Page 3 of Three Girls Gone (Detective Amanda Steele #14)
TWO
Amanda had a hard time prying her gaze from the child. So small, so innocent, so fragile, so very dead…
“I’ll need to notify the girl’s parents,” McGee said.
The detective’s words pulled Amanda from her reflection. “Oh, no, you won’t. That’s our job.” Some child abductions were orchestrated by the parents, whether it be for financial reasons or otherwise. She and Trent needed to gauge their reactions.
“Her parents aren’t in on this, if that’s what you’re thinking. Trust me.”
“No offense, Detective, but I don’t know you or the Tanners. Stenson and I will deliver the news. You can join us.” One concession she was willing to make.
“Whatever you’d like.” He flailed an arm.
The detective was clearly dealing with his own issues, but this was about Hailey and finding her killer. There wasn’t time to waste on personal feelings or perceived slights.
“I just thought since I have a relationship with them already, it might be easier for them to hear it from me.”
His concern for the Tanners’ feelings suggested his hardened demeanor was a wall he hid behind. She might have judged him too soon. “I get that, but nothing will make hearing about their daughter’s murder easier for them.”
“You might have a point, but are we going to head out?” McGee jacked a thumb toward the lot.
“Not quite yet,” Amanda told him.
“You want her parents to wait longer?”
“It’s not about that,” Amanda said. “Right now, the Tanners have hope. Once we show up, that’s gone. There’s no way I’m doing that until I have something more to say than their daughter is dead.”
McGee held up a hand. “Fine, but it would be tragic if the Tanners heard about their daughter from someone else.”
“Like the media?” she said, and McGee nodded. “I agree with you there.”
“Well, I worry how long it’s going to take to get some answers. I don’t even see the medical examiner on scene to give us cause or time of death.”
Officer Wyatt popped his head into the door opening. “Everyone’s been called. I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”
Crime Scene and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner were stationed in Manassas. Not accounting for traffic, it was a thirty-minute drive away. And that had no bearing on whether there was available manpower.
Amanda leaned closer to the girl. “There is petechiae in her eyes.”
“Starved of oxygen. Maybe the scarf was used,” McGee suggested.
Amanda passed Trent a side-glance and shared another observation. “She’s dressed up as a ballerina with the tutu and the slippers. The makeup is done, as if she’s in a performance. But the scarf doesn’t fit. Ballerinas don’t wear them. And it looks much too large for a child.”
“I’d say it belongs to a woman,” Trent put in .
“But if the scarf is the murder weapon, why leave it with the body? It could give us prints and DNA,” McGee said.
Us… But the reason a killer would risk that wasn’t encouraging. “This person might not be in the system, which means leaving a trace isn’t a concern for them. The scarf may serve another purpose. To hide bruising? The killer may have wanted her to look serene.”
“Was she taken in a tutu and slippers?” Trent asked, looking at McGee.
The detective shook his head. “When she left the dance studio after her lesson, she was back in street clothes. There was a tutu and slippers in her locker at the studio.”
“The studio stored them there?” It sounded unusual for a child to have their own locker.
“They offered that to Hailey because her parents donated a lot of money to the studio,” McGee said. “But the style of this tutu is like the one in the girl’s locker and others in her closet. I searched both when I was confirming her last moves.”
Chills rolled over Amanda’s arms. Was there more to this? “She has other tutus in her closet?”
“She did, yeah. Don’t ask me how many. Accounting for her wardrobe wasn’t my focus. It was just something I noticed while searching her room. It’s not like I had any idea that…” He stopped talking as his eyes drifted to the small body.
Were the similar tutus a coincidence? Or was Hailey dressed in one of her own? If so, was the killer someone close to the Tanner family? Someone who Hailey had trusted?