THE NEXT MORNING, Abby got a call from Luke.
“Just wondered what you and Gunther were up to today.”
“Gunther’s going home, but we did get a good lead yesterday.” She explained about Padre Mike and that she planned on going to church for Sunday service and talking to the pastor afterward. She didn’t mention Sheryl’s death; she wanted to read everything she could about that tragedy before she grabbed hold with both hands.
“You really think there’s something there?”
“I do. I think my mom came up here thirty years ago asking the same questions that I’m asking.” She explained about the two women from Alyssa’s past recognizing her.
“It could just be a coincidence. I can’t see it being any more than that. But be careful. It bothers me that Kelsey is loose.”
Abby didn’t know what to say to bring him around to her way of thinking about her mother and Alyssa, so she went with him to the subject of Kelsey.
“I’m cautious.” Abby rubbed her forehead, remembering the fight she and Kelsey had had prior to Cox’s arrest. Cox had set her town house on fire while burning proof. Abby wasn’t sure of what, but she believed it had something to do with her parents’ murders. And Kelsey and Abby had come close to dying in the fire. It was Luke who saved Abby’s life. So in the end, she could agree to disagree with him on one point.
“I know how dangerous Kelsey can be.”
“I know that you do,” he said. “I’m a little uneasy about her being unaccounted for. We’ll see you fairly early Monday, okay?”
“Good.”
“Any calls on the tip line?”
“Nothing substantial. The woman Woody talked to has not called back.”
Luke told her to look for an e-mail from him about their new case, and then he said good-bye. She checked her e-mail and saw that he wrote a brief note about the new victim, a note that raised Abby’s eyebrows about this job. The e-mail also included an attachment with all the information on the case. Abby scanned it and questioned Orson’s reasoning that they’d handle the case. It looked like busywork. She hoped the guys would have more information to share on the issue when they got back.
She and Gunther found a small diner near the main library for breakfast. Over four-egg omelets, he said, “We need a librarian older than dirt. She’d remember that accident with the cheerleader and probably a lot of gossip from back then.”
“I think that statement is disturbingly sexist,” Abby said.
It was fortunate for them that the library opened early on Saturdays.
“Our luck is good,” Gunther said as they walked inside. The librarian behind the desk was an older woman.
Abby hoped Gunther was prescient.
“Hello there,” Gunther began the conversation. “We’re looking for some information on local history. Have you lived in San Luis Obispo a long time?”
“All my life.” The woman smiled. She had an embroidered name tag on that said Norma. “What do you need to know?”
“Can you remember anything about a tragic accident, around May or June of 1969? A Templeton High School girl died after falling into a dry well.”
Norma tapped an index finger against her lips. “I do remember that. It was all anyone talked about at the time. I’m not remembering her name.”
“Sheryl Shepherd,” Abby said.
“That’s right.” Norma brought her hands together. “It was tragic. She was only seventeen. Not all the news from that far back is available by computer search. That’s what you want, correct? News articles about the incident?”
“Yes, a news article would be great.”
“What do you remember about it?” Gunther asked.
“I remember that almost the entire town was out looking for her.” She pointed to a room off to the right. “We do have a file of local news clippings, but I’m not certain you’d find what you’re looking for there. Come this way to where we keep the microfilm files.” They followed her and she showed them the microfilm machines and how to search for specific stories, but she ended up searching for them. Abby loved librarians.
“The more I think about it, the more I remember about that tragedy. It was so odd. Sheryl knew her way around the area. She’d grown up on a farm. There was no reason anyone could think of that she would be so careless as to fall into the well like she did. It was fenced.”
“The well was fenced?”
“Yes. It was a hazard to livestock as well as people. The farmer fenced it in to prevent tragedies like Sheryl’s.”
She pulled a file for them and put it in the machine. When she had the story on screen, she shook her head. “I thought there would be a picture of the well so you could see the fence. The best anyone could deduce at the time was that Sheryl had been playing on the fence and for some reason had slipped and fallen into the well.”
“A teenager playing like that?” Abby asked.
“Like I said, it was a guess.”
Abby thanked her and sat down to read the story. She saw that there was a way to e-mail a copy, so she sent one to her account, one to Gunther’s, and one to Luke’s. She had enough information now to tell him that she thought this was the secret Alyssa was hiding.
Gunther kept talking to Norma. “Everyone was certain that it was an accident? No doubts?”
“There was some talk, but you know, it was a different time back then, simpler. Now killings are common; people hardly blink an eye. And this was a farming area. We didn’t have the drug problems that were prevalent all over the country. People respected one another. There were no murders here and certainly not of innocent high school girls.”
“But there was talk?”
“Sure. Her mother didn’t believe Sheryl would be so careless. She wanted to believe that someone had pushed Sheryl. But who? The girl didn’t have any enemies.”
Abby thought of the bullying and bet Sheryl had a lot of enemies.
“Does the girl’s family still live around here?”
“I don’t believe so. I know her father died shortly after the daughter. People thought it was grief. And I believe Mrs. Shepherd is deceased as well.”
Gunther thanked Norma and then pointed to his watch.
Abby got up and they left. She drove him to the train station, a little sorry to see the crusty reporter leave.
“I’m going to see what favors I can call in about Kelsey Cox’s escape and the search,” he said before getting out of the car. “I may even put a bug in someone’s ear about Alyssa, that she might be someone to look at.”
“Be careful. You yourself said desperation is dangerous, and she’s vicious.”
“I can be discreet. Don’t worry.”
“I’m still surprised that Kelsey would go along with something so stupid. You saw her in court —she looked beaten, resigned to jail. Why blow the plea?”
“Must be something in it for her,” he said with a shrug. “Let me know if you find Mike Jez.”
“I will. Have a good trip.”
After the train pulled out of the station, she went back to the hotel to type up a short summary of what she and Gunther had discovered, the information from the two ladies and the librarian. Once finished, she closed the file and set it all aside.
It was time to return to Ciara’s case for a review. She phoned a couple of people they’d not been able to get ahold of their first day. She gained no new information and needed a change.
Around lunchtime she turned on a news report for an update on Cox. It was big news in LA, and all the lettered law enforcement agencies were out in force. Taking a chance, she phoned Bill to see if he had any more information about Kelsey and the search. She got his voice mail and left a message. About an hour later she got a text from him.
After that, needing to stretch her legs, she went for a jog around downtown San Luis Obispo. She used the time to pray about both cases and about Luke, a man she couldn’t stop thinking about, a man she wished was by her side right that moment.