by Julie Mellon
Katie gave her a small smile and began again. “Linda, can you tell us what you remember about the gathering at the church?”
“Of course. I’ve been writing all this down, just to jog my memory. I was hoping I would remember something to take to Chief Davidson.” Putting the final clothespin in place, she turned and waved for the agents to follow her inside.
The color explosion from outside continued inside. What she didn’t have financially, she made sure to make up for in color. There were plastic and fresh flowers on every table, colorful quilts that hid the threadbare cushions of a couch dating from the 1980’s, and dishes piled in the sink that were mismatched.
“Junior, I told you, you couldn’t watch TV until you did the dishes.” Linda grabbed the remote and shooed her son into the kitchen to do his chores. She lowered herself into the side chair, covered in yet another colorful quilt, and grabbed a notebook sitting beside her chair.
“Let’s see. I got there right at seven. I don’t like being late. You miss too much, see. Elaine was late as usual. We spent most of the time dividing clothes. Some of the women don’t think it’s right to put certain colors on kids, but I think you can never go wrong with color. It also helps keep things around longer. See, my Sally, she’s a bit of a tomboy. She’s forever getting grass stains on her clothes. Well, a little dye will change the color and cover the grass stain. She can wear her clothes twice as long and feel like she has a new wardrobe.” Linda smiled proudly. “Some of them ladies just have too much money and not enough good sense. If they ever had to work so hard for the things they had, they might appreciate a good idea.
“Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes, the arrivals.” Linda continued to ramble on and gave an account of who arrived when and what items they brought to contribute. They got a lesson on what was appropriate or inappropriate about each person. By the time Linda had refilled their tea glasses a second time, she began to wind down. “I gathered up my stuff and left about 9:15. Only Elaine and Evelyn were left. They always stay ‘til everyone leaves. Elaine likes - well liked - to make sure everything was neat and tidy before she walked out the door. As far as I can tell, it was just those two and Father Joe down the hall left in the whole building. Do you think Father Joe did it? In the shows, it’s always the priest.” The excitement on Linda’s face hadn’t dimmed the entire time she talked. She was so excited to be involved in a real police investigation, and now that the FBI was involved, she was even more excited.
“We have pretty much cleared Father Joe. You can rest assured that your clergy is a good person,” Michael said, trying hard not to laugh.
“Well, then that only leaves Evelyn. That poor girl. She couldn’t hurt a fly. Surely you don’t think it was her?”
“Now, Linda, surely you don’t expect us to give away all our secrets? But tell me, if it was Evelyn, do you think she could carry her sister very far?” Michael’s tone was teasing. He was enjoying stringing Linda along.
“Oh, you!” Linda said as she giggled. “You just make sure you let me know when you find the real person. I want to know all about how you did it. Suspecting poor Evelyn! Why, that is preposterous. I can’t believe you were pulling my leg.” Linda fanned herself with the notebook as she chortled.
Michael bantered back and forth with Linda for a few more minutes before they got up to leave.
Once back in the car, Katie said, “I’m starving and I need a bathroom. That woman practically had us drink an entire gallon of tea. Let’s find a restaurant where we can sit and talk and eat something healthier than a burger drowning in sauce.” Michael smiled at Katie’s grumpy demeanor, but instead of the drive thru, he took them to a local diner on Church Street, the main street running through town.
The diner was in an older building; the booths had old ripped vinyl seats and the Formica counter had chips in it. Despite the run-down condition, the place was spotless and the menu had several healthy dishes.
They waited until their food was served to start discussing all they had uncovered. Katie began the discussion. “As much as Linda delighted me with her memory, I think she had a valid point about something. What if we aren’t looking for a man? We’ve talked several times about the fact that there is no evidence of rape. What if that’s because the person doing this is female? I think it’s possible for a woman to be doing this.”
“She would have to be strong,” Michael said. “It takes a lot of strength to subdue someone, drag them to their lair, torture them, then carry her unconscious body back to her home. If we use Linda’s theory that Evelyn was the last one to see Elaine, do you really see her as strong enough to pull this off?”
