Rocky Road (8 page)

Despite having agreed to go with Caro, Sadie had hoped that she could wait in the car or the waiting room. But it became obvious during the drive to the police station that Sadie would be accompanying Caro every step of the way. Caro became increasingly nervous the closer they got to the actual interview. Caro had given an official statement to the police after the situation they’d involved themselves in the year before, so she had experience with police interviews, but that made her even more nervous. Sadie did her best to talk down the significance of this meeting, but at the same time she was increasingly anxious, too. Oh, how she hated these interviews.

Would Sergeant Woodruff be the kind, understanding, and gentle type of cop she rarely encountered? Or, instead, would he be the chip-on-his-shoulder, hard-nosed detective who used intimidation and in-your-face declarations to ensure everyone knew who was in charge? A quick glance at Caro’s white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel and tight-lipped expression left Sadie praying for the former option. Please let him be nice.

For the first time ever, Sadie was disappointed when they were not asked to sit in the waiting area. Instead, they immediately followed a female officer down a short hallway, where she initiated a series of stops and signatures before Caro and Sadie were led into what Sadie knew to be an interrogation room. Rather than a mirror-sided wall that would allow them to be watched, two video cameras were attached to opposite corners of the light grey room. There were two chairs on one side of the table, and no chair on the other side.

“Shouldn’t there be a third chair?” Sadie asked the officer who had served as their guide up to this point.

The woman just smiled and waved them to their seats. “Officer Nielson will be with you shortly. Please have a seat.”

“Nielson?” Sadie asked quietly once the door had closed and she and Caro were alone. They each pulled back a chair and sat down at the table. Sadie’s chair legs weren’t even, and the chair wobbled slightly.

“We’re meeting with Officer Nielson,” Caro confirmed. She looked at the camera set in the corner closest to them and swallowed nervously.

“I thought it was Sergeant Woodruff.”

“Nielson is the one who called me back.”

How had Sadie not realized that? She, too, eyed the cameras and decided not to talk about it right now. She settled back in her seat and restated in her mind the goal of this meeting: to discuss what they knew without drawing too much interest in themselves.

The doorknob turned, and Sadie took a breath before looking at the area where the face of this Officer Nielson should be if he were of average height. However, once the door opened, the spot she’d focused on was a few feet too high, and she felt her eyes travel lower and lower until they met the blue eyes of a man in a wheelchair. Sadie tried to hide her surprise, but she knew he’d seen it all the same, and she felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. He gave her a slight smile of acknowledgment and steered himself into the room with one hand while the other held the door open. It wasn’t until he was completely in the room that Sadie realized she should have offered to help. But would that have offended him?

Caro hadn’t looked up as Officer Nielson entered the room, and she was slightly startled when she did look up to see him wheeling up to the other side of the table. Sadie noted a thick file resting on his lap and a fanny pack secured around his waist. Just like that, they were suddenly eye to eye, and, except for his unexpected means of arrival, he had the demeanor of any other officer Sadie had encountered. That she felt sorry for him bothered her a lot. She knew he wouldn’t want her sympathy, but she also worried that being taken off guard by him had already put her at a disadvantage.

He put the file on the table and a moment later took a bottle of hand sanitizer from his fanny pack. He squirted some into one hand and then rubbed it into both hands. “Don’t let the chair intimidate you,” he said with a half smile. “I won’t hold it against you that I’m twice as fast as you are and have the upper body strength of a god.”

Both Sadie and Caro were quiet for a moment and then smiled anxiously at the joke.

He snapped the sanitizer’s lid back in place and returned the bottle to the fanny pack. Only then did he extend his hand across the table. He did have incredibly well-muscled arms, and Sadie found herself blushing for the second time since he’d entered the room. When he met her eye, she could swear he knew what thoughts had inspired her reaction, just as he had the first time. Caro and Sadie introduced themselves in turn, and Officer Nielson immediately opened the cover of the file and asked about the photos Caro had indicated in the note she’d left with the articles the day before. At first, Caro seemed hesitant to answer the questions he asked, but when Sadie didn’t jump to answer in her place, she stumbled through the explanation and after a few sentences seemed to find her groove. Sadie was grateful that Officer Nielson did, in fact, seem to be one of those detectives who led with confidence and authority.

He asked about the origins of the photograph of the two women, and he wrote down what Caro told him, letting her know he would need to verify the dates with Kathryn. Caro told him to turn the photo over and see where Tess had written Kathryn’s contact information a few days earlier.

He asked good questions that established why Caro and Sadie were there, their connection to Dr. Hendricks, and what they thought the photos meant. Sadie couldn’t have been more proud of how Caro handled everything. She was professional and well-spoken.

Officer Nielson opened the file and thumbed through the rest of the papers. “And these other items?”

“We gathered all the information we could about Dr. Hendricks in hopes of figuring out any other discrepancies in the case.”

“And did you find any?”

When Sadie and Caro didn’t answer immediately, he looked up at them expectantly.

“Maybe not a discrepancy,” Caro said. “But there were some strange things that stood out to us after Sadie talked to Lori Hendricks last night.” She motioned toward Sadie, turning Officer Nielson’s attention to her for the first time. Sadie cringed but tried not to show it on her face.

“Lori Hendricks is Dr. Hendricks’s first wife, correct?” the officer queried.

He didn’t already know that? Why wouldn’t he be familiar with the details of the case? His ignorance seemed to confirm that a call from him hadn’t been the catalyst for Lori changing her mind about wanting to see the photos this morning.

“Um, yes,” Caro said, possibly thinking the same thing.

