The portable cribs sat against a far wall in Walt and Danielle’s bedroom, and they no longer obstructed Danielle’s view of the bed from where she sat at her vanity. While brushing her hair, she looked in the mirror, and instead of watching her own reflection, she watched her husband’s. Walt lounged on the mattress, partially sitting up while leaning against one elbow, wearing pajama bottoms, his chest bare. Wide awake, both Addison and Jack lay on the mattress with their father, with tiny feet and hands in motion. Danielle smiled at how Walt gazed down at the pair, his voice soft as he talked to them.
Can it get any better than this? Then Danielle remembered and chuckled.
Walt looked up from the bed to his wife, her back to him as she sat at the vanity, brushing her long, dark hair. “What’s funny?”
Danielle set her brush down and turned around on the bench, now facing Walt. “Watching you with them, I asked myself, does it get any better than this?”
Walt smiled at her. “Why is that funny?”
Danielle nodded her head toward the nursery. “Because in that moment I had forgotten about our poltergeist—or whatever it is.”
“Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem as antagonistic as we initially worried it might be.”
“True. I don’t feel this energy means any harm to Addison or Jack.”
Danielle’s cellphone rang. She stood up, and Walt reached for her phone on the nightstand. He handed it to Danielle when she reached the bed. Danielle glanced at the phone. “It’s Heather.”
After Danielle answered the phone, Heather said, “Have you had breakfast yet?”
“No. I’m just getting dressed. We’re still upstairs in our bedroom. But just fed the twins, and they’re awake and happy, playing with their dad on the bed.” Still standing while holding the phone to her ear, Danielle flashed Walt a smile.
“Playing? How does a baby their age play?” Heather asked.
“They don’t run around a lot, that’s for sure.”
“Ha, ha. Anyway, I’m calling because last night you seemed convinced Betsy was the murdered woman found at the Jameson place, and you said we needed to talk to the chief about it. I wanted to let you know Brian is picking up the chief this morning and taking him to breakfast at Pier Café, and he wondered if you and Walt wanted to meet them there.”
“We’d love to, but I want to wait a few more weeks before I take the twins out in public.”
“If Marie is still there, how about I come over and watch the babies with her, and you and Walt get out of the house together? You can have breakfast there. It would be good for you. And you can tell the chief your thoughts.”
“Are you sure?” Danielle asked.
“Hey, if there’s a problem, I can give you guys a call, and you can be back home in a couple of minutes. I’ll be fine with Marie there.”
* * *
Walt and Danielle walked to Pier Café on Saturday. The brisk morning temperature hovered in the mid-fifties, with a clear sky overhead. A warm jacket and knit cap kept Danielle warm as she and Walt walked hand in hand toward the pier.
“It feels kind of weird, leaving the babies,” Danielle said.
“You left them the other day when you were with Lily,” Walt reminded her.
“True. But you were with them.”
Walt let go of Danielle’s hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close while they continued down the street. “Heather has Marie and Eva, so if they need us, Eva can be at the café in seconds, and I trust both Heather and Marie.”
* * *
Walt and Danielle sat in the booth with Brian and the chief. The server had just taken their order and filled their coffee mugs before walking away.
“Where’s Carla?” Danielle asked no one in particular.
“She’s not working today,” Brian said.
“I can’t remember ever having another server here.” Danielle picked up her coffee and took a drink.
“Brian told me you may know the identity of the woman found at the Jamesons’ place,” the chief said.
Danielle told him why she believed the woman was Betsy Francas, and then added, “You said nothing came of the DNA results. Which only means none of her close relatives have their DNA on file. But all you have to do is get her brother’s DNA.”
“I can’t very well go to the brother and ask for his DNA based on a dream you had,” the chief reminded her.
“But his sister has been missing for years. No one has seen her.”
“You don’t know that for certain,” the chief corrected. “From what I understand, Heather and Chris only spoke to one member of her family.”
“But she was staying next door to where you found the body. The right gender, age, and hair color,” Danielle argued.
“There is no connection between Betsy Francas and Jameson or Jameson’s neighbor.”
“But Marie—” Danielle began, only to be cut off by the chief.
“But Marie said they stayed with Elenore Percy. The woman’s been dead for years. The house has changed hands, and there is no way to prove they stayed there unless we can find someone who remembers. Someone other than a ghost.”
“It’s possible her brother remembers where they stayed,” Danielle said. “I’m sure Gemma Francas knows. She was there back then.”
“Gemma claimed a man picked her up that day after she left her wedding ring on the quilt. But if they found her body next door, does that mean Gemma lied?” Walt asked.
“Either that, or Betsy returned for some reason. Maybe even to get the babies. Her husband was there. They fought, and he dragged the body next door to the old root cellar. I don’t think Gemma lied about Betsy leaving that day, because that would mean she killed Betsy. And I don’t believe Gemma is strong enough to drag a body next door and hide it in a root cellar,” Danielle said.
