Footprints in the Ferns, page 17
“I’m sure it affected Crystal.”
“Maybe,” she said, “but I didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance.”
“Is there anybody who would have helped her run away and stay away all this time?”
Clara just stared at her. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, is there anybody—family, friends, grandparents—who would have given her a home and not told you what they were doing?”
“No, absolutely not. We’re all very close.”
Doreen just smiled and nodded but didn’t say anything because very close didn’t sound like what Clara was describing. “Is there any reason Crystal would want to get away from the family?”
“I know she wanted to get away from Mary.”
“And yet, she didn’t sleep here all the time, did she?”
Clara’s shoulders slumped at that truth, but she shook her head and said, “No, you’re right. She’d always go back again to Eric’s house, where Mary was.”
“So, how bad was it really over there?”
“Probably not as bad as I wanted it to be,” Clara said. “Maybe I just built it up more in my mind because I don’t like the woman.”
Doreen privately thought that was likely true. “What about at school? Was anybody bothering her, like a school bully? Did she have a problem with a teacher or the principal or any adult?”
Clara just stared at her. “I don’t like that question either,” she said. “As far as I know, nobody would have kidnapped her and hurt her or helped her escape from me and my husband.”
“Good,” Doreen said briskly. “That’s what I needed to know.” She wasn’t going to mention any suggestion of abuse. She figured the police could handle that part of this mess.
Clara straightened up and said, “Look. I’ll put on a pot of coffee. I presume you want a few minutes to just check out her room.”
“Absolutely,” Doreen said with a smile. She waited until Clara was gone and then went through the dresser and the night table. A diary would have been lovely, but Crystal had been only eight so maybe young for such an activity. And if she had chance, her mother would have gone through anything like that pretty carefully. Doreen checked under the sheets and between the mattresses and behind the dresser and pulled out the drawers and checked behind there too. Going through Nan’s stuff had taught her all that. Finally, by the time Clara returned, Doreen stood in the room with her hands on her hips.
“Did you find anything?”
“No,” Doreen said. “Obviously, if something were hidden here, the cops would have found it long ago.”
“Exactly,” Clara said.
“There’re no pictures on the wall,” Doreen noted. “No stuffed animals on the bed. No dolls on the floor. Did you pack up any of her things?”
Clara shook her head.
“It’s almost like she didn’t have a personality.”
“She slept here, that’s for sure,” her mom said. “She did a lot of homework here on her computer.”
“Where’s her computer?”
Clara shook her head. “I don’t know. I thought about that, but I don’t have a clue where it is. I asked Eric about it, and he said he thought it was with me.”
“A laptop?” Doreen asked.
Clara nodded. “Her father bought it for her.”
“That’s a pretty expensive gift for a young girl.”
“Oh, it wasn’t new,” Clara said. “It was one more of those things he used to buy and sell.”
“Ah,” Doreen said. “Any idea if she took it to the mall or with her to her friends’ houses?”
“She took it with her everywhere. Sometimes she and her friends would sit in these little parks and play games together on each other’s laptops. They also took them to the library downtown.”
“Right,” Doreen said. “Any idea when Crystal’s laptop might have gone missing?”
“No, but I figured it must have been that same night. Because it’s not at my place, and it’s not at his. So where else could it be?”
“That means it was important to her if she took it with her.”
“Or somebody understood she played with it or thought there might be incriminating evidence on it,” Clara said, “and took it with them.”
“Right,” Doreen said as she cast a final glance around the room. “I guess there’s no chance to get into her room in her father’s house, is there?”
Clara looked at her in surprise. “Actually there is. They’re gone for the week, and I’m looking after the plants and the cat.”
“Oh, you’re that good a friend?”
“I am with my husband. I tolerate Mary.”
Clara was still using the term husband, not ex-husband, which Doreen thought very odd. And very sad. Clara’s view on their married relationship sounded at odds with the arguing she had mentioned as well. Maybe she still loved her ex-husband? Still wanted him back enough to gloss over the fighting? “Would you mind? I’d like to take a quick look.”
“I guess that’s even more important because that’s where she was taken from.”
“Yes,” Doreen said. They exited Clara’s house and walked across the street. Eric’s house was almost a matching bungalow on the other side.
Clara let them in the front door and said, “I have to clean the litter box and feed the cat anyway. Go down that hallway. Crystal’s room is at the end.”
Doreen wasted no time. She headed toward Crystal’s room, curious to see just what this was all about. As she stepped inside, she saw another room stuck in time. She stood with her hands on her hips, wondering how she would handle such a thing. Would I keep it as a shrine to my lost child? Would I keep it with everything exactly as she left it, hoping she’d come back and remember this was home? Would I lock the door to her room, so I didn’t have to see it every day? Would I pack it all up, store it in the attic, and convert this room to a guest room or as an exercise room? All of it seemed psychologically damaging no matter which way you went.
