heavens, I had just gotten home and was on the phone with Guy at 1:00. She must have been watching the house. I wish she’d just come out of the closet and talk to me. I’d tell her how ridiculous this whole notion is.”

Ned patted the wet sand around the base of his sandcastle. “What would you tell her?”

“You don’t even want to know what I’d
like
to tell her. But if I actually had the chance to confront her, I’d tell her to mind her own … that she should stop … that I would never …” Ellen picked up a handful of sand and sifted it through her fingers. “Nothing I say is going to change her mind, is it? No matter how good it makes me feel to get it off my chest.”

“Sometimes gossip isn’t even about whether the information is true or false. It’s a way for a person who feels inferior to feel powerful—or a person who feels left out to feel important.” Ned whistled while he added on to his sandcastle and seemed to avoid looking at her.

“Ned, why do I get the feeling you know who’s been gossiping about me?”

Gordy sat out on the deck sipping a limeade and enjoying the salty breeze while Adam Spalding, Captain Jack, and Eddie Drummond finished eating lunch. He glanced at his watch, thinking it was about time for Eddie to get back to the body shop.

Eddie chugged down the last of his iced tea and laid a dollar on the table and set the saltshaker on it. “I’ve gotta get back to work. See you all tomorrow.” Eddie walked to the door and went inside.

“Excuse me, I’ll be right back,” Gordy said.

Gordy went inside and caught Eddie by the arm. “Can I talk to you in my office for a minute?”

“I’m due back at work. Can’t it wait?”

“It’ll just take a minute, Eddie. It’s important.”

Gordy followed Eddie into his office and closed the door. “Have you been fillin’ Billy Lewis’s head with more stuff about Ross Hamilton?”

“I haven’t seen Billy in days.”

“He’s been actin’ strange, and I’m tryin’ to figure out what’s wrong with him. Yesterday, he was late again and I brought him in here to talk about it. He saw the flyer with the Hamilton girl’s picture on it and got upset. Said he didn’t like Ross Hamilton, that he was afraid of him, that he hurts children, the police can’t protect children from him—and that
Eddie
says he’s dangerous.”

“Sure, I talked to him about Hamilton, but not since you told me to back off. I swear.”

“All right, Eddie. I’m just worried about him.”

“I know you like Billy, but he’s a handful, being mentally challenged and all. You’re wasting your time trying to figure him out. He doesn’t see things the way normal people do.”

“Yeah, thanks for the psychology lesson, Eddie. I’ll let you get back to work.”

Ellen sat at the kitchen counter, picking at her salad, staring at the note the mystery woman had left in the mailbox the day before.
Does your husband know what you were doing till 1:00
AM
? She was aware of Guy coming into the kitchen.

“Thanks for the salad.” Guy rinsed his bowl and put it in the dishwasher. “How come you’re not eating?”

“I am. I’m just distracted, thinking about this troublemaker who seems bound and determined I’m some sort of Jezebel.”

“She’s a mystery, all right.”

“I stopped and talked to Ned while I was out running. He suggested I leave a note in the mailbox and invite her to lunch.”

“What an unusual approach. Then again,” Guy said, a grin on his face, “you might end up with the mailman.”

“I’m serious. Ned thinks she’s lonely.”

“How would he know?”

“He didn’t say, but I think he’s figured out who she is.”

“And what are you going to do if she accepts your invitation
—get her here so you can rake her over the coals for going to your pastor without confronting you?”

“No, I’ll prepare a nice lunch. That’ll set the stage for what I’m planning to say.”

“Which is?”

Ellen smiled. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out. But antagonizing a gossip isn’t the way to stop her.”

Gordy put a stack of invoices in Weezie’s in-box and started to leave his office when the phone rang. He went back to his desk and picked up the receiver.

“Gordy’s Crab Shack.”

“Gordy, it’s Chet Lewis. I’m at Billy and Lisa’s, and I …”

“You sound shook up. Somethin’ wrong?”

“You have no idea. I really need you to get over here—hurry!”

G
ordy Jameson pulled his bicycle into the driveway of the last house on North Third Street and leaned it against the garage door. He pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and wiped the perspiration from his face.

Tall pines, towering shade trees, and thick foliage seemed to devour the small yellow frame house that used to be gray when it belonged to Billy’s grandmother. Though the dense shade had caused the grass to thin, Gordy thought the place looked even nicer than when Mattie Lewis lived there.

He walked up on the front stoop and started to ring the bell when Chet Lewis opened the door, ushered him inside, then shut the door and locked it.

Gordy quickly scanned the living room, not surprised to see simple furnishings and everything in its place. “Where’re Billy and Lisa?”

“Come with me,” Chet said. “I need to show you something.”

Gordy followed him across the squeaky floor and down the hall and into a stark bedroom where a small blanket lay folded atop an air mattress in the middle of a hardwood floor. The room exuded a faint smell of urine. Chet reached inside the closet, then turned around holding a pink dress and matching bonnet.

Gordy felt his jaw drop and stood staring at the clothes, unable to turn his shock into words.

“They’d never hurt that little girl!” Chet said. “I can’t go to the FBI until I talk to Billy. I haven’t even told Lena. This is going to kill her.”

“Any idea where they are?”

“No, but they must be on foot, their bicycles are in the garage. Those flyers are all over the city, and I’m sure Billy knows the authorities are looking for the girl. There must be a logical explanation for this, but I sure don’t have it.”

“Maybe I do,” Gordy said. “Let’s go sit down and see if we can put the pieces together.”

Chet went into the living room, seemingly in a daze, and collapsed in the rocking chair.

Gordy sat across from him on the couch, his mind racing in reverse. “This explains why Billy’s been actin’ so strange. I can’t even imagine him and Lisa tryin’ to take care of a two-year-old.”

Gordy told Chet everything he could remember about Billy’s strange behavior and his strong reaction to Ross Hamilton. “Billy overheard Eddie say the police couldn’t protect children from Hamilton. Poor kid must’ve been tryin’ to save the girl from bein’ abused.”