Lauren picked up the cordless phone in the kitchen, and scrolled down the list of callers to February 12. To her relief, the eight calls that had come in the day Jade disappeared were still saved. Two of them had blocked numbers, one was from an 800 number, and four were from friends and colleagues. A call that had come in at 3:06 p.m. had no name but an unfamiliar number was listed. Lauren hit the talk button, and listened as the phone rang and rang.
She searched online and found the number listed as a pay phone located at Comeau’s Cabins on the Lake. It was in Timber Woods, a secluded area about a forty-minute drive from Paddy’s Arm. With its campground and various rental accommodations, it had become a popular vacation spot. A lot of people had their summer homes in the area. Could Jade be staying there? Another quick search and Lauren learned that the proprietor of Comeau’s Cabins was a Madeleine Comeau.
Bailey was sprawled on the living room floor with a colouring book. “Momma has to go out,” Lauren told her. “Christine will come to stay with you.” Bailey nodded without looking up from her colouring. Lauren glanced at her watch, and saw it was nearly five-thirty. She had already fed Bailey. If the young girl from down the road didn’t mind staying a couple of extra hours, Lauren would go to Comeau’s Cabins and be back at the hospital before visiting hours ended.
—
Forty minutes later, Lauren found herself on a narrow stretch of road heading east when her cellphone rang. Probably the sitter, she thought as she pulled over to the side of the road.
“Lauren. It’s Daniel.”
“Daniel? Hello.” Strangely, she felt happy to hear his voice. “I take it you made it home okay?”
“Safe and sound. How are you, Lauren?”
“I’m doing well.”
“And Bailey?”
“She’s at home right now—with the sitter.”
“I see Paddy’s Arm is in the news again,” Daniel said. “I read about the young woman who disappeared.”
“Jade Roberts. She was in my criminology class.” Lauren saw no reason to tell him where she was headed at that moment.
“She has a baby, I understand.”
“A little girl. They’re searching for both of them.”
There was a brief pause.
“Lauren, I got a call this morning. My friend Phillip passed away in his sleep.”
“The priest in New Wexford? Daniel, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m just glad he didn’t suffer,” Daniel said. “Anyway, I plan to attend the memorial service. They haven’t set a date yet, but I would like to stop in Paddy’s Arm while I’m in Newfoundland.”
“To see Bailey?” As soon as the words left her lips Lauren felt foolish. Did she think Daniel was coming to visit her?
“I’m hoping I can spend time with her. Take her out to supper.”
“That’s fine, Daniel. Give me a call when you arrive.”
“Sure thing. You take care, now.”
Lauren stared at the phone a long time before getting back on the road. Glancing at her watch, she saw it was 6:15. She would have to hurry if she wanted to get to the hospital before visiting hours ended.
The dark days of winter had passed and evenings were becoming longer now. As Lauren drove along the deserted highway, she passed a few clapboard houses that stood on the side of the road. Through the skeletal trees she saw summer homes along the jagged coastline. Some had boats and rafts pulled up on the beach.
After a while, she came to a sign with an arrow that said Comeau’s Cabins: Daily and Weekly Rentals. She hoped her long drive had not been in vain. Since Madeleine Comeau’s civic address was the same as the cabins, Lauren assumed she lived on the property.
After driving another mile Lauren arrived at the main house, a ramshackle old building badly in need of paint. The lawn surrounding it needed mowing. A pitchfork and rusty wheelbarrow stood near a shed. She parked the car and walked up to the front door.
A woman answered, opening the main door and peering from behind a worn screen door. She was short and bulky with fingers like sausage, and leaned heavily on a crutch. Her gray hair, cut in a blunt style, made her large head look square. “Cabins won’t be ready for another three weeks,” she called through the screen.
“Mrs. Comeau? I’m Lauren LaVallee, an attorney with Beck Hayes. I’ve come to talk to you about Jade Roberts. I know she stayed here a while back.”
The woman pulled open the screen door. “Come in, my love,” she said. “Watch that step now.” She led Lauren into a sitting room with furniture covered in knitted afghans. A long narrow table covered with a white cloth ran along one wall like an altar. On it were various statues, surrounded by dozens of candles. Above the table hung a crucifix and a picture of Pope John Paul II. “Take a seat,” Mrs. Comeau said, nodding toward a small sofa. She put aside her crutch and eased herself into an overstuffed chair across from Lauren.
