Kat inched toward her mother and curved her arm around her. “It’s okay, Mama. It’s okay. Now everyone will find out what a monster he was.”
“Yes, the truth will come out,” Ellie said. “But there’s more, Ida. How was Joe involved that night?”
Ida shook her head. “He wasn’t. He… didn’t know what happened. I… never told him.” She wiped at her tears. “He thought Daddy was guilty of killing Ruth and he was relieved Daddy was gone so the gossip could die down.”
Ellie was beginning to see the picture. “Ida, we don’t think your father killed Ruth.”
Ida and Kat both gaped at her. “What? Of course he did,” Ida said in a raw whisper.
Ellie shook her head. Ida’s conviction sounded real.
“I’m sorry,” Ellie said gently. “But we have evidence connecting your husband to the recent crimes and to Ruth.”
The color drained from Ida’s face, and she sank back in the chair as if she was folding in on herself. “That’s ludicrous. Joe… why would he have killed Ruth?”
“His prints and DNA are on items we found that belonged to the dead girls,” Derrick cut in. “We even found the truck that was used to abduct Jacey Ward from Athens and the farm where he took the girls and hid out to escape being caught.”
“I don’t believe it,” Ida gasped.
“No,” Kat screeched. “My daddy wouldn’t kill anyone. And he wouldn’t take Carrie Ann. She’s my best friend.”
Either Ida and her daughter were in denial or they were oblivious to everything Joe had done.
“Where’s your husband now?” Derrick asked.
Ida pressed her hands to the sides of her head, her eyes glazed with shock. “Work.”
“He had a delivery,” Kat said in a shaky voice.
“Do you know where he was supposed to go today?” Derrick asked.
Ida shook her head. “He delivers all over North Georgia, even in Tennessee.”
His job had given him access to target girls in various cities where teenage girls had disappeared.
“We’ll find him and get to the bottom of this.” Ellie debated on whether to charge Ida. She’d basically confessed to murder. She also needed to bring Hetty in for a statement as well. Although, it sounded as if Ida and Hetty had a solid case for self-defense.
“You told the police you saw your father in the graveyard the night Ruth died,” Ellie said. “You said he was wearing your father’s hat and coat. Did you actually see his face?”
Ida chewed on her thumbnail.
“Ida?”
“N… no,” she mumbled. “It was dark and I was so shocked and… I mean I thought it was him.”
“Is it possible that Joe was wearing your father’s coat and hat?”
Tears trickled down Ida’s reddening cheeks. “M… maybe. But I… don’t understand why Joe would kill Ruth.”
“Maybe he was being protective of you,” Ellie offered.
Ida shrugged. “Even if that was so, he’s been overprotective of Kat, especially since those bodies were found. He ordered her not to go in the woods and repeatedly warned her it was dangerous.”
Or perhaps he didn’t want her to find him.
“Kat, please get the computer with that journal on it,” Derrick said. “We need to take your mother to the station and record her statement.”
“I’ll send Deputy Eastman to pick up Hetty,” Ellie said. “She’s worked with domestic violence victims before.”
