Jodi Compton - The 37th Hour

Jodi Compton

Delacorte Press

table of contents

acknowledgments

This book is a work of fiction, with the usual amount of narrative license taken. Although real government agencies are named within, nothing here is meant to represent the actual workings of those agencies or their employees.

Having said that, there are several people who helped me understand the world in which Sarah Pribek works, and they deserve mentioning. Particularly I wish to thank an officer of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and lawyers Beth Compton of Indiana and David Lillehaug of Minnesota. All remaining errors, or dramatic license taken, are to be laid at my doorstep, not theirs. Also helpful was reporter Carol Roberts of The Tribune in San Luis Obispo (when you retire, Carol, can I have that Rolodex?).

I also want to thank some extraordinarily supportive people in the publishing business: Barney et al. at the Karpfinger Agency, and Jackie and Nita at Bantam.

Lastly, I wish to thank my father for leaving thousands of crime novels around the house (fortunately not all at once) when I was growing up; my sister, whose opinion I seek first on story and character; and a teacher who learned me and a lot of other kids how to read. Thank you, Bethie.

chapter 1

Every cop has at least one story about the day the job found them. Its not uncommon. Out on the streets, on duty or off, suddenly an officer sees two guys in baseball caps and sunglasses run out of a bank as if their heels were afire. By pure luck, theres an officer on the scene even before Dispatch takes the call.

With missing-persons cases, though, its a little different. The people youre looking for, generally, are already dead, out of town, out of state, or in hiding. As a rule, theyre not in highly visible places, waiting for you to all but run into them. Ellie Bernhardt, fourteen, was to be the exception that proved the rule.

Yesterday, Ellies sister had come to see me, all the way to Minneapolis from Bemidji, in northwest Minnesota. Ainsley Carter was 21, maybe 22 at the outside. She was thin and had that tentative, nervous kind of beauty that seems proprietary to blondes, but today, and probably most days, she hadnt chosen to accentuate her looks save for some dark-brown mascara and a little bit of concealer under the eyes that didnt erase the shadow of a poorly slept night. She wore jeans and a softball shirtthe kind with a white body and colored long sleeves, blue in this case. A plain silver band rode her right hand; a very small diamond solitaire the left.

I think my sister is probably in town somewhere, she said, when Id gotten her settled before my desk with a cup of coffee. She didnt come home from school the day before yesterday.

You contacted the police in Bemidji?

In Thief River Falls, she said. Thats where Ellie still lives, with our dad. My husband and I moved after we got married, she explained. So yes, theyre looking into it. But I think shes here. I think she ran away from home.

Does she have a suitcase or bag thats missing?

Ainsley tipped her head to one side, thinking. No, but her book bag is pretty large, and when I looked through her stuff I thought that some things were missing. Things that she wouldnt take to school, but would want if she were leaving home.

Like?

Well, she had a picture of our mother, Ainsley said. Mom died about six years ago. Then I got married, and Joe and I moved away, so its just her and Dad.

It seemed an anecdote was forming out of what had started to be generic background information, so I said nothing and let it unfold.

Ellie had the usual amount of girlfriends growing up. She was a little shy, but she had friends. But just in the past year or so, I dont know, Dad says theyve kind of cooled off, she said. I think its just because Ellie has gotten so pretty. All of a sudden, within almost a year, she was tall, and she was developing, and she had such a lovely face. And that same year she was out of grade school and into junior high, and thats a big change. I think maybe the girls felt differently about her, just like the guys did.

Guys? I said.

Since Ellie turned thirteen or so, boys have been calling. A lot of them are older boys, Dad says. It worries him.

Was Ellie seeing someone older, someone your father didnt have a good feeling about?

No, Ainsley said. As far as he knew, she didnt date at all. But I dont have a good feel for her life. She paused. Dads nearly seventy. He doesnt talk about girl things with us, he never has. So I cant get a good idea from him what Ellies life is really like. I try to talk to her on the phone, but its not the same. I dont think she has anyone to confide in.

Ainsley, I said carefully, when you talk to Ellie, when you visit the house, do you ever feel something isnt right about her relationship with her father?

She understood immediately what I was asking. Oh, God, no, she said, and her tone left me no room to doubt she meant it. She picked up her coffee; her blue eyes on me suggested she was waiting for another question.

I licked my teeth speculatively, tapped a pen against my notepad.

What I hear you saying is that you worry because she doesnt have any friends or nearby female relatives to talk to. Which is unfortunate, I guess, but what I dont see here is a crisis that caused her to run away. Can you think of anything?

I did, Ainsley said more slowly, talk to her friends. Her classmates, I mean.

What did they say?

They didnt say much. They were kind of embarrassed, and maybe feeling guilty. Ellies run away, and Im her sister, and probably they felt like I was there to blame them for not being kinder or more supportive of her.

They didnt say anything useful? I prompted.

Well, she said, one of the girls said there were some rumors.

What kind? I asked.

That Ellie was sexually active, I guess. I tried to get her to say more, but the other two girls jumped in, and said, You know, people just talk. Something like that. I couldnt get anything more out of them.

I nodded. But you said Ellie didnt date. It seems like there wouldnt be much grounds for those kinds of rumors.

Dad would let her go to sleepovers. Ainsley lifted her coffee cup, didnt drink. He thought they were all-girls parties, but sometimes I wonder. You hear things, about what kids are doing at earlier and earlier ages.... Her voice trailed off, leaving the difficult things unsaid.

Okay, I said. None of this may be relevant at all to why she ran away.

Ainsley went on with her train of thought. I wish she could live with us, she said. I talked to Joe about it, but he says we dont have enough room. She twisted the diamond ring on her hand.

Why do you think shes in the Twin Cities?

She likes it here, Ainsley said simply.

It was a good enough answer. Kids often ran away to the nearest metropolis. Cities seemed to promise a better life.

Do you have a photo of Ellie I can use?

Sure, she said. I brought you one.

The photo of Ellie did show a lovely girl, her hair a darker blond than her sisters, and her eyes green instead of Ainsleys blue. She had a dusting of kid freckles, and her face was bright but somewhat blank, as is often the case with school photos.

Its last years, she said. Her school says they just took class pictures, and the new one wont be available for a week or so. It was early October.