“Yes?”
“River City Police, sir,” Kopriva said. He motioned toward Willow and held up his own badge.
The man’s face registered surprise. “What can I do for you, officer?”
“Are you Fred Henderson?”
“Yes.”
“We need to come in and talk to you,” Kopriva said.
Henderson’s gaze flitted between the two of them briefly. Then he stood aside and motioned for them to enter.
The doorway opened into a dark living room. A couch covered with afghans sat against the wall beneath the picture window. Heavy drapes blocked out any light that might otherwise come through the window. There was a well-used fireplace against the far wall. Pictures, mostly black and white, adorned the mantle.
“Who is it, Fred?” came a voice from the kitchen.
“Police,” Fred said, closing the door. He walked into the living room and stood near Willow, as if waiting.
“What do those bastards want?” the shrill voice asked.
Fred didn’t answer.
Kopriva heard the unmistakable sound of a beverage can opening. A moment later, a squat woman in her fifties waddled into the room. Her black hair was cut short and arrayed in wild spikes. Kopriva wondered if she was purposely trying to be stylish or if it just dried that way when she got out of the shower. That forced an image of her getting out of the shower into his mind’s eye and he suppressed a grimace.
“You let them in, Fred?” she asked, her voice high and ragged. Dozens of bracelets rattled as she moved, clicking against each other and the can of Keystone beer in her hand. “Do they have a warrant?”
“He invited us in, Ma’am,” Kopriva said.
Her gaze snapped to him. She looked him up and down quickly, dismissively. “What are you, some kind of detective?”
“No, ma’am,” Kopriva said. “I’m a police officer.”
“Then where’s your uniform?”
“I’m working a plainclothes assignment.”
“Well, Mr. Plainclothes, what the fuck do you want?” she asked and took a swallow of the beer.
Kopriva took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. The house had the stale, musty smell of old beer, cigarettes and body odor. “We’re conducting an investigation, ma’am, and we need your help.”
Her face broke into a smile and she waved her hand at the couch. “Well, then, sit down. Please.”
Kopriva glanced at Willow. Both men hesitated.
“Please,” she repeated. “Make yourself comfortable.”
Kopriva moved to the couch and sat on the edge of the cushion. Willow remained standing.
“Something wrong with your partner?” she asked Kopriva.
Kopriva looked at Willow then back at the woman. “He’s in the car all day. I imagine the chance to stand and stretch his legs is a welcome thing.”
“Of course, of course,” she said with a nod, then turned to Fred and snapped her fingers. “Fred! Get our guests a beer.”
Fred started toward the kitchen.
“No,” Kopriva said.
The woman arched her eyebrows at him, hovering between offended and angry.
“We’re on duty,” Kopriva explained.
She nodded her understanding. “Lemonade, then. Or Mr. Pibb. There’s some Mr. Pibb left.”
“No, really, it’s-” Kopriva began.
“Fred, now!” She gave an embarrassed look at Kopriva and Willow, as if in apology for what she felt were Fred’s poor manners.
Fred disappeared into the kitchen.
Kopriva knew Willow was watching the doorway to the kitchen carefully. He turned his attention to the woman.
“Are you Nancy Henderson?” he asked.
“I am,” she said, and smiled. One of her eyeteeth was broken and the end of the tooth was a hideous black. He also noticed that she was wearing lip-gloss and an excessive amount of pancake makeup, as if she were trying to cover up the two large moles on her left cheek. At least, Kopriva thought they were moles. They might have just been lumps of skin. Either way, the effect was eerie.
“Ma’am, I have some bad news,” Kopriva said.
Nancy looked at him expectantly.
He forged ahead. “I don’t know how to say this other than to just say it, so here it is.” He fixed her with a steady gaze. “Your granddaughter, Amy, has been kidnapped.”
Something flickered in her eyes, but Kopriva couldn’t decipher what it was. Her jaw fell open for a moment, then closed. She looked over at Fred, who had appeared in the doorway with two sodas in his hand, then back at Kopriva.
“W-when?” she asked.
“Today,” Kopriva answered.
“How?”
“I can’t go into details, Mrs. Henderson, until I ask you a few questions.”
“Questions?”
“Where were you this morning?” Kopriva asked.
Nancy looked at him and said nothing. Anger suddenly blazed in her eyes.
“We were both here,” Fred offered. “We were watching a movie-“
“Don’t tell these cocksuckers anything!” Nancy shrieked. She stared at Kopriva, enraged. “Do you think I’m stupid, mister big-shot detective?”
“No, ma’am,” Kopriva said. “I just have to ask-“
“I haven’t seen my grand-daughter since she was a year old,” Nancy yelled at him. “My bitch of a daughter keeps her from me!”
Kopriva raised his hands, making a ‘settle-down’ gesture. “I know you two are not talking.”
“I want to talk to her! She won’t talk to me!” Nancy pointed her finger and waggled it at Kopriva, then took a healthy slug from the can of beer. Fred stood by, unaffected by her outburst.
“Ma’am, we have to ask all of the family members the same questions. It’s procedure.”
“It’s an accusation!”
“Wouldn’t you want us to follow every lead? To eliminate every possibility?” Kopriva struggled to keep his voice even.
Tears welled up in Nancy’s eyes and rolled down her plump cheeks. “Is she really gone?” she asked. Her voice filled with sorrow. “Has someone really taken her?”
Kopriva nodded, struggling to keep up with her mood swings.
“Will you find her? Please?”
“We’re trying, ma’am.”
Nancy walked to the mantle and removed a photo of a bald little girl in a blue and white dress sitting next to a giant numeral one. “This was her one-year photo,” she said, and handed the framed picture to Kopriva.
He took the picture and looked at it politely.
“See the bow?” Nancy asked, pointing.
Kopriva saw the yellow bow atop the little girl’s head and nodded.
“It wouldn’t stay,” Nancy said. “No matter what we tried, it wouldn’t stay. She just didn’t have enough hair. I finally borrowed some tape from the receptionist and we taped it in place for the picture. You can’t tell, can you?”
Kopriva looked at the photo again and shook his head. “No. It doesn’t show.”
Nancy smiled at him gratefully and he handed back the picture frame. She looked at it adoringly. “I’m sure her hair has grown out by now. I’m sure it’s long and dark and lovely, just like Kathy’s.”
There had been numerous photos of young Amy Dugger at her house, Kopriva remembered. And she did have very dark hair, like her mother’s.
“Ma’am, I’m sorry to be the one to have to bring you this news,” he said.
Nancy waved away his apology and replaced the picture frame on the mantle. “No, you’re just doing your job. I understand.”
“Can I ask you those questions now?”
She sat down in a chair next to the fireplace and motioned for him to continue.
Kopriva cleared his throat. “Uh, well, you said you were here this morning, watching a movie?”
“Yes,” Nancy said.
“Mommy Dearest,” Fred offered.
Kopriva pressed his lips together and suppressed a grin. Willow coughed into his fist next to him. Neither Nancy nor Fred seemed to notice.
“Did you leave the house today?” Kopriva managed to ask.
“No.”
He looked at Fred. “Either of you?”
Fred glanced at Nancy, then shook his head.
“Do you own a van?”