Page 6 of She Didn’t See It Coming

Jayne walks down the corridor away from the Kemps’ door and quickly calls Kilgour.

“Nothing yet,” Kilgour says automatically.

“Henry Kemp,” Jayne says. “Remember that case?”

“Sure. I wasn’t directly involved though. Why?”

“He lives in unit 811.” She hears Kilgour suck in his breath.

He says, “A woman accused him of abducting her in a van, holding her there overnight, raping her, and then letting her go. He wore a mask, but she was sure she recognized him. She worked in a Dunkin’ Donuts near his car dealership.”

“That’s the guy,” Jayne says.

“There was no evidence,” Kilgour continues.

“She was credible, but she didn’t come forward immediately, didn’t have a rape kit done.

When she did report it a few days later, they tried to find the van, but couldn’t.

He runs a used-car dealership, and they checked every van on-site.

He has access to all kinds of vehicles, and they thought he might have something that hadn’t been put on the books, something he kept hidden somewhere. ”

“He was arrested but never charged,” Jayne says. “I just spoke to him. Seemed defensive, a bit nervous. His wife too.”

Kilgour says, “He always claimed she’d either made the whole thing up, or she’d mistaken him for someone else.” As if reading her mind, he says, “What if Bryden’s hidden in a van somewhere right now?”

“Then he’s not likely to let her go, is he?

After the last one ID’d him?” Jayne answers.

“He says he was at work—I’ll call it in and have them check out his alibi.

Maybe he was at work all day. But in the meantime, I’m going to talk to the officer stationed at the Frosts’ front door.

If she sees Kemp leave his apartment, we need to know. ”

After Jayne makes the call and speaks to the officer at the door, she continues canvassing. At the unit next to Angela’s, a man answers and she introduces herself. She takes his name and writes it down. She asks, “Do you know your neighbor, Bryden Frost?”

“I know her by sight. Why?”

“She’s been reported missing.” The man’s expression changes to concern. “Did you see her today at all?”

He shakes his head. “No. I was at work all day, got home a short while ago.”

“Does anyone else live here with you?”

“Yes, my wife.” He calls, and a woman appears.

He quickly explains, but she hasn’t seen Bryden that day either.

At the next apartment, another resident reacts with dismay. “The woman with the little blond girl?” But she has nothing helpful to offer.

Jayne carries on down the hall, but none of the neighbors she speaks to have seen Bryden that day or noticed anything of a suspicious nature. Some doors aren’t answered; she will have officers follow up on those.

Jayne hears a ping and checks her phone.

A text from Kilgour tells her they’ve been through the basement floors—the storage locker area, the parking garages, the maintenance rooms—and found nothing.

They’ve swept upward, checking the stairwells and corridors on the way up to the exercise room and the party room.

They have only the roof left. Jayne has a bad feeling.

Finished with the eighth floor, she returns to the lobby, where Kilgour and the search team soon arrive and report they’ve found no signs of Bryden or of foul play.

Jayne sends the team out to search the surrounding area, but keeps Kilgour back.

There’s a park across the street, with a children’s playground, surrounded by bushes and trees.

There’s also a ravine behind the building.

Maybe Bryden went for a walk in the park or somehow fell in the ravine.

It’s already dark and it’s March—it’s cold outside.

Jayne turns to face the manager, Ravi, who is looking increasingly worried. “I’d like to see whatever CCTV footage you have.”

“Right.” He leads them behind the concierge desk in the lobby, which doubles as a security desk, and they step in behind him. The younger man watching the desk steps aside.

Jayne can see two monitors showing grainy black-and-white views of the front and back of the building. Two others are blank. “We have camera coverage so we can see everyone who comes in and out,” Ravi explains.

She remembers what he said earlier about the cameras in the underground garages not working. “But not anyone who comes in and out through the two levels of underground parking garages,” Jayne points out.

“No. Like I said, I’ve been trying to get them fixed.”

Jayne tells Kilgour to get someone to check and see if the cameras have been tampered with. As he gets on his phone to do that, she turns back to Ravi. “Why aren’t there cameras on the floors and in the elevators?”

“I don’t know. I’m just the manager. I don’t own the building.”

She leans down and says, “Show us what you’ve got.”

Kilgour has finished his call, and they all look at the footage of the front door first. They skip quickly through periods when there is no one entering or exiting, and slow down when they see someone.

But it soon becomes clear that Bryden Frost had not left the building that day through the front doors.

They check the footage on the back door, but they don’t see her exiting through there either.

“So she didn’t leave through the main floor, we know that much,” Jayne says. “She could have exited through the parking garage, if she was with someone with a car.”

“Or a van,” Kilgour says, glancing at her.

“Do you need a key card or anything to get out of the parking garage?” Jayne asks Ravi.

“No, just to get in. The barrier goes up automatically at the exit.”

Kilgour points out, “She could have walked out of the underground garage, on her own, if she wanted to leave without being seen.”

Jayne nods and continues. “Or she could still be here, somewhere, inside one of the apartments.” She turns back to Ravi. “Are there any empty units?”

He nods quickly. “There’s one on the second floor and one on the eighth.”

“I’d like to see them.”

Ravi leads them first to the empty unit on the second floor. He unlocks it and steps inside, and Jayne and Kilgour follow. It is unfurnished, and their footsteps echo on the polished floor. They do a quick search of every room, closet, and balcony. Nothing.

They leave and go back up to the eighth floor. They’re walking along the corridor to the unit at the end of the hall, but before they reach it, the door to Sam and Bryden’s unit opens and Bryden’s sister, Lizzie, steps out. “I was just going to check on Clara,” she says. “What’s happening?”

Jayne turns. “We haven’t found her. We would have notified you if we had.

” Lizzie remains standing there, watching.

They carry on to the unit at the end. Ravi unlocks the door.

Jayne and Kilgour enter behind him, and Jayne realizes that Lizzie has followed them and is hovering in the doorway.

Again, they do a quick search of every empty, unfurnished room and closet and balcony.

But there is no sign of Bryden Frost.