Jubilee's Journey (Wyattsville #2)(35)

When Olivia picked up the receiver a familiar voice said, “Missus Doyle, this is Detective Mahoney.”

Thinking this time she’d start the conversation the way she originally intended, Olivia answered, “How delightful to hear from you, Detective. The family’s well, I hope.”

“Everyone is fine.” Without giving Olivia a chance to ask about Sam Cobb’s knee, he said, “Why don’t you just go ahead and tell me what’s wrong?”

“Wrong?” Olivia tried to sound casual, not like a person whose stomach was turned inside out from a serious case of nerves. “Why on earth would you—”

“Who’s Aunt Anita?”

Olivia hesitated a moment, then said, “Well, it’s a long story.” She started at the beginning, told of the robbery at Klaussner’s, and how Ethan Allen brought seven-year-old Jubilee Jones home with him that evening.

“At first I thought the child was lost, that maybe she’d wandered off and forgotten where she was to meet her brother. Then Ethan told me she’d been sitting right where the brother had left her.”

“And the brother didn’t come back?” Mahoney asked.

“That’s right,” Olivia replied. “According to what Ethan Allen said her brother went into Klaussner’s, and that was the last she saw of him.”

“Are you saying the girl’s brother was involved in the robbery?”

“I don’t know for certain, but I have my suspicions. I suppose it’s possible her brother was, but I know for certain she had nothing to do with it. Jubilee honestly believes her brother went into the store looking for a job.”

“What about the parents?”

“Deceased. I think the kids came here expecting to live with their aunt.”

“Do you have the aunt’s name or address?”

“Regretfully no.” Olivia’s answer was tentative at best. “I think Anita was related to the mother, which would make her maiden name Walker. But she could have been a sister-in-law, not sister, and in that case her maiden name would be Jones.”

“This aunt, is she married?”

“No idea,” Olivia said.

“What’s the brother’s name?”

“Paul. Paul Jones.”

“Any chance he has the aunt’s name and address?”

“I can’t say.” Olivia went on to tell him the boy could be in the hospital, or he could be the escapee who disappeared. After explaining the belongings in Jubilee’s travel bag she asked, “Don’t you find it rather hard to believe a boy who’d value that sort of memorabilia over more material things would be involved in crime?”

“You never know,” Mahoney answered. “You just never know.”

Olivia went on to tell the few facts she knew. Anita lived in Norfolk twenty years ago. Seven years ago she’d mailed five letters from Wyattsville, and in her younger days Anita and her sister, Ruth, had lived somewhere close to a bay.

When there was nothing more to tell, Olivia said, “Detective Mahoney, I’ve trusted you with the fact that Jubilee is staying with me, but I’m hoping you’ll not tell anyone else.”

Mahoney chuckled. “Well, I’m not going to report it, but if the child has a family she really should be with them.”

“I know,” Olivia said, “and that’s what I’m hoping for. But until we find them…” She left the alternative unspoken.

“For now that’s okay. But—”

Before he could say something about calling the authorities, Olivia said, “Right now Jubilee has no one. She sees Ethan Allen as a replacement for her brother, and I know this is only a temporary solution, but …”

Mahoney pictured his own daughter who had turned seven a few months earlier. She had two siblings, a mother, a father, grandparents, but what if there was no one? He pushed aside the thought and said, “I’d like to help, Missus Doyle, but this case is not in my jurisdiction. What you really should do is call the authorities in Wyattsville and—”

“Chesapeake Bay,” Olivia said. “That’s where Ruth and Anita grew up. They swam in the bay when they were younger, so she’s obviously from your area.” Olivia told him of her telephone conversation with Frances Margaret Jones. Although the woman had never mentioned Chesapeake Bay it seemed a logical enough guess since a good part of the bay lapped at the edges of Virginia’s eastern shore.

“Chesapeake Bay?” Mahoney repeated dubiously. “Well, I guess in that case I could check around, see what I come up with. But I still think you should—”

Not wanting to hear the same advice several others had already given, Olivia thanked him and hung up the telephone before he had a chance to mention the child welfare department.





Jack Mahoney



Okay, you and I both know the Chesapeake Bay isn’t exactly an area for beach swimming, so this isn’t really a case I can justify taking on—officially, that is. But after dragging my feet on the Cobb arrest, I figure I owe Olivia Doyle.

The woman is a bit odd at times, but she’s someone with good intentions and I don’t doubt she’s got the kid’s best interest at heart. I’ll buy that she honestly believes the girl is telling the truth about her brother looking for a job. But I’ve come across some pretty convincing liars in my day, and it wouldn’t be the first time one kid lied to cover up for the other.