Page 25 of Little Child Gone

“I don’t like other people,” Regan clarified. “I don’t want to worry about kids running across the street or homeowners’ associations. Or neighbors at all.”

“Don’t you have any friends?”

“Of course I do,” he snapped. “How is this relevant to whatever you’re investigating?”

Nikki smiled. “It’s not. I’m just nosy. I understand your desire for privacy, but you’re the only neighbor who can see any of the property. You’re certain you never noticed things happening on the property? Something that just struck you as weird, but you knew the property was empty, so you didn’t pay as much attention to it?”

Regan thought about it for a few minutes. “No. I’m a night owl, I admit. I probably would have noticed if someone was poking around at night. But during the day I’m buried in work and barely look out the window.”

NINE

The rich aroma of coffee greeted Nikki as she walked into the Daily Grind, a downtown coffee shop on Water Street, not far from the river. A large display case of sweets made her mouth water. She ordered a giant cinnamon roll and a coffee loaded with cream and sugar to cover the awful taste. She found a two-seater table in the corner, perfect for a private conversation.

Nikki checked her messages, hoping to have something more from Blanchard or Courtney about the remains, but they were both likely busy with current cases that had to come first over a cold one. Nothing yet from Stephanie or Patrick Hendrickson.

She took her work laptop out of her bag to run Spencer Bancroft’s name. His only brush with the law came in 2013, right after he’d turned eighteen. He’d been arrested for trespassing at an ex-girlfriend’s work. Stephanie had stepped in and asked the judge to release him into her custody, with the ankle bracelet, promising to make sure he came to all his probation meetings, would keep a job and stay away from his ex-girlfriend. He’d joined the fire department a few years later and hadn’t been in trouble since.

Both interviews with the neighbors had helped Nikki get a better idea of the family dynamics. She wanted to talk to both Patrick and Stephanie; had one of them been involved in the deaths of these two people?

“Sorry if I kept you waiting.” Chen slid into the booth across from her, coffee in hand. Gray had taken over the lieutenant’s dark hair, but he seemed to be in better spirits than he had been the last time Nikki worked with him. He’d still been reeling from personal issues affecting a missing children’s case, but now he seemed more focused, with less darkness in his eyes.

“I have to say, I’m really intrigued,” Chen said. “I heard the sheriff was out at the old Hendrickson place this morning. Rumor is remains were found.”

“Two sets, in the addition,” Nikki said. “We brought in a K9 this morning and didn’t find anything else on the property. Matt Kline bought the place because he works with Karl Hendrickson’s grandson Spencer.”

Chen made a face. “Stephanie’s son. God, that woman is a menace.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s a defense attorney who will stop at nothing to get her wealthy, white-collar clients off. Plus, I went to high school with her.”

Chen was a few years younger than Nikki, but she knew he’d attended Stillwater High School. “Did you have a lot of interaction with her?”

He shrugged. “Some, but it was more my friend. He had a huge crush on her and she was popular and wealthy. Laughed in his face when he asked her out and then told her friends an embellished version of the story. She did stuff like that all the time.”

That lined up with everything else she’d heard about Stephanie. “What about Patrick? He’s a couple of years older than her, but I don’t think he was there at the same time as me either.” She sipped her coffee.

Chen drummed his fingers on the table. “Patrick Hendrickson. Pretty sure he was a big lacrosse star. I always heard that he and Stephanie didn’t get along. They were never seen together at school. He wouldn’t even give her a ride most of the time.”

“Wow.” Nikki nodded. “Blanchard and the forensic anthropologist are working to establish a time of death, but I’m fairly certain we know who our two victims are.” She told Chen what Spencer Bancroft had shared earlier that morning. “Spencer said Ms. Smith and her family showed up the spring of 2015 and then disappeared shortly before school resumed. The family assumed she’d left and stolen some valuables.”

“I bet Stephanie was livid,” Chen said. “She’s a control freak. Wasn’t there some weird shit with Karl Hendrickson’s estate, too?”

“He left part of it to Ms. Smith and her children. They had eighteen months to claim it and never came forward. The family attorney did their diligence and searched for her as well. They never found anyone,” Nikki said. “I also spoke to Karl’s old neighbors this morning. Everyone has described Stephanie the same way: extremely difficult in general, contesting the will, pushing for the sale of the property. It sounds like Patrick tried to protect his father’s wishes and took some antiques but supported the search for Ms. Smith.”

“Did Spencer say if this Ms. Smith got along with Stephanie?”

“Stephanie wasn’t happy,” Nikki said. “We don’t know what the conversations were about with Ms. Smith, but Spencer said she hated her.”

“Good luck investigating that branch of the family tree,” Chen said. “I’m sure Stephanie was thrilled when her inheritance was threatened.”

“According to Spencer, his mother didn’t know about the change to the will until after Karl passed. Spencer is the one who acted as witness to confirm his grandfather was of sound mind to make changes. He asked me not to tell her if I could manage it.”

“Stephanie made it a point to know everything about anything she viewed as important,” Chen said. “She may not have known for sure, but she could have suspected it.”

“If she did do something, she surely had help,” Nikki mused. “One woman against a teenage boy and his mom and sister would be a tough task.”

Chen’s eyes lit up. “Spencer said this all happened in 2015?”

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