Page 8 of Three Girls Gone
“No, no, no…” Jean was sobbing and shaking her head.
The pain emanating from her was alive, as if an entity of its own. “We’re very sorry for your loss,” Amanda said, herempathy for them getting the best of her. But she’d been on the receiving end of such news before. Her husband and six-year-old daughter, Lindsey, had been taken from her. Not murdered, a car accident caused by a drunk driver, but gone, nonetheless. Same too for her unborn son and her ability to have children.
“What happened to her? Who did this?” Vincent’s body language was stiff, and his voice raw, as he assumed a strong front.
“Wait,” Jean intercepted, leveling a look at Amanda and Trent. “That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? What unit are you with?”
“Homicide, ma’am.” Trent told her.
“I guess it makes sense. You said she was found, but…” She shut her mouth and stared blankly across the room.
Being here to witness this couple’s worst nightmare come to life burrowed an ache in Amanda’s chest. As of this moment, all hope for Hailey’s safe return had evaporated.
“Please tell us how she…” Vincent’s voice petered out, but then he tagged on, “You said she was found in Heroes Memorial Park?”
McGee sat back and gestured toward Amanda.
Now, he passes the baton…“We don’t have a lot of answers yet, but I assure you we will be working hard to get them.”
“Did she… ah… suffer?” Jean hiccupped a sob.
“An autopsy will be conducted today, and we’ll know more then.” Amanda delivered that in an even tone, even as it drained energy from her soul. She’d do well to step back and detach, or this case would devour her sanity.
Jean touched her throat, and tears beaded in her eyes but didn’t fall. She had retreated behind a protective layer of shock.
“We have some questions for you that might help us figure out who killed her.” Trent put this as delicately as velvet, but Jean’s mouth still opened in a silent sob.
Vincent glanced at McGee, then at Trent. “I don’t knowwhat else we could say that we didn’t already tell Detective McGee. We can’t think of anyone who would have taken Hailey, let alone…” He paused there, but resumed speaking a few seconds later. “She was a happy kid, loved ballet, and being active.”
“We can’t imagine what you’re going through right now.” Though Amanda had an idea. But this wasn’t about her. It was about the Tanners and their loss. Learning about Hailey was useful, and Vincent’s offering teed up something Amanda wanted to discuss further. “Mrs.Tanner, you said that Hailey was inThe Nutcrackerlast year?”
“That’s right. Two weeks before Christmas she played the Sugar Plum Fairy, and she did a marvelous job. She outshone her classmates, but she is quite an advanced dancer for her age.” Talking about her daughter in this sense seemed to have resurrected her spirits and shoved her grief aside, although Amanda noted the use of the present tense.
“Where did the show take place?” As she thought at the crime scene, it might have been Hailey’s star quality that attracted her abductor and killer. Detective McGee had exhausted leads closer to the family. A stranger may have initially latched on to Hailey at the show. The similarity in the tutus a mere coincidence.
“At her elementary school,” Vincent said and provided its name. “Most of Hailey’s classmates danced around the stage without training. It was rather comedic.” Despite his words, his expression was pinched with sadness.
“Were tickets limited to the families of the kids who attend there?” Amanda asked, but she had this horrible feeling rising in her gut.
Jean shook her head. “It was open to the public. The event was used as an opportunity to raise money for the school.”
Meaning anyone could go…But that was five months ago. “Was Hailey in other shows or competitionsmore recently?”
“No more shows, and we don’t let her compete,” Jean said. “Vince and I don’t want her around the negativity of competition and comparison.”
So had Hailey’s killer been in the background, stalking her, for months?
SIX
Talking with those at the school about the event was necessary. For now, Amanda would change direction. “Do either of you know Susan Butters?”
The couple looked at each other and shook their heads in unison.
“Who is that?” Vincent asked.
“She’s the woman who found Hailey this morning,” Amanda told them.
“We don’t know her.”
