A quick search of the barn did not turn up either Jade or Marcia.
“Where has Jade actually been living?” Harriet asked Emily.
Emily dabbed at her nose.
“I don’t know, and that’s the truth. No one even told me she was staying here. I discovered her by accident. I took my hat off to put my riding helmet on,”
“Wait a minute,” Harriet interrupted. “When was this?”
Emily thought a moment.
“Wednesday, I think. A couple of days before Christmas Eve. Anyway, when I was done riding, it was snowing hard, so my mom came to get me and my bike in the car. I didn’t remember I’d left my hat in the tack room until the next day. I wasn’t scheduled to be here, but I came by to get my hat and I saw Becky’s stall door was a little bit open.”
“So, you went to see why and found Jade.” Harriet finished for her.
“Jade said we needed to talk to Marcia, so we did, and Marcia said someone was stalking Jade so she needed to hide out here for a while. She told me it was important not to tell anyone.”
“But you decided to share with Luke anyway?” James asked.
Emily looked exasperated.
“No, I didn’t. I mean I did, but he figured it out first. Jade braided red and green ribbons into Becky’s mane, for Christmas, I guess. She was going to take them out before anyone came to the stable, but I guess she forgot. Luke noticed and figured out she was the only person who would have done it. He asked me, and I cracked.” She looked at Harriet. “I’m not a good liar.”
Harriet put her arm around the girl’s shoulders.
“It’s okay, honey. They shouldn’t have asked you to keep their secret.” Harriet felt like she was channeling her aunt. “If Jade were going to stay here, where do you think she’d sleep?” she asked.
Emily thought for a moment.
“Probably in the dorm room in the barn attic.”
James and Harriet shared a glance. Why hadn’t she told them about the attic dorm before they’d searched the whole ground floor?
“Lead the way,” James told her.
A door next to the feed room revealed a staircase that led to a second-floor room that contained two rows of wooden bunkbeds divided by a central aisle. Two open doors, one on each side at the end of the bed rows, revealed bathrooms with showers. All but one of the beds had a rolled-up thin mattress enclosed in a clear plastic trash bag. A lone bed had the mattress unrolled and covered by a sleeping bag and pillow.
James picked up the pillow and smelled it.
“It’s Jade, all right. This pillow smells like her store.”
Harriet came to the bed and took a sniff.
“You’re right. But where she is now? For that matter, where’s Marcia? I’ve never been out here day or night without her making an appearance.”
“Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen her since I’ve been here,” Luke offered.
Harriet pulled her phone from her pocket.
“What’s Marcia’s house number?”
Emily recited it from memory. Harriet tapped it into her phone and listened, but no one answered. When she heard the voice mail come on, she hung up.
“She didn’t answer, but for completeness’s sake, we should check the house.”
“We could ask the security guard at the gate,” Luke suggested.
Harriet smiled at him.
“You’re right. If they’re doing their job, they should be able to tell us if she’s here, and if not, when she left.”
Harriet stood behind the guard in the room that housed the stable’s security station and stared at the screen.
“So, there’s Jade,” She pointed. “Going down the aisle and into Becky’s stall. She comes back out, walks halfway down the aisle and disappears. How is that possible?”
“Rewind it,” James said, and the guard did. “Can you slow it?”
The guard pushed another button and played the section again at half-speed.
“See? Right there.”
Harriet looked where he pointed.
“Did someone erase a section of the recording?”
James stepped back from the screen.
“Sure looks like it.”
“How could that happen?” Harriet asked the guard.
“We don’t monitor the screen constantly. We do a walk-around once an hour. It takes about fifteen minutes. Someone could have done it then. It would have to be someone who was on the list to get through the gate.”
“Can we look at the list?” James asked.
The guard shook his head.
“You can call my supervisor, but I’m not allowed to give out that kind of information to anyone but the people who hired us. I’ve already stretched the rules by letting you look at the video.”
Emily and Luke had waited just outside the small room.
“We could go to the house and get Marcia. She’s probably authorized,” Emily said.
“Do it,” Harriet said. “We’ll wait here.”
The guard switched the view on his monitor as the two young people ran for the house.
“They won’t find her.”
“What?” Harriet and James said at the same time.
“They won’t find Marcia. Her car pulled out while we were looking at the other video.”
The video system usually showed four small views simultaneously, but any of the four options could be switched to to full-screen.
“Can you replay it for us?” Harriet asked.
He tapped a few keys, and the driveway filled the screen. A gray sedan passed into view, empty except for the driver—Marcia Hamilton.
James leaned closer.
“Can you sharpen the license plate.”
The guard laughed.
“That only works on TV. The police may have technicians and equipment to clean up video like that, but we can’t do it on a commercial system like this.”
Luke and Emily came back.
“She didn’t answer, and we looked in the garage window and her car isn’t there.”
Harriet pressed her lips together.
“You might as well take Major out for some exercise while we’re here.”
Luke went to Major’s stall; he led the big horse out into the aisle and fastened him with the cross ties. Emily watched as he got the grooming kit and started brushing him.
“Will you be okay if I go get Fable?”
“We’ll be fine,” Luke said, blushing. “Harriet knows about horses if I get stuck, but I think I’ve got this.” Major nudged him as if to affirm his statement.
Harriet watched, but Luke was clearly a quick study. He groomed and saddled the horse without missing a beat. He got a bridle from the tack room and stopped in front of her.
“Could you help me get the bit in his mouth? Emily sticks her finger in his mouth, but I’m not sure exactly how.”
Harriet went with him.
“There’s a space between his front teeth and his molars where you can tickle his gums to let him know he needs to open his mouth,” she explained.
It turned out Luke didn’t need much technique. Major opened his mouth as soon as he saw the bridle nearing his head. She waited until Luke headed to the arena.
“There are bleachers in the arena so we can watch him ride,” she told James.
“Before we do, don’t you think we should call your buddy Morse?”
Harriet slid her arm around his waist as they started after Luke.
“Yeah, I was thinking about that. She needs to know Jade is still in town, and I’m hoping she can check Marcia’s license number and see if it matches what Julio got from our stalker.” She tapped Morse’s number into her phone and listened to the voice message. “Call me when you get a chance,” she said after the beep.
She slid her phone into her pocket and put her glove back on. “I’ll try again when we’re done.”
James gestured toward Luke and Emily as they rode in a big circle around the arena.
“Is it just me, or is Luke’s horse a giant.”
Harriet laughed. “He’s a giant.”
They continued watching as Emily instructed Luke, having him guide Major through a series of spirals, first turning to the right, then the left. He had been riding for about thirty minutes when James’s dad called asking for help setting up the new table saw Santa had brought him.
“Do you mind if Luke and I go help him?” he asked Harriet. “I know I said we were going to spend the day together, but Mom’s not home, so it might be boring for you to come with.”
“You and Luke should go help him. Lauren texted me earlier and wanted to get coffee if I had any time.”
“It shouldn’t take us more than an hour or two.”
“That’s fine. I think Lauren wants to decompress after Christmas with her family. It may take at least that long for her to work through it all.”
“I’ll call Dad back and let him we’ll be there in an hour or so. That’ll give us time to go back to the house and take the dogs out. Luke and I can take the restaurant van to Dad’s so you can have your car.”
“Perfect.”
She pulled her phone from her pocket and sent Lauren a text, explaining the plan.