Page 72 of Three Girls Gone
“Men and women?” Amandaasked.
“Both.”
“And the server who tended to the party?” Trent looked up from his tablet, where he’d been tapping a moment prior.
“There were two. Well, a woman at first, then a man helped too.”
Amanda perked up at that, even though there could be an innocent explanation. She still resonated more with a man behind the murders and Eloise’s kidnapping. “Do you know why?”
Krista shook her head. “I just assumed the woman needed help to serve our party.”
Goosebumps trailed down Amanda’s arms. What better place for a sexual deviant to gain employment than an ice cream shop? They’d have their pick of children. But acknowledging this grim truth, thinking like these deviants, made her sick. Though, if Eloise was the victim of circumstance, and he was working, how could he have followed the family home? “Do you remember their names?”
“No.” Krista squeezed her husband’s hand. “I don’t think they had name tags on their aprons.”
Amanda nodded. They’d visit the Scoop and find out who served the party, get some names, question them. “Did you notice if anyone followed you home?”
“No, but it’s not the type of thing I look for.”
“That’s understandable.” For the average person, it wouldn’t be something they’d need to consider. “Can you describe the servers?”
“You think one of them took Ellie?” Damon asked.
“We’re just trying to get some details,” Trent stepped in and assured the man. He gestured toward Krista to answer Amanda’s question.
“The woman was blond, in her twenties, pretty, I guess. The man had dark hair, brown eyes, an almond-shaped face, lean, late thirties. He had a cut or a scar on his top lip.”
Damon searched his wife’s profile with hislips pursed and his brow pressed. He was curious about the amount of detail his wife recalled about the man. It struck Amanda too as Krista just confessed to not paying much attention to people around them. But Amanda was reeling for another reason.The scar on the top lip…She might be grasping. Most of the attributes were vague, but the package sounded a lot like the nanny’s Wilson M. After all, how many people had an obvious scar on their lip? “You ever see either of them before?”
“The servers?” Krista asked, and when Amanda nodded, she said, “The woman, yes, but I think the man was new.”
Amanda glanced at Trent, who met her gaze. “Going back to last night, did either of you hear anything?”
“Nothing,” Damon said. “Making all this even more shocking. But there was the matter of the front door.” He glanced at Krista.
Amanda angled her head. “What about it?”
“It was unlocked.”
“But you lock it at night?” Amanda’s own parents didn’t always lock theirs despite her father being the former police chief. It was a soft spot in rural and small-town living. Some people were too trusting. Some had a shotgun at the ready.
“Always.”
Yet no sign of forced entry. Picking a lock could still leave marks, unless they were skilled. But it’s possible the killer accessed the home another way, such as a window, and walked out the front door with Eloise. How brazen, though. Even if they took Eloise during the witching hours when everyone in the neighborhood was asleep, doorbell cameras didn’t sleep. They’d need to check with the neighbors across the street. They might get lucky. “What was Eloise wearing?”
“Her pink and teal unicorn pajamas,” Krista told them.
It would be rather cool at night for that alone. “Any other articles of her clothing missing? Toys?”
“Her stuffedunicorn,” Damon said.
“It was her favorite,” Krista added.
“Any coats? Shoes? Was she wearing socks?” Amanda asked the probing questions, hungry for more information.
“No socks when she went to bed. I never checked on the other.” Krista left the couch and padded down the hall. A few moments later, she called out. “Her coat and shoes are here.” She returned and nestled back on the couch and into her husband’s side. He wrapped his arm around her again.
Eloise was out there with only PJs to keep her warm. “Does Eloise have any medical conditions?”
