Harriet was feeling pleased with herself. The Honda dealership had called to see if she was going to need a ride in the courtesy shuttle they provided. She was able to leave her car and get a ride to Aunt Beth’s early enough to try out the new coffee cake recipe that had just come out of her oven.
“What are you doing here so early?” Beth asked.
She explained the change in plans and settled at her aunt’s kitchen table.
“I’m guessing Lauren got your garage door fixed, since I don’t see your car.”
“It was crazy. She brought a can of lubricant and sprayed it on those rail things the door rolls into. All of a sudden, my door opener worked.”
Harriet smiled.
“She’s a technical wizard, that one. I’m assuming Jorge put your spare tire on last night. If not I better go out and do that.”
“Of course he did. And you shouldn’t make fun of Lauren,” Beth scolded. “She’s very handy, and you know I like to keep things in working order.”
“She can take it. And since when did you start closing your garage door?” Harriet took a forkfull of coffee cake. “This is really good.”
“I’m learning from Jorge. Everything’s better with butter, according to him.”
“He may be on to something.”
“Speaking of being on to something, do you have any ideas about Molly’s problem?”
“Not really. It’s on my list today to check in with Lauren and see if she’s been able to find anything out about Leo Tabor. He’s that guy that was run out of town for being a sex predator right after Amber disappeared.”
“I think that would be barking up the wrong tree.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He worked at The Vitamin Factory for Avanell. Well, not directly for Avanell, but she knew him.”
Avanell was Aiden’s mom and Aunt Beth’s best friend next to Mavis. She’d died the previous year.
“So, what did she say about him?”
Aunt Beth rubbed her finger up and down over the curve of her teacup handle.
“She couldn’t exactly say anything, being that he worked at her company and anything he might have revealed to her would have been confidential.”
“Okaaay.” Harriet drew the word out. “What did she say to make you think he didn’t have anything to do with Amber?”
“She said she couldn’t tell me what had really gone on with him, but things were not what they seemed regarding his sexual predator conviction. He told her how it came about, and she believed him. She said there was evidence to support what he’d told her, but again, it was all confidential.”
“That’s all very mysterious.”
“I know she felt strongly enough about it that she told me she gave him a good severance check and a glowing recommendation when she couldn’t talk him into to staying.”
Harriet tilted her chair back.
“Well, heck. He was my only line of inquiry so far.”
Beth pursed her lips.
“Don’t get all riled up. He might still be a source of information if you handle it just right.”
“I’ll be the soul of discretion.” The front chair legs thumped as she leaned forward. “Tell me more.”
“One of the reasons the police questioned him in the first place is because he’d taken Amber to the station before. He lived one street over on the corner where the neighborhood street crossed a much busier Stephens Street. Apparently, Amber was always wandering around, and he’d brought her back to her house more than once.
“Finally, one day he drove her to the police station and told them maybe they could convince her mother to keep her home before she got run over.”
“Do you think this could be as simple as she got run over, and someone panicked and hid the body? I mean, we know the girls were playing together. Maybe they were both hit, Amber was killed, and Molly was unconscious. Whoever did it could have buried Amber and left Molly near the homeless camp where she would be sure to be found.”
Beth toyed with the edge of her napkin.
“I suppose anything’s possible. Without anyone finding Amber’s body in all these years, though, I’m not sure how you’d prove it. Beyond that, I don’t know how you’d figure out who did it. It’s been something like twenty years.”
Harriet rested her chin in her hand and stared out the window.
“I assume Molly was in the hospital after they found her. Did she have a head injury?”
Aunt Beth looked up at the ceiling as she thought. Finally, she shook her head.
“I just don’t remember. It’s been so long. I would have thought DeAnn would say something if her sister’d had any permanent damage from a head injury.”
“I think I’ll check with Detective Morse and see if they considered the accident possibility.”
“If that girl got hit in the head, it might explain a lot.”
Harriet took her plate and cup to the sink and rinsed them off.
“We better get moving. You’ve got clothes sorting, and I’ve got chores, and we need a new tire before we can do either one.”