“Miss Edna was all in a tizzy when I got here and it took me a minute to figure out what happened.”
“What did you do once you’d determined that Harley Ann was gone? Probably kidnapped by David Green?” Jesse pushed.
Miss Edna drew herself up until her back was ramrod straight. “What do you meanprobably?” she hissed.
Jesse kept his eyes on her. “I deal in facts, ma’am.”
When he saw her lips part to speak again, he rushed on.
“The fact is that Harley Ann is missing. We don’t know for a fact that David Green took her. You said she was gone when you got to the back porch.” He pointed out.
“Well, if you know of somebody else who would’ve kidnapped her, you know more than I do.” Snapped Miss Edna.
When Lily Gayle leaned forward, Jesse jumped to forestall anything she might say.
“It’s more than likely that he’s involved in her disappearance, but we don’t know that for sure.”
Lily Gayle sat back and crossed her arms. She definitely thought he was off track.
Truth of the matter was that hedidbelieve that David Green had abducted Harley Ann, but he still had to leave the option that something else had happened open or he might miss a clue.
“To answer your question about what I did.” Lily Gayle said in a tight voice. “I went out back and looked around. There’s a shovel lying in the flowerbed next to a wheelbarrow of mulch. The ground is scuffed up a bit, but it’s hard to tell exactly what happened since the ground is hard and dry.”
He had to give her credit for that observation, he grudgingly thought.
“Go on.” He urged.
“Then I looked around and saw some broken twigs on the yellow bell bush at the property line. It’s just starting to bloom this time of year so those broken twigs caught my eye.”
She gave a deep sigh. “I have to confess at this point that I may have messed up some of the clues. I was so worried about Harley Ann that I forgot to get my paper booties out of my purse and put them on before I started tramping around the crime scene.”
He did a mental double take at that. Ian had warned him when he arrived in town that Lily Gayle and Miss Edna, along with the owner of the local hair shop, Dixie, were all thick as thieves and had been instrumental in solving some local crimes. He’d taken that with a grain of salt, but now wondered if there was more to it than he initially believed.
“I walked a little way into the woods to see if I could see or hear anything but it I couldn’t. There’s not a trail or anything back there that showed shoe prints or scuffmarks. And the only thing I heard was the wind in the trees. And some birds. I came on back to the house to call my cousin, Ben. He’s Sheriff Carter. But Miss Edna had already called Piper MacKenzie…excuse me, I haven’t quite gotten used to her married name. I mean Piper Elliott. Miss Edna had called Piper to see if she knew anything about any trouble Harley Ann had been having lately. And Piper sent you over.” She paused and gave him a once over. “Allegedly you have some magic tracking skills from your time in the army.”
He bristled at the use of the words allegedly and magic. But every minute they sat here was another minute Harley Ann was in danger.
“What’s in the woods behind here?” He questioned. “Any buildings, houses, sheds?”
Both women shook their head.
“The land behind here is woods all the way up the hill to the Midnight Dragonfly. Nothing but trees and underbrush.” Miss Edna said.
Jesse frowned. The Midnight Dragonfly was the big house where the sleep study was being conducted. Odds were that the kidnapper wouldn’t take her that way. Too many people coming and going from that place.
“Are both of you sure there’s no structure back there in the woods where the kidnapper could have taken her?” He pushed.
Both women sat back, looking thoughtful.
Miss Edna leaned forward urgently. “A long time ago. When I was just a girl, a family lived in a house in those woods.”
Jesse leaned in to encourage her. “Do you remember where it was?”
Miss Edna frowned. Lily Gayle took her hand, rubbing her thumb across the gnarled fingers.
“It wasn’t in the direction of the Midnight Dragonfly. The Mitchells owned the big house back then and they didn’t cotton to anybody wandering anywhere near their property.” She went silent, a crease appearing between her eyes.
“From here, it would be in a more easterly direction.” The old woman motioned with the hand Lily Gayle wasn’t holding. “Away from the big house. I can’t remember how far back or anything more specific than that.”