Doreen went through the closets and through the bed and the dressers. She saw a few toys, but not much was here either. She’d have to ask for that list of toys that disappeared with her. And was the laptop even on that list? How many eight-year-olds had their own laptop? She frowned at that, thinking it was fairly odd. Especially ten years ago, when they were quite pricey. Then again her father likely got a “deal,” and, chances were, it wasn’t in great condition.
As Doreen went through the closet, she found it went quite deep. She pushed all the clothes and the hangars off to one side and stepped farther in, using the flashlight on her phone.
In the back on a set of shelves was a small box. She pulled the box into the room and took a look at it. It was an old laptop box and still had some manuals and things in it. She flipped through it all, but there wasn’t much except the serial number. She took a photo of that, replaced the box, and pulled another box from the shelf.
She found some old cards from classmates and family members, but she found nothing important until she got to the bottom of the stack—a picture of Crystal and several other people. They all appeared to be happy. She was held aloft by two big men, and a woman stood beside them. She pulled out the photo as Clara walked into the room. Doreen held it up and asked, “When was this taken?”
Clara stared at it. “I never saw that before.”
“Is that Mary?”
Clara nodded and asked, “Who are the men beside her?”
The two women looked at the photo, and Clara burst out, “Oh, that’s José and Guido, Mary’s brothers.”
Chapter 26
Wednesday Early Afternoon …
Back in her vehicle, Doreen went around the block, parked, then got out, and went to the corner of the road to see what Clara might do next. Doreen watched as Clara walked across to her house and then appeared to be inside for a while. Wondering if she was wrong, Doreen sat and waited. And then, all of a sudden, Clara’s vehicle came ripping down the block. She didn’t even look in Doreen’s direction and tore around the corner.
Doreen hopped back into her car, following Clara as best she could from a distance. Clara appeared to be on a mission, but Doreen had no idea what mission or why. She took lefts and then rights, headed through the main part of town, until they climbed a hill heading toward the Clifton Road area. Doreen frowned, realizing they were heading toward Glenmore—wasn’t that where one of the brothers lived? At least that’s what Nan had said. At that, she wondered, “What are you up to, Clara?”
When Clara took a left onto a side street, Doreen deliberately drove past, hoping she would not be seen. The street appeared to curve around, so she waited a little bit before she pulled into the left-hand turn of a mall and turned around so she was coming back and could approach the same turnoff Clara had taken from the opposite direction.
Clara’s vehicle was parked in a driveway about five houses in. Several other vehicles were parked there—it looked more like a mechanic’s dream shop than a residence. Vehicles without wheels were on the side; another older car had its hood open. The inside of the garage was filled with vehicles. She kept on driving but noted the address. When she got to the end of the block, she wrote down the address and texted it to Mack.
Instead of texting her back, he called and asked, “What’s with the address?
“I need to know who owns the house.”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because it’s important,” she snapped. She parked several houses up and out of the way so she could keep an eye on Clara’s car.
“Why?”
“Because Clara just showed me Crystal’s bedroom in her husband’s house and in her home. I found a picture of Crystal, laughing and having a grand old time with Mary, Guido, and José,” she said impatiently. “Clara kind of freaked. Next thing I know, she’s driven straight out to Glenmore, and she’s at that address I gave you. Now you tell me that’s not Guido’s address.”
“I want you to go straight home,” he said, his voice tight and hard. “Do not drive past that house. Do you hear me?”
“Meaning, it is his, right?”
“Yes,” he said. “I’ll send a cop to drive past the house. You go home. Do not pass them again. If they have any idea you followed her,” he said, “they’ll come after you. These people are not to be trifled with.”
“Then you better get here and get after them before they come after me,” she said coolly. “I told you before. Most of these cases involve people who don’t want to talk. I’ve just shaken something loose, whether it was intentional or not. That picture brought up all kinds of shit for Clara.”
“Was she angry? Was she worried?”
“I think she was in shock. She said she didn’t know who the men were. Then she suddenly recognized them.”
“But, if Clara knew them, why would she be upset?”
Doreen noticed activity at the house. “Somebody’s having a fight in the driveway. It’s a large man. I can’t really see who it is, but he’s got his arm pointing at Clara, yelling at her to get the hell out.”
And just like that, she watched Clara get into her vehicle, reverse onto the road, and take off. “Now she’s leaving,” Doreen said. “And he’s not happy that she showed up in the first place.”
“So maybe she thinks they’re involved?”
“Maybe, or maybe they’re all involved, and he’s afraid she’s bringing the cops down on them.”
“You do like to get yourself in trouble, don’t you?” Mack said with a heavy sigh. “Go straight home. Don’t stop anywhere.”
“I don’t need to,” she said cheerfully. “I already went to the bank and also picked up groceries. You can cook pork chops, can’t you?”
“Of course I can cook pork chops,” he said, but his voice was distracted.
