Page 36 of What She Saw

“I called the station on Saturday afternoon. Not enough time had passed for the police to take a report. But Laurie had promised she’d check in by Saturday afternoon. And she was always good to her word. When she didn’t call, I called the sheriff’s office. The dispatcher told meto give it time. When she didn’t come on Sunday, I called first thing on Monday. The lady on the phone said the sheriff was investigating other complaints about the concert.”

Given the numbers, I suspected so many crimes hadn’t been reported. “What did he say when you told him your niece was missing?”

“He reminded me she was over eighteen, and that young girls sometimes took off longer than they said.”

“And?”

“And that pissed me off. Iknewmy girl. I knew she wouldn’t run off and not call home. That wasn’t Laurie. I told him.” She took a long pull on her lemonade. “He called me back that afternoon and asked me to come to the station. I thought they’d found her body. When I got there, there was another woman. She said her daughter was missing.”

“Do you remember the missing woman’s name?”

“Patty. The woman was her mother, Sara.” She shook her head. “All these years and I can’t forget the names.”

“You remember Patty after all this time?”

“Patty’s mother and I sat together in the waiting room for several hours. Didn’t take long to realize why we were both there.”

“That’s not standard police procedure.”

“I didn’t know what was proper or what wasn’t. By the time I left, I was worried. My Laurie was missing and so was Patty. Both were young and pretty.”

“Witnesses later said that Laurie worked the hamburger stand with Patty.”

“Made sense to me. Laurie always found a way to make a few bucks. My girl was resourceful. She had the talent and the work ethic for going the distance in Nashville.”

Who knew if Laurie would have been a star. Death had a way of whitewashing away faults and highlighting strengths. Either way, she’d deserved to live her life. “Did you keep up with Sara?”

“You know a lot about this case.”

“I do.”

“Sara and I talked on the phone. We were frustrated that the cops couldn’t find their bodies.”

“When did you learn there were two other missing girls?”

“A week after the concert. The sheriff had a third missing person report but didn’t announce it until his press conference.”

“Debra Jackson.”

“That’s right.” She sipped her lemonade. “After the press conference, another family called in a report.”

“Tristan Fletcher’s family.”

“The dancer.”

“And after that the story went national.”

She sipped her lemonade. “Reporters showed up at my door. They didn’t call ahead.”

“Neither did I.”

“But you’re polite. Most of them weren’t. One pounded on my door at midnight. I damn near shot him.”

“Joe was questioned.”

“He’d done time in jail when he was younger. Assault. And they held it against him at first.”

“He acknowledged his record in his interviews.”