WHEN THE NEXT morning came, Jim went to work and Dana went to the police. They had no new answers, nothing that differed from her notes or her conversation with Jeannie Edison so she asked to see the file from the other missing child.
“There might be a connection, Sheriff. You see any similarities?” she asked.
“Nothing other than the age of the victim. Other baby was a little boy. He went missing from his grandmother’s house while the family was in town visiting. There was no sign of a break in or anything else out of place,” Sheriff Roger Wilton said. “That baby was there one minute, gone the next.”
“What about other missing children in the area? The state?”
“I found one other missing baby from about a year ago. And last October Rodney Hankins disappeared, remember that?”
“I do, but he was a teenager. You think they’re all related?”
“Shit, who knows, Dana? No one locks their doors around here… Hell, everybody’s related. You never know what might be goin’ on.” The sheriff scratched his forehead and stood up.
“You’re welcome to reports on all of them if you like. You might see something we missed. It’s a small staff around here. I need to get back over to see Jeannie Edison and let her know we’re still lookin’. Peg will get you those copies.”
Dana thanked him and started back up front. She paused.
“Hey, Sheriff? Have you seen Frank Edison since you were last over there?”
“No. Didn’t see him that night either. Jeannie said he’d been out lookin’ for the baby all day. I was hoping to catch him when I got over there,” he said.
Dana considered the information and the sheriff excused himself. “Take care.”
“Thanks, you too,” Dana said.
She picked up the reports from Peg who sat at the front desk. Then she sat down right there in the lobby of the sheriff station to look through them. Aside from location, there was nothing to tie the three together and no witnesses, just a missing teenager and three babies gone without a single hair out of place.
She took out a notepad and scribbled:
Jeannie Edison said her husband, Frank, left to look for Lily after the police left. Sheriff Wilton said he was already out looking for the baby and that he hoped to catch up with him this morning.
She decided to follow Sheriff Wilton back to the Edison’s home. Frank was the only one left who she really needed to talk to. She looked at her watch to see it was 8:07am. She pulled out her cell phone to call Jim. He would be just getting to work for the day.
“Hey, Dana. Somethin’ wrong?” he said.
“No, just wanted to run something by you.”
“What’s that?”
“I think Frank Edison made off with their baby. Jeannie may be in denial about it, poor thing. She told me he was there and left after the police investigation. But the sheriff said he was never there.”
“Sounds reasonable. You goin’ to check in on them?” Jim asked.
“Sheriff is on his way over now. I thought I’d tag along,” she said.
“Take care, babe.”
“Love you,” she said, and she folded the phone and stuck it in her purse. She was already driving.