“Good, then that’s what you’ll cook Friday night. I’m leaving now.” She ended her call, turned her engine on, and, rather than drive past the house, she pulled a U-turn and headed up and around the block. It didn’t lead back onto the main road but did take her several blocks down below. She retraced her steps, but it was hard to figure out exactly where she was. It took longer to get home than she had planned, but, by the time she finally pulled into her driveway, she was more than grateful to be home. Mugs was barking at the front door already. She unlocked the door and let Mugs out, taking a moment to cuddle him. “I know, Mugs. I hardly ever leave you alone anymore, do I?”
She pushed inside with the animals, all three of them talking to her one way or another as she spent a few minutes cuddling everybody before closing her front door. “You guys are something else. Who knew you would be such cuddle bums?”
When they were all calmed down, she headed to the kitchen, got out the treats, and gave everybody a few. She opened the kitchen door, propped it open, and then walked back inside to put on the teakettle, while she put up the rest of her groceries, mainly the canned goods in the pantry.
Her mind was buzzing with what she’d seen. Guido definitely had something to do with this, but Doreen didn’t know what and how much—if anything—did Clara have to do with it? And why didn’t Clara know anything about Guido in that photograph? Did Mary make a point of having her family meet Crystal? And maybe Clara didn’t want them to?
Doreen wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but her mind wouldn’t let it go. She put away the last of the groceries while the tea water boiled; then she made a cup and sat out on the deck at the small table and chair. She had a notepad beside her and her laptop in front of her. The light was dim, but she could still see some things. She jotted down the notes of what she’d seen, the house address, Clara’s license plate, and she’d also grabbed the type of car and the time of day when she had arrived at Guido’s house.
When her doorbell rang, she groaned, shut the laptop, and stood up, walking to the front door. When she opened it, she stared in surprise at Clara. Only it wasn’t just Clara; it was a very angry, seething Clara. Doreen raised her eyebrows and asked, “What’s the matter?”
“You followed me,” she snapped.
“Yes, I did,” Doreen said, calmly crossing her arms over her chest. She leaned against the doorway. “You went straight to Guido’s house. Guido, who you said you didn’t know and didn’t recognize in the picture.”
Clara’s face worked into a shocked expression. “How did you know that’s Guido’s house?”
“It’s pretty easy to tell,” Doreen said, “and thanks for confirming it.”
Clara’s temper spiked. She glared at Doreen, her fingers clenching and unclenching.
“Why are you so angry?” Doreen asked. She eyed the woman carefully. Mugs was sniffing around her ankles, but he wasn’t barking. Normally, if he didn’t like somebody, he growled and barked. But, at this point, Mugs seemed to be unconcerned. Then again he’d been locked up all morning. Maybe this was his retaliation for Doreen leaving him, this failure to growl at her enemies. Mugs’s reaction to Clara made no sense in many ways. But she didn’t dare take her eyes off Clara. She’d seen way too many women strike out when Doreen turned her back.
And then, all of a sudden, Clara seemed to lose all the stuffing inside her, and tears welled up in her eyes. She wiped them and whispered, “I’m so exhausted. I just want this shit over with.”
“And what shit is that?” Doreen asked, almost quivering as she got the words out.
“I want my daughter back.”
“And yet, I wonder if you wanted your daughter when she was there with you for the first eight years of her life,” she said, knowing she was being deliberately aggressive and hurtful. It wasn’t that she wanted to hurt this woman, but she needed the truth. “You haven’t spoken the truth since this all began. How do you expect anybody to find answers when you start with lies?”
Clara sagged against the porch railing. “I don’t understand how you know that,” she cried softly. “They weren’t major lies.”
“Any lie hinders the truth, Clara,” Doreen said with emphasis, watching as now Goliath came out and wrapped his way through Clara’s legs.
Clara didn’t seem to notice.
Doreen didn’t know what the animals were up to, but two of them were here now. She raised her gaze to Clara’s face. “One small lie throws everybody into a different direction, and it wasn’t just one small lie, was it?”
Clara shook her head. A heavy sigh came up from her chest as if a weight had been released. “No,” she admitted. “It wasn’t just one small lie. It was lots of them. I should probably go to the cops and change my statement.”
“You should, especially if you ever want to find your daughter, dead or alive.”
“How could she be alive?” Clara asked. “After all this time especially.”
“I don’t know,” Doreen said, “because I haven’t heard your current version yet. Why don’t you start with that?”
Clara nodded. “I was supposed to look after her,” she said. “Crystal was supposed to be at my house. She wasn’t supposed to be at Eric’s house. Eric and Mary were fighting, and Crystal didn’t want to go over there on her scheduled days, and I was fighting with Eric to let Crystal stay with me. But Eric adored her, and he didn’t want to lose that time he had with her. He was always fighting with Mary over Crystal’s visits.”
“So that night when she went missing, she wasn’t even supposed to be in Eric’s house?” Doreen asked for confirmation. She frowned because that, of course, changed everything. If she wasn’t supposed to be there, then who would actually know she was there?
