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“What bridge fell?” Ravinia asked, never taking her eyes off Beth.
“Well, that’s just it. We thought it was ‘London Bridge is falling down.’ Ralph said as much. He played it off like she did this kind of thing all the time, and maybe she did. Anyway, about two hours later a pedestrian bridge not far from here collapsed over a ravine. Nobody was killed, luckily, as it crashed down at night, but it was spooky because of what Elizabeth had said. I called Ralph about it, but he acted like it was just a coincidence, and maybe it was, but . . .” Beth let out a pent-up breath. “Anyway, I’ve thought about it over the years, and I’ve wondered about Elizabeth. If you find her, I’d like to know how she’s doing.”
“You don’t have any address for either Ralph or Joy?” Rex pressed.
“No, as I said. Only the address from when they lived here. It was an apartment building near the grade school. Brightside Apartments, I think. I don’t remember the unit number offhand. Maybe I could find it,” she said doubtfully.
“That’s all right,” Rex said.
They talked to her a few more minutes, but Beth Harper was tapped out and losing interest, her gaze drifting back to the picture of her husband and herself in a field of dandelions. She promised to call or e-mail Rex if she thought of anything else.
Outside, Rex cast an eye toward the hovering black clouds overhead, pulled Ravinia’s backpack from the trunk, and handed it to her before climbing into the driver’s seat and waiting for her to buckle up.
Once they were on their way, he said to her, “We’ll get your clothes clean and then I want you to hit Wembley Grade School and ask some questions. You can say you went to school there, or something. Maybe ask about a teaching assistant job. Tell them your cousin went there. Teachers remember former students, especially if there’s something about them that’s different and it sounds like Elizabeth was different.”
“You’re going to trust me?”
“I think you’re a natural when playing a part,” Rex admitted.
“What are you gonna be doing?”
“I’ll check Brightside Apartments, find out who owns the complex, see if I can engage the manager into conversation, see how long he or she’s been there. Migh
t even be able to do that today.”
Ravinia seemed to roll that over in her mind as Rex drove into traffic. “I’ve never been inside a school,” she admitted.
“First time for everything. You look like you could still be a student. Have you got anything besides jeans?”
“You mean like that red dress Isabel was wearing? No, sorry. My wardrobe’s a little more limited than that,” she said testily. “And I purposely didn’t bring one of Aunt Catherine’s dresses.”
“Aunt Catherine’s dresses?”
“Long, old-fashioned ones. She wanted us to look like we were . . .”
“Amish?” When she didn’t immediately answer, he asked, “You know about them?”
“Yes, I know about them,” she snapped. “We did have a television, though it’s nothing like yours. And books. No, Aunt Catherine just wanted to shut the door on all the bad things that were out there. Hide us away. Reverse time.”
“I don’t think it worked with you,” Rex said lightly.
“I guess she did what she thought was right,” Ravinia said grudgingly.
They lapsed into silence for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts.
Then Rex said, “Maybe we can’t have you apply for a job at the school. It might be better if you were a student. Check in with a couple of the older teachers as school’s letting out. Maybe someone will remember Elizabeth. Beth Harper sure did.”
“Maybe they have information about where she went.”
“It’s getting that information. Privacy laws make it difficult. They’re not just going to hand it over.”
“We have to sneak the information out of them.”
“Well . . . yeah . . . a lot of times.”
They drove for several miles through the traffic-choked surface streets, and then Ravinia asked, “What did you think about what she said about the bridge falling down?”
“I’m glad it made an impression on Beth Harper.”
