Page 30 of The Fragile Ones
She shrugged. “She may not be hiding anything—maybe it’s just denial.” Looking around, she said, “Let’s see if we can find anything that they didn’t want their mom to know about.”
The overall size of the room was about ten by ten feet. It had been painted white, but was adorned with colorful pictures, drawings, cartoons and posters of young actors. There were twin beds, each against a wall; both were unmade with white sheets, pillowcases, and matching pink-and-yellow flowered comforters. Two small dressers stood across the room on the opposite wall.
Katie started her search with the dressers. She opened the drawers of both with care, methodically looking through the contents of unfolded clothes and various school supplies. She started at the top of each dresser, working her way down to the bottom, making sure she wasn’t making a mess.
McGaven worked more slowly, carefully picking up and opening a jewelry box and looking inside and outside, even underneath, for any secrets that might help them find out what happened that day.
Katie stood up and stared down at one of the dressers. Instinctively, she tried to pull the bottom drawer completely out. It made a scraping noise and hung. Katie wiggled and shifted the drawer from side to side, until finally, with a dry screech, the drawer freed.
McGaven glanced at the door and then to Katie. “Anything?” His voice was hopeful.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “When I was a teenager and didn’t want my uncle to find something, I would tape it underneath a drawer—usually a desk drawer.”
“What kind of stuff?”
Katie chuckled. “Just girl stuff. A photo of a boy I liked. A note someone passed me. Stuff like that. We might find something that the girls were hiding…a new friend…something.”
“Was that boy Chad?”
“I’m not telling,” she said. Carefully removing some clothes and flipping over the bureau drawer, she found a small book taped with masking tape. “Got something.” She peeled the tape and it revealed a thin photo album.
“Whose dresser is that?” McGaven asked.
“I think it’s…Tessa’s.”
Opening the five inch by seven inch booklet, Katie found a collection of old family photos. One showed a man and woman, Katie guessed it was a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Mayfield before they were married and much younger. As she flipped through photos, she saw they were all family related. Pulling out two of the photos, there was handwriting on the back:Mack and Cyndi Mayfield 1992. Another photo said:Housewarming Party Guests. She looked at all the faces closely but it was taken about ten years ago.
McGaven peered over Katie’s shoulder. “What do you think?”
“I’m going to have Mrs. Mayfield identify everyone for us,” she said, taking photos with her phone as backup.
“Good idea.”
A white frame with two smiling girls caught Katie’s eye— she immediately recognized them as Tessa and Megan. The girls were happy and excited about something. Maybe it was a birthday? Or a trip somewhere? They each had their arm around the other’s waist. Someone must’ve said something funny because Tessa was laughing out loud. It was a recent photo, taken six months before they disappeared. Tessa had a necklace around her neck—a long, intricate chain with a turquoise pendant.
Katie went to the jewelry box, a soft tune that she couldn’t place playing when she flipped up the lid. But there was no turquoise pendant.
A small closet was on the other side of the room. It was the last place that they had left to search. Katie put her hand on the doorknob but it spun strangely in her grasp. She tried to pull but the door wouldn’t budge.
“Strange,” she said.
“What?” said McGaven, turning to her.
“This closet.”
McGaven checked it out. “There’s something holding it in place.” He bent down and saw that there was a small chunk of wood wedged underneath. It was difficult to see unless you were on the floor. He pulled it out and the door swung open with a high-pitched squeak.
Katie was relieved to see nothing but clothes on hangers when the door fell open—her curious cop mind reeling with possible scenarios. On the surface beneath the clothes was a cleared area, with a folded blanket and pillow as if someone was sleeping in the closet. “What do you make of this?” she asked her partner.
“One of them sleeping in the closet?” he said. “Makes me wonder what she, or maybe both of them were afraid of.”
Katie looked at McGaven. “Good question.”
They took another look around but didn’t find anything else. As they walked back through the house, they found Mrs. Mayfield washing dishes.
“Mrs. Mayfield?” said Katie.
“Yes.”
