From Darkness (Hearts & Arrows Book 3)(22)

“I wasn’t able to find record of this in any of the databases I have access to.”

“No, I suppose you wouldn’t have. We didn’t get a full-on database system until the mid-nineties. Up to that point, all our records were paper copies, and in 1992, there was a fire in the courthouse. The records room was destroyed along with all the case files.”

Josie set her coffee down and ran a hand over her mouth. “Shit.”

“Well,” he said with a spark in his eyes, “I might have a bright spot on your horizon. I’ve got something you’ll want to see.”

Saul stood and motioned for her to follow him, which she did. In his office, he opened the closet and knelt down to pull out a small storage box with the name Bernard written on it.

He set the box down on his desk and pulled off the lid. Inside was a mass of information—crime scene photos, case files, interview cassette tapes. She shuffled them around and saw the edge of a copy of the suspect’s fingerprints. Her fingers went numb as she lifted them out of the box. She looked up at Saul.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Now, don’t gimme that look. None of this is admissible, you know. I’m fairly certain that a box in the bottom of my closet will somehow not stand up against chain-of-custody requirements. All of these are copies or duplicates of the originals, but you’re welcome to them if they’ll help you. They’re not doing anybody any good here, collecting dust, not when this case has been dead as a doornail for thirty years.”

“Saul, this means the world to me and maybe to the parents of Hannah Mills.”

“That’s her name?”

“It is.”

“Well, I’ll be sure to light a candle for the girl. And I hope you find the bastard who took her.”



On the flight back to New York, Josie read through Jane Bernard’s case and autopsy report.

Jane had been raped and strangled, but no other evidence had been found, not after she was left in the elements for days. Josie spent a long while looking at a photo of Jane, a blond-haired, blue-eyed girl with an air of confidence about her though not quite innocent.

Her physical features were close enough to Hannah’s that Josie found herself unnerved.

By the time she trudged up the stairs with the box of clues and stacks of articles, she was exhausted. The look on Anne’s face when she saw what Josie had found was priceless, and Josie wondered how close it was to the look she had worn when Saul gave the box to her. Her mouth hung open, her eyes big, like they’d discovered the holy grail of evidence, though it was all still a stretch.

It was then that Josie’s phone rang, and her exhaustion instantly left her when she saw that it was Dennis, the lead detective on Hannah’s case.

Josie hit Accept. “Dennis, I have news.”

“Me too, but…it’s not good, Josie.” He paused for a second, and she held her breath. “We found Hannah’s body.”

“Oh my God.” Josie sat down on the couch. She realized then that she’d been holding out some small hope that Hannah was still alive, hope that left her in a rush. “Where?”

“Delaware Water Gap, in the national park. She was found by some hikers, washed up on the riverbank. We just got a positive ID.” He waited through a stretch of silence. “You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.” She took a deep breath. “I just got back from Montana with a boxful of case files on the murder of a sixteen-year-old cheerleader, the girlfriend of Corey Rhodes in 1984.”

“Oh, shit,” he breathed. “What did you find out?”

“The old sheriff believes he did it. I have fingerprints, Dennis.”

“Willing to share?”

“Of course. But I want to see her body.” She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees.

“Josie…”

She laid her forehead in her palm. “I know. I just want to see her.”

He paused, and when he spoke again, he was resigned. “All right. They took her body to the Sussex County Coroner. I’m here waiting for her family. Meet me in an hour.”

She looked at her watch. It was seven, plenty of time with no traffic. “Okay. Anne will get everything scanned, and I’ll bring you copies tomorrow.”

“Okay. I’ll see you.”

“Good luck with the Mills, Dennis.”

“I tried to convince them not to come, that they don’t want to see her like this, but they wouldn’t hear it. They never do.”

“I know. I’m sorry for all of it.”

“Thanks, kid. I’ll see you in a bit.”

She hung up and turned to Anne, who had paused to listen to Josie’s half of the conversation with her lip between her teeth.

Josie nodded, and Anne hung her head.

“I’ve got to get going if I’m going to get to the coroner’s in time.”

Anne looked solemnly down into the box. “I’ll get all of this scanned, and we can start the real dig tomorrow.”

Josie peeled herself off the couch, her body heavy from exhaustion and the weight of knowing that Hannah was dead. She wanted to see Hannah with her own eyes, to have her own perspective to compare the case files to in the hopes that she could find some connection, some parallel.

“I’ll be back,” Josie said as she grabbed her keys.