Ida bit her lower lip, then gave a little nod. “I thought it was him I saw that night outside. But someone else could have done it. Ruth’s brother could have killed her.”
“Why would you say that?”
“He was a troublemaker, always starting fights. For someone with a rich daddy, he had a chip on his shoulder.”
“Clint Wallace was pissed she broke up with him,” Joe added. “He was one cocky SOB. Still is.”
“His daddy let him get away with everything,” Ida added.
Ellie considered the fact that they were offering other suspects. Having a chip on Hayden’s shoulder and Clint being cocky or jealous was suspect but a far cry from murder.
Were they trying to divert suspicion from Earl?
“Ida, you told Sheriff Wallace that you saw a man in the graveyard that night, a man you thought was your father?” Ellie asked. “That he was wearing your father’s clothes?”
“Yeah, I did.” Fear flashed on Ida’s face. “He even walked with a stoop like daddy did when he was drunk.”
“I’m sure it was difficult to suspect your own father of such a crime,” Ellie said gently.
Ida looked down at her fingernails. She’d chewed them down to the quick. “I guess so. But he was mean and drank too much and he used to lurk in the woods at night. Besides, two different girls came forward after Ruth went missing and saidhe’d followed them in the graveyard when they carried flowers to their loved ones.”
“Did either of them claim he tried to grab them?” Ellie asked.
Ida shrugged. “One of them said he jumped out from behind a tree and spooked her. She ran and got away.”
“Joe, you used to work with Earl, didn’t you?” Ellie asked.
He clenched his jaw. “Yeah, way back in high school.”
“What was your opinion of him? Did you ever see him exhibit violent tendencies?”
Joe sopped his biscuit into the gravy. “He had a temper when he was drinking.”
“You have a daughter the same age as the victims we found,” Derrick interjected. “You can protect her and the other teenagers in town by helping us.”
Joe released a wary breath. “He was a hunter,” Joe said. “Liked to stalk animals and kill them.”
“You mean like deer?” Derrick asked.
“Yeah and rabbit. And one time I saw him kill a dog and bury it in the grave with someone.”
Ellie’s stomach turned. “Anything else?”
“He used to make comments about the young girls. Lewd comments. And… well, he was tough on Hetty and said he’d heard about Ruth, that she was a tramp like his own mother.”
That could have been the trauma that resurfaced and triggered his rage toward her and young girls.
“Then he disappeared after Sheriff Wallace questioned him,” Derrick said.
“Yes…” Ida whispered.
Joe shifted and squeezed Ida’s hand again. “Look, my wife has been through hell because of all this. She doesn’t need all this right now.”
“We’re almost finished.” Ellie ignored Joe and focused on Ida. “What happened to your father’s truck?”
Emotions flashed across Ida’s face. “I… assumed he left town in it. I know the police looked for it but never found it.”
Joe cleared his throat. “He probably had it painted or dumped it somewhere.”
