Part 29 (1/2)
Laura Purcell looked at her husband. ”I-I can't be sure. There's really nothing about him that stands out, but...”
Autumn leaned forward. ”But what, Mrs. Purcell?”
”But I think this might be the man who helped us chase a bear away from our campground up at the lake. It was a Girl Scout overnight trip-Brownies. It was two weekends before Ginny disappeared.” Her eyes welled with tears. ”He seemed like such a nice man.”
”Let's talk about that day,” Ben said, trying to keep Laura focused. ”Who else was there?”
She inhaled a shaky breath. ”Well, there were two adult troop leaders and six girls. We were just about to have breakfast when a black bear wandered into camp. The girls were yelling, throwing things, trying to scare the bear away. The man ran over from the camp next to ours waving his s.h.i.+rt and shouting at the bear. When the animal saw him, it turned and ran away.”
”Did this man talk to you or any of the girls?”
”Not really. He just said that from now on we should be sure to bundle up any food and haul it up in the trees, but we told him we were leaving right after breakfast. He said that he was just glad he could help.” She frowned.
”What is it?” Autumn asked.
”I just...I remember he pointed at Ginny and asked if she was my daughter and I said yes. He said he could tell because both of us were so pretty.” She started crying then and her husband settled an arm across her shoulders.
”I hope you understand...my wife has been through a great deal in the last two months. Both of us have.”
”Believe me, I understand.”
”Is there anything else you need?” Jack asked.
”I just need to know if there is anything more you can tell me about this man or where we might find him.”
Laura looked up, blew her nose on a tissue her husband handed her. ”He was just a camper, you know? Someone enjoying the outdoors, just like we were. I think he was there by himself. I-I do remember seeing him earlier that morning. I remember thinking he must be extremely athletic. He was jogging, you see, running up and down these very steep hills. I remember he had his s.h.i.+rt off and there wasn't an ounce of fat on his body. He looked extremely fit.”
Ben glanced over at Autumn. ”Anything else?” he asked.
”No, I...that's all I recall.”
”Thank you, Mrs. Purcell,” Autumn said, rising from her chair. ”You've been extremely helpful.”
To Jack, Ben said, ”I need the names and addresses of the people on the camping trip, the other leader and the girls.”
”You really think this might be the guy who took Ginny?” Jack asked.
”I think there's a chance. So far we don't have enough evidence to prove it. We need to see if the rest of the people who saw him think he's the man in the sketch.”
Purcell disappeared and came back with a list of the members of the local Brownie troop and their addresses. He put a check in front of the people who went on the overnight trip.
”Thank you,” Ben said, accepting the list as Jack Purcell walked them to the door.
Laura Purcell came up beside her husband. ”Please...if you find out anything, anything at all...”
Ben nodded. ”I'll let you know, I promise.”
The door closed behind them. Autumn took a deep breath. ”You really think he was the guy at the campground?”
”I'll have Rossi get up here and interview the rest of the people on Jack Purcell's list. We'll see what the others have to say. Personally, I think it was him. I think he spots a certain little girl and his predatory urge kicks in. Maybe it doesn't happen for years, but then something triggers it. Or maybe now that Molly's older, he was on the prowl. All of the girls are blond and blue-eyed. All of them pretty. He spots his victim, carefully makes a plan to abduct her and so far he hasn't come close to getting caught.”
”He's smart and athletic. That fits with his interest in the outdoors.”
”I'd say so.”
”Smart people still make mistakes.”
Ben's jaw clenched. ”Let's hope he's made one this time.”
They started the long drive back to Seattle. Autumn tried to relax and enjoy the scenery, but it wasn't that easy to do. Ben was as tense as she was. During a pit stop, he called Pete Rossi on his cell.
”How's the search going?” Ben asked.
Pete must not have found anything because Ben said, ”That's too bad. Listen, I've got a job for you. I need you to head up to Sandpoint.” He went on to explain what they had found out when they talked to the Purcells and that he wanted Pete to try to verify Laura Purcell's ID of the man in the sketch.
”We get it confirmed, we'll have something to take to the police besides the face of a man in a dream.”
Ben hung up and leaned his head back against the headrest. ”Rossi thinks we should pursue the Missing TV angle. I told him to go ahead and call this guy, Grayson, and set things in motion.”
”Even if the producers go for it, it'll take a while to do the show.”
”Which will give me time to handle my family.” He kept his eyes on the road, and didn't seem to notice the pine-covered mountains that lined the highway leading south, back to the turnoff onto the 90 Freeway.
”I feel sorry for the Purcells,” he said. ”I know what they're going through. I wish I could have given them at least a little hope.”
”There's no way you could, not yet. It might just make things worse for them in the long run.”
That was the truth. If they never found the girls, false hope only made the pain more severe. Autumn gazed out the window as the car moved along the highway, pulled around a slow-moving truck on an uphill grade, then settled back into the spa.r.s.e traffic.
In the mirror, Ben's gaze met hers. ”What does she look like...Molly, I mean? Now that she's so much older.”
Autumn's heart twisted. She knew how terrible this was for Ben, searching for his daughter all over again, terrified he wouldn't find her.
”Well, she's twelve now, no longer a little girl, so her features are more grown up.”
”Not quite twelve,” Ben corrected. ”Not till August first.”
”That's right, I forgot.” She closed her eyes and tried to conjure the image she had seen so many times in her dreams.
”She still looks a lot like Katie. Her lips are a little fuller, her cheekbones a little more p.r.o.nounced. She's on her way to becoming a teenager, so she's lost the babyish appearance of a child. I think you would recognize her as your daughter, though. You wouldn't have any doubt.”
The muscles in Ben's throat moved up and down. ”G.o.d, I want to bring her home.”
”We're getting closer, Ben. Closer all the time.”
But they still had no more idea where to look for her than they'd had before.