Page 46 of The Graveyard Girls (Detective Ellie Reeves #11)

FORTY-FIVE

Crooked Creek Police Station

Ellie’s mind raced. “If these cases are related and Ruth was the first victim, let’s start with the original investigation.”

“I have notes on who was questioned and persons of interest,” Derrick said as he moved to a second whiteboard.

“Please fill us in.” Ellie said, not surprised he’d already done some of the grunt work.

“First case, Ruth Higgins. The primary suspect was Earl Bramble, the caretaker of the graveyard at the time. According to locals, he was a mean son of a bitch who may have abused his daughter, Ida, and niece Hetty, who moved in with them after her own father was killed in a tractor accident. Her mother died of cancer two years before that.”

“He couldn’t have been too bad if he took in his niece,” Deputy Landrum interjected.

Cord grunted, his tone bitter. “You’d be surprised.”

“That’s true,” Derrick agreed. “Although the girls never actually accused him of abuse, people claimed he was harsh and forced the girls, especially Hetty, to work long hours at the graveyard.” He paused.

“Later, when the sheriff was on the verge of making an arrest, Earl disappeared, making him look guilty.”

“Of course, Ida and Hetty were suspects as well,” Derrick continued. “Apparently, they got into a fight at the Dairy Queen with Ruth and had other altercations at school with her which earned the Bramble girls a bad reputation and school suspension.”

“A couple of other kids stated that Ruth started the fight, that she was a bully to Ida and Hetty,” Ellie added. “But Ruth’s father was powerful in the town and may have misused that power to twist the story in his daughter’s favor.”

Shondra and Deputy Landrum were both taking notes, while Cord crossed his arms and remained stoic.

“Police also questioned Ruth’s father, Edward, and her brother, Hayden.

Mr. Higgins was mayor at the time and supposedly overprotective of Ruth.

He especially didn’t like her dating. According to Ruth’s sister, Tilly, Ruth snuck out the night of her disappearance to meet a guy, but she refused to tell Tilly who she was meeting.

Their brother, Hayden, had a drug problem and anger issues.

According to other students, he didn’t get along with Ruth either.

He claimed he was at a friend’s house the night Ruth disappeared. ”

“Clint Wallace, the sheriff’s son was also on the list because he and Ruth were dating. Other students stated that Ruth had just broken up with Clint. Which could have given him motive to hurt Ruth. His father, Sheriff Chester Wallace, gave him an alibi by claiming his son was home all night.”

“He could have covered for his son,” Cord pointed out.

“True. But would he continue to protect Clint if he suspected he’d killed again?” Ellie rubbed her temple in thought. “We can’t forget Earl Bramble. He was the primary suspect fifteen years ago and could have been moving around all these years and killed the other victims on our board.

“There have been several calls across Georgia over the years claiming they saw Bramble but he was never caught.”

Cord pulled a hand down his chin. “Why return to the original crime scene to dump Bonnie Sylvester’s body? It makes more sense that there’s a copycat and he brought Bonnie’s body to Brambletown to frame Earl.”

Ellie had to consider all options. “Then we get started and talk to everyone again. We know Clint Wallace is sheriff now and his father still lives in Brambletown. What about the others?”

Derrick answered, “The Higgins family moved away to escape the media attention, but I don’t have their current location. The daughter Tilly attended UGA and now works in Atlanta with the AJC writing travel pieces.”

“I’ll contact Tilly,” Ellie said. “Shondra, see if you can find Mr. and Mrs. Higgins.”

“I’m trying to track down the son,” Derrick said. “He joined the military and received an honorable discharge. One arrest for a bar fight a few months later. Charges were dismissed because a woman there testified that he was protecting her from a stalker. But that’s as far as I’ve gotten.”

Ellie made a mental list of questions to ask. “We also have to question Ida and Hetty Bramble. It’s possible they know where Earl is and have been covering for him all these years.”