Page 33

THIRTY-TWO

CROOKED CREEK POLICE STATION

Coffee in hand, Ellie settled in her office. Derrick appeared with a scowl.

“I’ve been looking into Modelle’s background,” she told him.

“And?”

“He grew up north of Coal Mountain. Mother was single and did factory work. Father was in jail for assaulting her and for beating his son with a whip.”

“Real stand-up guy as his role model,” Derrick said.

Ellie nodded. “You know what they say about the cycle of abuse repeating itself.” She tapped her notepad where she’d been scribbling. “He was married and worked for a vet as an assistant but was fired when someone claimed Modelle treated the animals too roughly. After that he took what he could get, a job cleaning stalls at a nearby farm.”

“If he hurt animals then his own daughter, he fits the profile of our unsub,” Derrick said.

Ellie went on, “True. The wife divorced him after his trial. I can’t find a current address for her.”

Derrick’s brows lifted. “Why don’t you review the trial notes and I’ll make a call to the prosecutor in the case? Then we can regroup.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

She snagged one of the bagels Derrick had brought and settled at her desk while he moved to the corner of her office and claimed the seat in front of the table. It had become his working spot when he was in town.

Ellie ran a background search for Modelle, searching for priors. More than one complaint had been filed against him at that vet clinic. Police had also been dispatched to his house on more than one domestic violence call.

She read the details with a frown. Once, a neighbor claimed she heard things being broken in the house and saw his daughter running toward the river crying. Modelle was chasing her and the neighbor was terrified he’d hurt her. Police intervened and issued a warning.

Another report described Modelle and his wife in a brawl where he’d shoved her down the steps. She’d hit her head and spent two days in the hospital with a concussion.

A month later, police went out with a social worker from DFACS based on a teacher’s report that she’d seen deep bruises on the little girl’s shoulder and back. Anger cinched Ellie’s stomach at the thought.

Deciding she wanted to speak to the teacher who’d reported the incident, she scrolled further. Reports were made anonymously to protect the person reporting the suspected abuse, but she found the initial police report and located the name.

Barbara Thacker.

She had been married to a man named Thomas.

Which meant she might be the woman in the hospital. The one who’d disappeared.