Page 38 of Three Girls Gone
“All righty then.” Trent raised his hands and sat back. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about someone like that.”
“What can I say? That woman brings it out in me.”
“What did she tell you? Signs of a break-in or not?”
“Huh. That’s the thing right there. She’s not sure.” She ran through what the investigator had told her.
“Then we’re where we were when we left.”
“Yep. Hours later we’re not any closer to knowing if it was a welcomed guest or home intruder that took the tutu or the slippers. As for other possible dead ends, let’s go talk with the Tanners again.”
Trent pinched his fingers together. “A tad more optimism might not hurt.”
If he wanted that from her, he’d be waiting a while.
FIFTEEN
Amanda and Trent passed Katherine heading into Central when they were leaving. She confirmed she remembered where Amanda’s desk was and kept walking while tossing out, “Good luck,” over her shoulder. And they just might need it.
When they showed up at the Tanner residence, three vehicles were in the driveway. None of them belonged to Crime Scene, so at least stuffy Vanessa Stuart had moved on. Amanda wasn’t sure she could keep her temper under control if she had to face that woman so soon after speaking with her.
Trent rang the bell, and the chime reached the front step again. The beautiful tune seemed to mock the tragedy that had struck the home’s inhabitants.
The door was opened by a woman in her late fifties. The gray around her temples stood out in contrast to her otherwise brown hair.
Amanda flashed her badge, as did Trent. “Detectives Steele, and Stenson. Would Vincent or Jean Tanner be home?”
The woman pinched her lips and backed up to let them inside. Voices in subdued chatter carried from the sitting room to the entry.
“I’m Pamela, Vincent’s mother.” She pulled her buttoned cardigan tighter around herself.
Hailey’s grandmother…Amanda’s heart ached for the woman. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you. Nothing could have ever prepared me for…” Pamela’s eyes welled with tears as she spoke, but her words were cut off as she was overtaken by a body-wracking sob. “If you’ll…” Pamela shuffled down the hall toward the back of the home, stranding them beneath the entry chandelier.
Amanda and Trent looked at each other, then both ducked through the doorway into the sitting room.
“Detectives?” Vincent got up from the couch and came over to them. “Did you find out who did this? Please, tell us you did.” His shoulders sagged when she shook her head.
“Not yet, but trust me when I say we are doing all that we can.” As she spoke, it wasn’t far from her mind that the sick person who killed Hailey had increased his victim tally to two.Will there be more? Werethere more?She had to squeeze that invasive thought out. She cleared her throat. “We just have a few more questions for you and your wife.” She looked past Vincent’s shoulder but didn’t spot Jean in the room. She did meet with three curious faces gazing back at her. A woman and two men, all older than Vincent. The couple must be Jean’s parents and the remaining person, Pamela’s husband. “Is your wife home?”
“She’s just lying down. I could get her, but I’d hate to wake her. She took some pills and probably won’t be much help anyhow.” Vincent then introduced everyone in the room, confirming they were his father and in-laws. “Please sit wherever you’d like.”
Amanda wished returning another time was an option, but this conversation would never be an easy one. “We won’t be long, but, Mr.Tanner, it might be best if we could speak withyou someplace a little more private,” she said. “Say, the kitchen or dining room?”
Vincent glanced at his father, then nodded at Amanda. “All right.” He took them to the dining table, where he sat on one side, while Amanda and Trent sat across from him.
There wasn’t an easy way to bring up what was necessary. She’d get to the point. “Fresh evidence has surfaced, part of which has us suspecting the person who took Hailey latched on to her months ago. Even going back to last fall or winter.” Consideration for Vincent’s feelings had her going withwho took Haileynotwho killed her. It was also why she wasn’t going to disclose they suspected a serial killer was behind his daughter’s death.
The light dimmed in his eyes. “But you still aren’t any closer to finding who did this?”
“We wish we had better news,” Trent inserted. “But we’re hoping you might help.”
“I’ve told you everything.”
“Except that now we’re looking at a different timeline,” Amanda stressed. “Were there any new friends or acquaintances that surfaced in the fall? New employees at your company? Other people you may have had in your home?”
“We’re hiring interns all the time, but they have nothing to do with me. Human resources handle employees. No one from the office is brought into my personal life.”