“Why don’t you tell me about what you learned from Lori Hendricks.”

Sadie and Caro were both silent for a beat or two until Officer Nielson raised his eyebrows. Caro looked at Sadie and raised her eyebrows, too. Sadie took a breath before giving a quick recap of events from last night, ending with the fact that Lori Hendricks had cancelled the appointment.

By the time Sadie finished, Officer Nielson was leaning to one side of his wheelchair, with one elbow resting on the arm of the chair and holding up his chin. He held her eyes longer than she wanted him to. It felt too searching, too much as though he were making conclusions about her. She looked away first.

“Are you somehow employed by law enforcement?” he asked her.

“No, sir.”

“You use the lingo.”

“Well, I, um, have some experience with investigative work.”

“But you’re not a law enforcement employee?”

“No, sir. I, um, used to be a private investigator.” She kept to herself that most of her investigative experience had little to do with the actual business she’d run for less than a year.

He looked at her a few seconds longer, and Sadie knew that as soon as she left this office, he would type her name into his fancy-pants computer and learn everything about her. She didn’t know what her official file said, but Pete had described it as “extensive” when she’d pushed him for information. With that in mind, Sadie wondered what she had to lose in this interview. “Can I ask you a question, Officer Nielson?”

“Certainly.”

“Is Sergeant Woodruff no longer working the case? We’ve read all of those articles and your name never came up.”

“Sergeant Woodruff was the investigator on the disappearance case, and he was over things until about two weeks ago, when the file was given to me. I’ve been employed with the department for sixteen years, but about four years ago, I was injured in a search and rescue and was taken off of active duty. I now work here in the station, closing out cases, doing phone work for other investigators, and anything else that doesn’t require legs.” He smiled to soften the impact of the words, but Sadie felt her sympathy rising again. “I was given this case to close, but it hasn’t been a priority—I expected to finish it off by the end of the summer. Until these came in.” He tapped the top of the folder. “I’ve spent the morning reviewing the file, but I’m certainly not yet familiar with the intricacies of the case. I’d like to review it some more and, perhaps, ask you some follow-up questions. Would that be all right with the two of you?”

“Sure,” Caro said with a nod.

“Of course,” Sadie confirmed.

He put the file back in his lap and pulled back from the table. “Great. I’ll be in touch then, if both of you would kindly leave your contact information, including where you’re staying while you’re here in town, with the officer at the front desk, I would appreciate it.”

He reached the door and pulled it open before either of them could do it for him. The same female officer that had escorted them inside was waiting for them outside the door and led them to the front of the station. They retrieved their purses and left their contact information, as Officer Nielson had instructed, and headed through the front doors.

“Well, that was ... ”

Caro didn’t finish the sentence, and Sadie wasn’t sure she knew how to finish it, either, so she simply agreed. “Yeah.”

They got into Caro’s car, which was already hot from the morning sun. Caro started the car and turned the AC all the way up. “They’re closing the case already. That must mean that they really aren’t working on any leads, right? They didn’t find anything in their investigation that warranted keeping the case active.”

“That’s what it sounds like,” Sadie said, turning to smile at Caro across the seats. “And giving them this brought it back to life. Well done.”

Caro smiled and shifted into reverse, catching Sadie’s eye as she looked over the seat to pull out of her parking space. “I’d have never done it without you telling me to. Maybe it will help Tess feel better to know the police are picking things up from here.”

Sadie felt mean-spirited toward Tess right now and so she didn’t make any comment in regard to wanting Tess to feel better about things. They pulled out of the parking lot without continuing the conversation.

“Now what?” Caro said after pulling out onto 200 East.

“I guess we continue the weekend as we’d originally planned,” Sadie said, trying to ignore the letdown of being off the case. “There’s those outlet stores, and the tour of the temple visitors’ center, and ...” She wasn’t feeling much enthusiasm for those things any more.

“Just walk away?”

“It’s in the hands of the police. Our part is done.”

Caro slowed down at the stop sign. “What do we do about Tess?”

Sadie’s first instinct was to point out that this had never been about Tess, but she stopped herself. Caro was in a difficult position, and Sadie had no desire to make it harder. “I suppose Tess can do whatever she wants. As can you and as can I. I am secure in the fact that the police are taking care of this situation, and I’m not interested in stepping on any of their toes, even if it is hard to walk away. You and Tess will have to make your own decisions.”

Caro was silent as she stared out the window. Sadie waited with her, eager for the answer but not wanting to break the train of thought in Caro’s mind. “I don’t know what to do,” she finally said quietly.

“Why don’t you drop me off at the hotel? Then you can go to Tess’s and decide where to go from there.”

“You don’t want to come with me?” Caro turned to look at her.

“Tess doesn’t like me, Caro,” Sadie pointed out, though she hated saying it out loud. “She and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum on this subject. My being there when you decide what to do will only cause additional friction. I’ve made up my mind—the two of you can make up yours.”

Caro didn’t like that, and Sadie could see how her friend might feel a bit abandoned by Sadie’s refusal to continue on. But in the long run, it was for the best. “And,” Sadie said as Caro pulled into the hotel parking lot. “I understand that this weekend was, first and foremost, about you and Tess carrying out an important tradition. Tess and I haven’t gotten off to a good start, and I’d rather go home and let you two enjoy the weekend than get in the way of things.”

“I’m sure it won’t come to that,” Caro said, sounding surprised at the consideration. “You don’t want to stay?”

“I want to stay if my being here is the best thing, but I don’t want to get in the way of you and Tess, and I think I already did that.”