“It’s possible Gemma covered up for Dan and made up the story about Betsy leaving with a man. After all, they did eventually marry, so obviously she had feelings for him,” Brian suggested.
“I suppose we can speculate on motive and possible suspects all day long, but first we need to get a positive identification of the victim. Let me think about how I might move forward on this,” the chief said. “I don’t doubt anything you’re saying, but I can’t go to Betsy’s brother and ask for a DNA sample until I have more to offer him.”
“I understand. How about if we can find someone—a living person—who remembers where Betsy and Dan first lived when they moved to town? And once we have that connection, all you need is more proof that no one has seen Betsy since she left Frederickport. Just because no one filed a missing person report on her doesn’t mean she isn’t a missing person,” Danielle said.
The chief nodded. “When we found the body, we searched matches from women who had gone missing during the estimated timeframe of the murder. None matched. But if we can find information to show Betsy hasn’t been seen since she left town, coupled with the knowledge she was staying next door to where the body was found, yes, with that I wouldn’t have a problem asking her brother for a DNA test.”
Danielle absently ran a finger over the rim of her water glass while listening to the chief. When he finished talking, she looked up and said, “Something was said about Betsy’s twins leaving town after they graduated and never coming back. Marie said they didn’t even go to their father’s funeral. And the brother told Heather he stopped visiting them because he couldn’t stand Gemma. I wonder what happened in that family. It might give us more insight into what happened back then.”
“You could start by talking to someone who knew the twins in high school. Don’t teenage girls confide in their friends?” Brian asked.
Danielle looked to Brian. “I have no idea who might have known the Francas twins back then.”
“I do.” Brian smiled.
“Who?” Danielle asked.
“Remember when I told you about that party I busted when the Francas twins were in high school?”
“Yes.”
“Jesse Mills, she works at the nursery on the weekends. Jesse grew up here, and I’m pretty sure she used to hang out with the twins, because that party was at her house. You could start there.”
“Oh, so you want me to do your police work?” Danielle teased.
“You’d probably have more luck talking to her than me,” Brian said. “She still holds a grudge about that bust. I think she missed prom because of it.”
* * *
Danielle didn’t go directly to the nursery after leaving the diner. She first went home with Walt, and after feeding the babies, she and Heather left for the nursery, leaving Walt at home.
They found Jesse Mills outside in the rose section. She was about the right age to have gone to school with the twins, but it was her name tag that gave her away.
“Hi, I’m Danielle Marlow,” Danielle introduced herself to Jesse. “I was hoping I could talk to you for a minute.”
Instead of responding to Danielle, Jesse looked at Heather. “I recognize you. You date that jerk Brian Henderson.”
Heather grinned. “Yeah, Danielle used to say he was a jerk, too.”
Jesse looked back at Danielle. “Used to?” She gave a shrug and then asked, “So what do you need?”
“It’s kind of a strange question, actually. You see, I was given a vintage baby quilt, and I’ve recently learned who it was originally made for, and I’m wondering if I should see if they want it, but someone said offering it to them might be a bad idea and bring up all sorts of bad memories, so I thought I should talk to someone who knew them, and you’re the only one I could find.”
Jesse stared blankly at Danielle. “Uh, yeah. It is a strange question. Kind of confusing, too.”
“Do you know Karen and Jillian Francas?” Heather blurted.
Jesse turned to Heather. “Yes. I do. I haven’t seen them for ten years or more, but we were good friends in high school. Why?”
“I have a quilt that their mother made them, and I’m wondering if I should try getting it back to them,” Danielle explained.
“That bitch Gemma? If you want it burned, then go ahead, send it to them,” Jesse said with a snort.
“No, actually, their birth mother made it. Gemma was their stepmother,” Danielle corrected.
Jesse nodded. “Yeah, Karen told me she was their stepmom. But even if the quilt was made by their bio mom, they’d probably still burn it. She abandoned them and left them with their father and bitch stepmom.”
“What was bitchy about her?” Heather asked. “What did she do?”
Jesse shrugged. “I always thought Gemma was the stereotypical Disney stepmom villain, just not attractive. I think part of the problem, they looked just like their real mom. Of course, they didn’t know that by looking at pictures. Their father burned anything that once belonged to their mother, including any photos of her. But Gemma loved to tell the girls they would never amount to anything because they were losers just like their mother, adding that they even looked exactly like her. She’d also tell them they weren’t lovable, that even their real mother had to get away from them.”
“Wow. Did their father know what his wife said to them?” Danielle asked.
“He was always working, never home. And when he was home, if they tried to complain about her, he would tell them it was between them and their mother, and they had to work it out. But she was never their mother, and he was never much of a father. He left all the parenting to his wife, who clearly hated those girls. Minute they turned eighteen, they were out of there. I can’t say I blame them.”