“Mrs. Comeau,” Lauren began, “did you rent Jade Roberts a cabin?”
“That’s right. Must have been more than a month now.”
“I thought you said the cabins wouldn’t be ready for another three weeks.”
“That’s right, my love. My niece is coming from St. John’s to help out. Since poor Charlie died, things have been difficult to manage.” She looked down at her leg. “Not much I can do with this cast on.”
“That would make things difficult,” Lauren said. She offered a sympathetic smile before continuing. “How did Jade come to stay here?”
“Poor girl told me she was on the run from an abusive boyfriend. Felt sorry for her, I did. I gave her sheets and blankets. Told her she’d have to fend for herself.”
Abusive boyfriend. Lauren thought she’d heard distress in Jade’s voice the afternoon she called. “Did she have a baby with her?”
“A baby?” Mrs. Comeau looked stunned. “No, my love, she never mentioned a baby.”
“How did she get here?”
“Someone drove her.”
“Did you see the car?”
“Yes, it was black…maybe dark blue.”
“Did she have other visitors you were aware of?”
“A car came late that evening.”
“The same one?”
“It was too dark to see, but the second car sounded like it needed a muffler. The noise was so bad it woke me up.”
Lauren sat up straighter in her chair, Patrick’s words echoing in her brain. Better than that heap of tin…the muffler so loud you could hear it for miles. She had always assumed Patrick and Jade were friends. Could they have been more than that?
Mrs. Comeau stared at Lauren with hooded eyes. “Is the poor girl in some kind of trouble?”
“She’s been missing for about five weeks now.”
Mrs. Comeau stared at her in disbelief. “Sweet Virgin Mary, mother of the precious baby Jesus, protect her.”
“When was the last time you actually saw Jade, Mrs. Comeau?”
“The morning after she moved in. I seen her walking along the beach.”
“And when did she check out?”
Mrs. Comeau shook her head. “Can’t say for certain. Father Williams was here the next day—he comes every Friday to bring me the Sacrament. I asked him to check on the girl, see if she needed anything. He came back minutes later to tell me she’d checked out.”
“Could she have been out walking?”
“The vacancy sign was in the window, and she’d left the key in the mailbox like I asked her to do.” Mrs. Comeau shifted in her chair. “She was paid up for the week. I would’ve given her a refund had she asked.”
“Can I take a look at the cabin where she was staying?”
Mrs. Comeau gave her a curious look. “Sure, my love. It’s cabin 12.” She rose unsteadily to her feet and reached for a key. “You can leave the key in the mailbox when you’re finished.”
“I’ll see myself out,” Lauren said as Mrs. Comeau struggled with her crutch.
Cabin 12 was in a little clearing overlooking the lake. Peaceful, Lauren thought, looking around at the trees. There were still patches of snow in the woods. She could hear the cawing of a crow.
Despite a sharp odour of dampness and mildew, everything in the cabin was neat and tidy. The main room was a kitchen and sitting room combined. White cupboards flanked a trailer-size fridge and stove. There was a small wooden table with two chairs, and a bathroom, with enough room for a toilet and a shower. A small bedroom ran along the back.
Lauren opened drawers and looked into cupboards. One was filled with utensils, another with tea towels and dishcloths. Under the sink, she found a small plastic bag filled with garbage. She dumped its contents on a newspaper on the table. There were cigarette packages, candy bar wrappers, crumpled coffee cups. Among the trash, she noticed a blue plastic syringe. Had Jade holed up here to do drugs? Lauren was about to dump everything back in the bag when she noticed the front page of the newspaper underneath; it carried the story of Ariel’s death. The paper was from Friday, February 13, the day after the incident.
Lauren stared at the headlines. Coincidence, she wondered, or was there more to it?
She went into the bedroom and began opening drawers. In the night stand, she found two pairs of underwear and a nightgown with the tags still on. Jade must have left in a hurry, Lauren thought. Was she afraid the person she claimed was abusing her might find out where was staying?
Lauren pulled open the door to a small closet. Except for a blanket and a number of empty hangers, it was empty. She was about to close the door when she noticed a bag beneath the blanket. Through the clear plastic she could see hundred-dollar bills. She opened it up, and quickly counted the money. Close to three thousand dollars.
Lauren scrambled for her cellphone. “I need to speak to Constable Rebecca Taylor.”