“Charges? What charges?” Mrs. Tanner slumped back in her chair and heaved a sigh. “Please don’t arrest Tyrell. He only did what I asked him to do.”
“I’m listening,” Cook said.
“I only wanted to know what she was up to, that’s all.” Mrs. Tanner finally turned her attention on Jessie. “You’re not an investigator helping with an old case. You’ve got a personal stake in this, don’t you?” Mrs. Tanner raised her chin in defiance. “I asked Tyrell to do me a favor. He really didn’t do any harm.”
“But how did you know I was coming to La Pointe?” Before the woman answered, Jessie cocked her head. “Maybe I should rephrase that. The fact that I was coming here wasn’t the important thing. You knew why I was coming, didn’t you? Tyrell told you about the DNA report from the crime lab. That’s what triggered all this, but why was I such a threat to you?”
Jessie had made a leap in logic about the DNA analysis, but it made sense. And when Sophia Tanner didn’t correct her, she knew she’d guessed right about how she’d found out about the lab results. But the woman was hiding something more than getting a deputy and former coworker to do her a favor.
“Threat? You’re no threat to me. I was just curious, that’s all,” the woman protested, but Jessie had a hard time believing her. And so did Chief Cook.
“Tyrell tampered with evidence when he took that interview of yours,” the chief said, making a leap of his own that surprised Jessie. “I’d seen that original report years ago, but it’s gone now. Why did you have him take it from evidence, Sophia?”
“Tyrell had nothing to do with that. I’d taken it years ago, when I worked at the station. I don’t want him charged for something I did.”
“But why? I mean, you gave that interview. Why hide it now? What was in it that you were so afraid of?” Jessie had to ask the question, but after thinking about Sophia’s part in all this, she played a hunch. “You saw the kids at the DeSalvo place. You saw me, didn’t you? You were the closest neighbor. What did you see, Mrs. Tanner?”
“My interview didn’t have anything in it. I only said what everyone else did. With me living so close, I figured that’s what folks would expect. And not saying anything about the children would’ve raised suspicion.”
“I don’t believe you. You’re hiding something.” Jessie had to work hard at keeping her voice calm and steady. All she really wanted to do was yell.
When the woman couldn’t look her in the eye and kept her mouth shut, Jessie took a deep breath and tried talking to her another way. She knelt at the woman’s feet and touched her hand.
“I had my childhood taken from me . . . by a man who tortured and abused helpless little girls.” Jessie’s voice cracked. “That man took me from my family, a family I’ve never known. And all I have left is proof that I have a brother. And I think you know something about what happened to us. Why won’t you help me?”
Sophia Tanner put a trembling hand to her lips. And tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I want to help. Believe me, I do. But I just can’t.”
“You’re protecting someone. Why?” Jessie pressed her for more. “You know something about what happened to Angela, don’t you?”
“No”—the woman shook her head—“not really.”
She’d pushed Sophia Tanner as far as she would go. Jessie saw it in her eyes. The woman was protecting someone very important to her. And no matter what happened because of her meddling, she didn’t look as if she’d say anything more unless she was given no choice.
Chief Cook must have realized that, too.
“I know what you’re hiding, Sophia.” His expression softened, and so did his voice. “You may as well tell us what you know. All I need is a court order, compelling you to provide me a DNA sample. Is that how you want him to find out?”
Sophia Tanner’s eyes watered as she gasped. She crossed her arms and rocked where she sat, muttering things Jessie didn’t understand.
“Him? Can someone clue me in?” Jessie asked.
Cook didn’t answer her. He stared at Sophia, waiting for her to break the strained silence. It didn’t take long for that to happen.
“You were right about Tyrell telling me about that DNA. He was just passing the time, thought I’d be interested since I used to be Angela’s neighbor. But when he told me, I lost it. I just knew someone would put two and two together. And I couldn’t let that happen. I told him what . . . what I did. He was only trying to help me . . . protect someone. It wasn’t his fault.”
Sophia grasped Jessie’s hand and squeezed it. “I’m just so tired. This has been such a burden. I was only trying to . . . do the right thing.”
“I can see that, but please . . .” Jessie begged. “I have to know what happened.”
“You have to promise me that you’ll listen to everything I have to say. Please.”
“I promise.”
Jessie could’ve backed off and sat on the sofa, but she didn’t want to sever the tie she had to the only woman who might know anything about her brother. She was so close to knowing something real that she felt a mounting ache in her belly when Mrs. Tanner opened her mouth to speak again.
“Angela had always been a little standoffish. Like I’d said before, we were never close. I’d talk to her, but she hardly ever offered anything personal back. It was like she was hiding from something . . . or someone,” Mrs. Tanner began. “But one day, a man showed up. I saw him from my bedroom window. He had two children with him. And when he showed, Angela argued with him. They yelled so loud that I almost heard what they said, but they were too far away.”
Jessie could have accused her of not reporting vital evidence, but instead of pointing the finger, she focused on the one thing she thought Mrs. Tanner would respond to.
“I bet those kids were scared, seeing them argue like that.” Jessie tightened her grip on the woman’s hand. “Was I scared, Mrs. Tanner? Was my little brother scared, too?”
“Yes, you were, at first. But when Angela let him into her house, I figured it was a lovers’ quarrel, and everything had blown over. She took you kids in, and everything seemed all right.”
“But it wasn’t all right, was it?”
“No, it wasn’t. And I was afraid for you kids. I began to watch that house. Angela’s visitor scared me. He never acted like any father I ever saw. He ignored the little boy, but he never let you out of his sight. I thought that was strange.”
Jessie shut her eyes, blocking out the images that were flooding her mind, dark memories of Millstone. She had to strain to hear Mrs. Tanner go on.
“Then one day that man’s car was gone. I watched and waited to see Angela, but when I saw that precious boy wandering in the field between our two houses without Angela or that man around, I rushed to get him.” When she shook her head and dropped her chin, a tear made a glistening trail down her face. “His little pajamas were covered in blood . . . so much blood. And he was hysterical, crying real hard. I knew something terrible had happened.”
“Did you call the police?” Jessie turned to Chief Cook. “I thought a yardman had found her and called it in.”
Before the chief could speak, Mrs. Tanner broke in.
“I grabbed that boy and held him in my arms until he calmed down. All I could think about was you. I had to know you were all right.” She clenched her jaw and took a deep breath before she went on. “But by the time I got to Angela’s property, the police were already there, and it looked real bad. I don’t know why I did it, but I clung to that little boy. We hid in the bushes, with me rocking him to sleep in my arms. I hid and watched what the police were doing. I swear, I figured you were all right . . . that they had you, but when I read about the murder in the papers, they never mentioned finding a little girl.”