Page 86 of Deeper Than the Dead

“I am. We interviewed all your neighbors. All the shopkeepers and folks around town who might have had reason to run into Sheree. A few husbands and boyfriends who preferred to stay anonymous to prevent their wives and girlfriends from learning about their bad behavior—Bent won’t have found statements in the file from those. As long as they had an alibi I could confirm, I respected their requests for privacy.” He gave a solemn nod. “Your daddy even offered a reward to anyone who could provide information leading to an arrest. A few came forward with stories, but none that survived close scrutiny.”

Vera had forgotten about the reward. Ten thousand dollars. A lot of money in those days. Not exactly a pittance now.

“What about my father?” Vera ventured. “Did you have any reason whatsoever to believe he might be involved in her disappearance?”

Fraley shook his head. “None at all. I’ve never seen a man more devastated over the loss of his wife. Still, I didn’t let him off so easy. I’ve seen a few who can fake devastation. Not on that level, still I did my due diligence. I checked with his coworkers. He was at work the day Sheree disappeared. Went in at eight that morning and didn’t leave until just past five.”

He’d come home at 5:30 p.m. Eve had been terrified that he would recognize they were lying about not having seen Sheree that afternoon. Turned out, they were convincing enough. He’d never appeared to doubt their story.

“A month later we’d all concluded that—as long as she was still breathing—she’d left and didn’t want to be found.”

“But now,” Vera said, “you know that wasn’t the case.”

“I’m sorry to say that’s right.”

“Looking back,” Vera said, “would you have done anything differently?”

Fraley’s wrinkled brow furrowed deeper in concentration as his gaze turned distant. After at least thirty endless seconds pounded out in her veins, he blinked, set his gaze back on hers. “Not one thing.”

In Vera’s opinion, that was saying something. Apparently she and Eve had been better at covering up what really happened than she’d realized.

“What about the other remains found in the cave?” she ventured. “Was there anyone who went missing in the two or three years before Sheree? Or in the past five years? Another case that was never solved?”

Fraley gave a wobbly shake of his head. “I can confidently say that Sheree was the only unsolved missing persons case we had in this county during my tenure as sheriff.”

“A fine record,” Vera said. He’d been a good sheriff. Her parents had always spoken highly of him.

“Just doing my job.”

“When I spoke to Beatrice,” Vera went on, “I asked her to put together a list of my parents’ friends. I’m hoping to talk to anyone close enough to have known about the cave. She was going to speak with you to get your input.”

“I’m sure she will. She had to run out this afternoon. As you can imagine, she has to work around my needs for most everything.”

Vera understood. It was a difficult situation. “Do you recall anyone who might have been that close to my parents?”

He pondered her question for a good long while. Maybe a whole minute. Felt like ten. “Well,” he began, “to the best of my knowledge, your mama and daddy had two sets of close friends. Me and Beatrice and Charles and Florence. No one else that I know of were so close. But the two had many friends, to be sure. I’m just not sure any of those folks were close enough to have had your daddy or your mama covering for murder, if that’s what you’re looking for.”

Not exactly the answer Vera had hoped for. “What about helpers? Maybe someone who did work around the house or the farm? Cut the hay? Someone like that may have known about the cave.”

Walt bent forward, rubbed at his forehead. He’d obviously lost the ability to reach upward. When he raised up again, he said, “No one who comes to mind right off. Your daddy had horses at one time, which prevented the need to cut the pastures for hay. He never allowed any hunting, so I’m guessing the answer is no. He and your mother took care of the maintenance around the house. Does that mean there wasn’t somebody who snooped around and found the cave? Course not. Folks do things they aren’t supposed to do all the time.”

Vera exhaled a breath of disappointed exhaustion. “Thank you, Sheriff Fraley. I suppose I’m grasping at straws.”

“You should call me Walt, Vee. I’ve known you since before you were born.”

“Walt,” she repeated, somehow managing a smile. “I appreciate your time.”

“Talk to Bea again and to Florence,” he suggested. “They knew all the gossip on everyone—still do.” He laughed, then coughed long and hard for the effort. “If someone was close enough to one of your parents to know about the cave, those two could tell you. They know everything that happens around here. They were my go-to informants for local gossip.” He frowned then. “When Sheree went missing was the one and only time those two seemed to fall down on the job.” He smiled sadly. “I suppose everyone gets it wrong sometimes. In fact, they were so wrong I warned them that I’d better never hear any such rumor floating around town.”

Vera hesitated. Part of her didn’t want to ask ... but she had to know. “The ladies had a scenario about who was responsible for Sheree’s disappearance that they shared with you?”

“Oh yeah.” He nodded. “But I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“I need to know,” she assured him.

He gave a wobbly nod. “They were both convinced it was you girls.”

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