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Ellie ignored the way the woman jutted out her breasts as she stood. Derrick showed no reaction.
A minute later, a tall black man with a broad face appeared, his expression grim. “Sergeant Benton.”
Derrick introduced them and then Benton led them to his office.
“I figured you two would be here today,” he said in a baritone voice that fit with his broad body. He probably played football in high school, Ellie thought. Maybe a tight end.
“Sorry I wasn’t out there myself last night. Found a phrogger hiding out in one of the cabins and had to handle that. Owners were freaked.”
“That a problem around here?” Ellie asked.
“Not much, more drifters than anything. And not usually during the summer but the winter, when business slows down and there’s empty cabins, we find people holed up.” His chair creaked as he leaned his bulk back in it. “But that’s not the reason y’all are here. I know you transported the remains you found in the lake to the county morgue. IDed the vic yet?”
“No,” Ellie replied. “All we know at the moment is that the body in the car was male.”
Sergeant Benton made a clicking sound with his teeth.
“We did track down who the car belonged to,” Derrick said. “A young coed named Amy Dean. Apparently, she was reported missing ten years ago.”
The sergeant’s eyes sparked with recognition. “It was hers? You’re sure?”
Derrick nodded. “We know you investigated her disappearance. And that she had a little girl.”
The man exhaled. “Yeah, but never found out their whereabouts. Finally concluded she took the child and just left the area.” He stood, walked over to a metal filing cabinet and removed a file. With it in hand, he sat down again. Papers rustled as he looked through it. “Talked to a couple of college girls who lived in her apartment building, the ones who reported her gone. Beverly Hooper and Janie Huggins. Both were concerned something bad happened to Amy, but I didn’t find evidence to support that.”
“Did she live alone?” Ellie asked.
“No roommate or boyfriend, if that’s what you mean. Just her and her little girl.” He pulled a photo of Amy and her daughter. “Pretty little thing,” the sergeant said. “Everyone said the mother doted on her.”
With her light brown hair and hazel eyes, Amy was pretty as well, almost hauntingly so. “Did those girls have any idea why she might have run off?”
“No,” he said. “Apparently, she didn’t date because of the kid. She did some cleaning for the ladies on the lake to help with money but took the kid with her. She never left her alone.”
Ellie and Derrick exchanged a look. “So she wasn’t involved with anyone?”
“Nope,” he said. “I talked to other residents in the apartment complex and they confirmed the other girls’ stories.”
“She never used a babysitter or left the little girl with a neighbor?” Ellie pressed.
“Not according to them. Girls said she grew up in the system and didn’t trust anyone.”
“Do you know the name of the child’s father?” Ellie asked.
He shook his head. “Beverly and Janie were under the impression he was dead.”
Ellie rubbed her temple in thought. That could be true or there could be more to the story.
“What about her phone or computer?” Ellie asked.
“Never found either one,” Sergeant Benton said.
“How about siblings or other foster relatives?” Derrick asked.
“Like I said, her friends said she was a loner.” He worked his mouth from side to side. “So you only found a man’s body inside the car. No Amy and no child?”
“That’s right,” Ellie said. “But the man was driving Amy’s car so he may have known her or had something to do with her disappearance.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