Katie chewed a bite of her salad as she thought this over. “Evelyn is the last person to have seen Elaine. We only have her word that Elaine went back inside and disappeared. What if Elaine allowed Evelyn to drive her home when she couldn’t find her keys? That would explain how she got out of the church with no one seeing her. So Evelyn either took Elaine to her lair, or stuffed her in the trunk until Father Joe provided an alibi. Did we ever find out what happened with Elaine’s car?”
Michael pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. Waiting for an answer, he waved the waitress over and ordered chocolate cake for dessert. Katie passed on her own dessert and the waitress left to put in Michael’s order.
“Good afternoon, Chief,” Michael said. “How are you today?” After waiting for the Chief’s reply, Michael asked, “Well, Chief, I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to Elaine’s car?” Michael wrapped up the call and turned back to Katie.
“Elaine’s car was towed back to the Henderson house. Apparently, it was never processed for evidence. The chief didn’t see the need, as Elaine didn’t disappear from her vehicle. Why don’t we have a team go over and look through it? Anything found might not be admissible at this point, but it might lead us to something.”
Katie nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. I also think we should postpone chasing down the women from the gathering that night. Today is Wednesday; so all the women will be gathered again tonight. Why not talk to them then? If anyone is missing, we can get to her tomorrow. I want to go ask Barbie a few more questions.” While Michael was waving the waitress over to get the check, Katie took her fork and speared the last bite of his chocolate cake. Michael shot her a dirty look, but she just smiled back at him.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
When Katie and Michael walked into Barbie’s hospital room this time, only Chuck was there with her. Barbie had been unhooked from her IV and was gathering her belongings into a bag.
“They’re sending me home,” Barbie said with a huge smile as the agents walked in the door. “I can’t wait to get a good night’s sleep in my own bed. I mean really, how do they expect a person to recover in a place where they wake you every hour of the night and poke and prod you the entire time?” Barbie continued to stuff her meager belongings into the bag, swatting Chuck’s hand every time he tried to assist.
“Congratulations,” Michael said. “I’m glad you’re getting out of here. Do you mind if we ask you a few more questions before you go?”
“Sure, I don’t mind. It always takes them forever to get back with the discharge papers. Ask away.”
Katie took over the questions. “Barbie, when the person spoke to you, how did it sound?” She was being very careful not to lead Barbie’s answers.
“Hmmm, well, it was kind of raspy. Not really a whisper, but not really an actual voice. You know? Like maybe he was trying to disguise it. Do you think I know him?” Barbie was shocked at this thought. “I don’t think I know anyone who could do this to a person.” Shaking her head, Barbie appeared to be assessing every person she knew.
Katie gave up on trying to be vague. “What I want to know is, are you sure the person was male? Could it have been a woman disguising her voice?” Once again, Katie seemed to grasp that being direct with Barbie was better than being vague. She didn’t want to cause Barbie any more worry or fe
ar by letting her mind fill in the blanks.
Barbie and Chuck were looking at her as if she had spoken Greek, their mouth’s hanging open, neither of them saying a word. Finally, Barbie began shaking her head side-to-side. “No, I’m not a hundred percent sure the voice was male,” she whispered.
“Barbie, I need to ask you quite a few in-depth questions about what happened. We didn’t ask you too much last time, but now that you’re more stable, we really need to know a few things. Are you up to this?” Katie asked gently. Michael stood back, not entirely sure where his partners mind was or what questions - besides about the person being male - that she was going to ask. It made him nervous that she might say something to cause Barbie to have a setback.
Reaching out for Chuck’s hand, Barbie lowered herself into one of the chairs in the room and nodded to Katie.
“I’m going to start with the person who took you. You said last time that he was wearing ceremonial robes. What exactly did you mean?”
“Well, you know the robes that a priest wears for special ceremonies. It was a long white robe but had a gold cape-like thing over top. It came all the way down to the floor, so I couldn’t see his feet. Is it okay that I say ‘he’?” Barbie asked.
