Page 12 of She Didn’t See It Coming
Lizzie is uneasy as she sits down on the pullout couch. She’s glad she hastily folded it back up after using it the night before. Bryden’s borrowed pajamas are draped across the back of it. Detective Salter pulls a corner chair up closer and sits down, and Kilgour does the same.
Lizzie thinks they should have found her sister by now. What have they been doing? But that might be unfair. She sees Salter nod at Kilgour. But first Lizzie says, “Are you absolutely sure about Kemp?”
“Yes,” Salter replies.
“I know this is difficult, Lizzie,” Detective Kilgour begins, “but we’re hoping you can help us.” Lizzie nods, eager to help. “Can you describe your relationship with your sister?”
“We’re very close. She’s pretty much my best friend. We tell each other everything.”
The detective nods. “Is there anything about your sister that might be relevant to her disappearance that you’d like to share with us privately?”
Lizzie looks at the two detectives. “No. I don’t know anything.” But before the detective can ask another question, Lizzie says, “But something is bothering me.”
“What’s that?” Detective Salter asks, leaning forward slightly.
“What if she’s still in the building?” Lizzie says. She’d lain awake all last night in this condo thinking, and she wants to share her theories. “I mean, what if she never left the building at all, and she’s in one of the other units?”
Detective Salter nods gravely. “We’re aware of that possibility. We can’t get inside them without either consent or a warrant, and we need sufficient grounds to get a warrant. We’re checking the backgrounds of everybody who lives or works in this building, and we’re working as fast as we can.”
Kilgour says, “That’s why it’s so important to tell us if you can remember anything Bryden might have mentioned. Anyone in the building look at her the wrong way? Anyone give her the creeps? Or anyone she’d become friendly with recently?”
Lizzie shakes her head. “No. I would remember if she’d said anything like that. And I’m sure she would have told me.”
“Was she involved with anyone else,” Salter asks, “someone maybe she didn’t tell Sam about?”
Lizzie stares at her. “Are you asking me if she was having an affair? Absolutely not. She would never cheat on Sam.”
The detective nods. “Okay. Any problems with friends, colleagues?”
“No,” Lizzie says. “Do you remember that case at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles? About the missing girl they found on top of the roof in one of the water tanks?”
“Yes,” Salter says. “The Elisa Lam case.”
Lizzie swallows. “I just wonder if this is something like that.” Suddenly she begins to cry, and the words come out through her sobs. “Like maybe she’s still here, hidden away somewhere in the building, in the water tanks or in the boiler room or something, and you’ve missed her.”
The detectives share a glance.
Lizzie pleads with them, sniffling. “Could you check again?” She adds, “Maybe you could use dogs?”
Detective Salter pauses and says, “We’ve had a request in for the K-9 unit from the beginning, but unfortunately, they’re unavailable right now. As soon as we can get them here, we will.”
Lizzie retrieves a tissue from her pocket and wipes her face.
The detectives wait for her to pull herself together, then Kilgour asks, “Where were you yesterday, between noon and five p.m.?”
Lizzie is taken aback. “Wait. Am I a suspect now?”
He says, “Please just answer the question.”
“I was at home, in my apartment.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m a nurse. I work shifts. I was off yesterday.”
“Okay. Was anyone with you in your apartment?”
She can see how this is going to go. “No. I was alone. I’m single.
” She feels herself flushing, as if it’s a great failure on her part.
The thing is, she feels that it is a great failure.
She’s thirty-two years old and doesn’t have a partner.
She’s a modern, independent woman, so it rankles her that she feels this way.
But she just wants someone to love. To be loved.
Is that so wrong? Her bookshelves are lined with romance novels.
“Okay,” Detective Kilgour says. “And as far as you know, everything was good between your sister and Sam?”
“Yes, of course,” she answers firmly.
“You seem very clear on that,” Salter says.
“I am.”
“He doesn’t have a temper?” she asks.
“No! Not that I’ve ever seen. If he did, Bryden would have told me.” She adds, “Sam would never hurt Bryden.”
“Okay,” Salter says. “Thanks, Lizzie. Stay strong. We’ll find her.”
Once Lizzie leaves the den, Jayne stands up and moves closer to Detective Kilgour.
“She’s not wrong,” he says in a low voice.
“I know she’s not wrong,” Jayne agrees. “Bryden might still be inside this building somewhere, inside one of the units, and so far, there seems to be fuck all we can do about it.” She adds, “Do you think they could have missed something, in the other areas? I mean, she has a point about the Lam case. They thought they’d searched everywhere, and they only found her in the water tank because the drinking water tasted off. ”
Kilgour seems uncertain. “I’d feel better if we had the K-9 unit.”
“Me too.” She keeps her voice low. “If we don’t take another look, the family will complain. And there’s a lot of heat on this one—mother going missing from her own home. People don’t like it.”