Page 9 of Three Girls Gone
Trent stepped in and showed them Butters’s license photo. Both Tanners said she didn’t look familiar.
Amanda still wasn’t convinced that Butters was innocent. She may have lingered on the periphery. Her claim she never went to the park a complete fabrication. Again, the similar tutu didn’t mean it came from Hailey’s closet. “Did either of you take Hailey to Heroes Memorial Park before?”
“No, but Mara might have,” Jean said.
“That’s the nanny,” McGee said as a reminder.
There had to be some link between the killer and the park. Otherwise, why was Hailey placed in the playground there?Had the killer watched Hailey playing there in the past? Possibly on the carousel itself? “We’ll ask her about that,” Amanda told the Tanners.
“Why though?” Jean spat. “Hasn’t she been put through enough?” She shot a look at McGee. “There is no way Mara has anything to do with this. She’s been here since the day Hailey was born. Our little miracle baby,” she added in a softer tone and glanced at her husband. “How are we supposed to move on?”
“We tried several things to conceive, and it took us a few years to become pregnant,” Vincent explained.
“Then the in vitro took. She was such a little princess right from the start. I swear she was born with a tiara on her head.” Tears fell, and Jean wiped her cheeks.
“Pardon me for asking, but where did you go for the in vitro?” Another woman or couple not as lucky as Jean may have taken Hailey. But why wait six years? And how did that explain murder?
“It was a place in Washington called New Beginnings,” Vincent said. “Jean’s right, though. Mara was a terrific nanny. I saw her with Hailey. There’s no way she’s involved.”
Jean snatched a tissue off a side table and blew her nose. “Mara loved Hailey as if she were her own child. Vince, we’ll need to let her go now Hailey’s gone.”
Amanda, Trent, and McGee held the silence for a few beats. She was the first to speak.
“We understand Mara lives with you,” Amanda said.
“She does, but she’s gone to stay with her sister in town for a while.”
“When was this?” Trent asked.
“Saturday,” Jean said. “She said she wanted to give us some space.”
That struck Amanda as odd considering Mara was being painted as one of the family. One would think she’d want to stayand support the Tanners. Unless another reason had sent her packing. “We’ll need her sister’s information. Did she leave that with you?”
Jean nodded. “Her name is Kendra Bennett.” She gave them the address.
“I’m just finding it hard to accept all this,” Vincent said. “We would have done anything to get Hailey back.”
“Like pay a ransom?” Money as a motive wasn’t ruled out. Something could have prevented the request from being made. Then from bad to worse, Hailey was killed.
“Anything,” Vincent emphasized.
“We discussed posting a reward for her safe return but were cautioned not to do that.” Jean looked at McGee.
“It’s never advisable in abduction cases,” McGee said.
“Hmph,” Jean huffed. “Maybe things would have been different.”
Amanda understood Jean’s need to grasp an alternative, but she wasn’t getting roped into that. Hypotheticals were a waste of time and energy without the power to change reality. But since the Tanners had money, they may have discussed their daughter being kidnapped. Rich people needed to take precautions the rest of the world didn’t. “Did you and your husband ever discuss how you’d handle things if Hailey was taken?”
“What? Absolutely not,” Jean said and calmed down when Vincent put his hand on her arm.
“Some people in your position do this. Unfortunately, there’s a certain risk when a person has a lot of money.” She put this as delicately as possible but was having a hard time. It was challenging to paint financial success as a liability.
“We never did that,” Vincent confirmed. “Maybe if we were billionaires.”
This conversation didn’t eliminate Mara Bennett in Amanda’s mind. Mara would know what lengths the Tanners would go to for Hailey’s safe return. The plan could have turnedfrom ransom, to presenting herself as a hero for a reward. Though it still didn’t explain Hailey’s murder. Amanda didn’t see any advantage in laying this out to Hailey’s parents. “Would it be possible for me and Detective Stenson to look in Mara’s and Hailey’s rooms?” She buried Mara’s name because of how defensive the couple had gotten about her a moment ago.
“Ah, sure,” Vincent said.
