Tilly shook her head. “No. All the guys liked Ruth. It was the girls who didn’t.”
“You’re talking about Ida and Hetty Bramble, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Tilly’s gaze scanned the room as if she wanted to make sure they weren’t in the coffee shop.
“We know they got into a brawl with her,” Ellie said. “Was there more to it than that?”
Tilly pressed a hand to her chest. “Look, I don’t want to disparage Ruth. She’s my sister and I loved her.”
“I understand. But?” Ellie’s voice was gentle. “If she was enemies with the girls or another boy, they might be involved in her disappearance,” Ellie said. Although how that would connect them to the other victims on their murder board she didn’t know. But if they were, she’d find out.
Tilly ran her fingers through her hair, sending the waves cascading over her shoulders. “The police went through all this before. Multiple times.”
“I know but bear with us,” Derrick said gruffly. “Sometimes fresh eyes see things that were missed the first go around. And if the same killer is at work now, we need to stop him before he takes another life.”
Tilly sighed wearily. “Ruth was mean to them, made fun of them for not having nice clothes and for living by the graveyard.”
Which would go toward a motive.
“But they were mean to Ruth, too,” Tilly added. “They were jealous of Ruth and I think one of them had a crush on Clint.”
“Do you think they were capable of murder?” Derrick asked.
Tension stretched in the air. “I… don’t know,” Tilly said. “But… even so… Ruth didn’t deserve to die.”
Derrick patted Tilly’s hand. “I understand this is difficult. I lost my sister when I was young and it still haunts me.”
Tilly sniffed, sadness radiating from her somber eyes. “It tore our family apart.”
“Mine, too,” Derrick murmured.
Derrick and Tilly locked gazes.
Sympathy for Derrick and Tilly filled Ellie. Guilt and anguish had driven his father to suicide.
She let the moment pass. “Please make a list of anyone else at school who might have been angry with Ruth, Tilly. Especially another boy?”
Tilly nodded that she would. “Again, why do you think Ruth’s case and these others are connected?”
“We can’t discuss details at this stage,” Ellie answered. “When the police investigated your sister’s disappearance, was there a particular place they searched?”
“Outside our house and the woods behind it,” she admitted. “And I told them about the watering hole at the overhang.”
“Why would you think they’d go there?” Derrick asked.
“It was the make-out spot for all the teenagers.”
“Did they find any of Ruth’s belongings?” Ellie asked.
Tilly shrugged. “Not her clothes, but I think they found one of her shoes. I thought she might have taken them off if they waded in the watering hole but it was freezing that night so I don’t know.”
“They only found one?” Derrick asked.
Tilly nodded.
“What kind of shoes was she wearing?” Ellie asked.
“Red knee-high boots,” Tilly said.