Katie nodded. “You’re doing really well. Can you try to think about how tall he was? Was he a lot taller than you, or close to your height? What about the hood? Could you see his eyes?” Katie stopped herself from throwing any more questions at Barbie. She didn’t want to overwhelm her, but felt the need to keep her on track. It was easier to slip into using ‘he’ just to keep her thoughts flowing.
“I am kind of short, so nearly everyone is taller than me. I didn’t really have to look up at him, so I wouldn’t put him as tall as Chuck or Agent Powell. I would say definitely under six feet, maybe closer to your height, Agent Freeman.”
“Can you stand up with me?” Katie asked. They both stood and Katie put herself directly in front of Barbie. Barbie raised both of her arms outward and above her head, moving her legs outward as well. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed as if she was reliving what had happened.
Katie gently said, “Just think about the guy; don’t worry about what else is around you right now. You’re safe now.”
Barbie nodded and opened her eyes. “You’re a few inches shorter than him. His head came up to my wrists when I was like this. You aren’t quite that tall.” Barbie lowered her arms and Chuck quickly enfolded her in his. He rocked her for a few minutes. Katie wasn’t sure whom he was trying to comfort, Barbie or himself. Barbie took a deep breath and pulled back, smiling up at Chuck to reassure him that she was okay. She turned back to Katie and nodded for her to continue.
“Tell me about the hood. Could you see anything through it?
Shaking her head, Barbie said, “No, it was similar to those hoods that you see in rallies for the KKK. It was pointed on top and had eyeholes cut in it. But the light was too dim to see anything.”
“Very good, Barbie. You’re doing great. Let’s talk about the lighting. I need you to remember the room now. Can you do that?”
“There were candles and lanterns around the room. I don’t think there was electricity. Like I said before, it was like an underground cave or something. Just the pillars, I think.” Barbie looked confused for a minute.
Quickly, Katie stepped in. “Tell me about the pillars. What were they made of?”
“Rock, of course,” Barbie replied. “They were holding up the - oh my goodness - they were holding up floor joists! I was in a basement, but not a finished one. And it was really old. The joists weren’t the same size as people use now to build houses. Judging by the size of them, I think the building I was under was really big. The pillars were big and square. They were the supports for the joists and there were at least six of them in a row. The room wasn’t very big, maybe twenty feet long and ten feet wide.” Barbie got excited as she began to remember more and more about the room.
“Barbie, how are you sure about the joist sizes and the support columns? Are you sure about the dimensions of the room?” Katie wanted to make sure that Barbie was thinking clearly. It wasn’t common knowledge to be familiar with building materials.
“Of course I’m sure,” she said indignantly. “Chuck works in construction and so did my daddy. I’ve been around buildings all my life. The materials used on that building are not used commonly today. My daddy built houses, but Chuck builds bigger buildings, like banks and churches and stuff. I’ve never seen joists like these used, but I know that’s what they are. It had to be a big building for there to be so many supports in only twenty feet of length. I’m guessing about the width of the room. There was at least five feet in front of me, so I’m assuming the support beams ran down the middle, so there had to be at least five feet behind me too. Besides, the whip he used was about three feet long and he stood about a foot away from me. He didn’t hit the wall when he swung it.” Barbie shuddered at the last part as her body deflated from indignation to weariness. Chuck gently rubbed her back as she talked.
“Okay,” Katie attempted to soften her approach, “so you couldn’t see the whole room. Do you remember anything else in the room? Any particular smell?” Katie asked. Her heart was beating nearly out of her chest. She couldn’t believe the detail that Barbie was remembering.
“There was a wooden table of some kind over to my right. It had metal on it. Not like attached to it, but laying on it. There were several curved pieces of metal on it. And there was a stairwell straight ahead of me. It was made of rock and dirt, not like a finished stairwell with wood or concrete. There were a few buckets in the corner to my right. I think I smelled cleaning solution. Maybe ammonia? I’m sorry but I really don’t remember much else.”
Katie smiled and grabbed Barbie’s hand. “You did fantastic. Much better than I had even hoped. Are you feeling okay? Do you need us to get the doctor before we go?”
Barbie emphatically shook her head. “I’m fine. I really just want to go home.” Chuck gathered her gently in his arms and held her as Katie and Michael stood to go. As they went out the door, Katie heard Chuck whisper, “Just think about our baby. Everything is going to be okay.” Looking over her shoulder, Katie saw Chuck gently rubbing Barbie’s abdomen. She smiled inwardly, relieved to know that nothing seemed to be wrong with the baby.
Several hours had passed as they talked with Barbie and it was nearly time to meet up with the group of ladies at Christ the King. Michael drove Katie to a nearby restaurant so they could have dinner before heading to the church. They were both silent as he drove, trying to absorb what they had learned from Barbie. Once they had settled in the same booth at the diner on Church Street and placed their orders, Katie looked at Michael and asked, “What do you think?”
Michael waited to answer as the waitress set their drinks in front of them. As the woman left the table, he answered, “Well, she wasn’t one hundred percent sure her abductor was a male. That is worrisome. But I still stick with my original thought that a woman would have to be extremely strong to have pulled this off. I’m not saying it’s not possible, just highly unlikely.
“I also think that the height comparison isn’t very reliable. What if Barbie was standing on a platform of some kind and didn’t realize it? She mentioned the floor being dirt, but did she look directly down to see what she was standing on? You’re pretty tall, especially next to a woman as petite as Barbie. If the person was truly a few inches taller, that would put him at least close to six feet.”
Katie rolled her eyes at the comment but chose not to make an issue out of his categorization of her. She was used to comments about her 5’9” frame. “I tend to agree with you that it’s unlikely to be a female, but let’s not rule it out completely just yet.”
Michael nodded and they finished their meal while running over the questions they wanted to ask of the women at the gathering. Katie grabbed the bill when it arrived and paid it before Michael had a chance. “You paid for lunch. My turn,” she
said as she gave a cheeky smile.
Fifteen minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of Christ the King church and circled the full lot to find a parking spot. “Do you think it’s always this crowded?” Katie asked. “We need to ask that question. If the answer is yes, we need to find out where Elaine was parked that night.” Michael finally pulled out of the parking lot and found a spot on the street about half a block down.
They could hear the chatter as they approached the church and stepped into the hallway. Once they entered the room and the women closest to the door spotted them, a silence spread from the front of the room to the back. Linda was sitting at a table in the center sorting girl’s clothing. There were several women surrounding her and she seemed to be enjoying all the attention. She had toned down her outfit from the afternoon to include acid-washed jeans straight from 1980 and a solid sea green t-shirt.
As she spotted the agents, she stood up, shaking her hair out of her eyes. “These are the agents I was just telling you about,” she announced to the silent room. A chorus of somber “hellos” responded as the group of women continued to stare at the agents. Katie, never one to enjoy being the center of attention - especially in a group of women - simply stared back. She had learned the hard way how catty women could be and had no desire to insert herself into this group’s gossip.
Michael, sensing Katie’s hesitance, turned on his mega-watt smile and said, “Hello, ladies. I’m Special Agent Michael Powell. Would y’all mind answering a few questions for me and my partner?” He gestured to Katie as the women began to swoon at the sight of his smile. Katie wanted to roll her eyes as several of the women started to fan themselves. She only restrained herself because she didn’t want to alienate anyone; also because she had a sudden urge to find a fan of her own.
Linda walked over and slid her hand into the crook of Michael’s arm and dragged him to the chair she had just vacated. Katie smiled at the look Michael sent her over his shoulder as he was led away. Choosing to remain on the sidelines, Katie waited for Michael to begin questioning the women. She had decided to watch the reactions and only speak up if she heard something interesting that Michael didn’t investigate further.
