The Lost Bones (Widow's Island #8)(14)

She followed Tessa inside and spotted Marsha, who was speaking with two tourists near an arrangement of earrings. Again Cate’s attention was hooked. This time by a new display of delicate silver-and-glass necklace pendants in every shade of blue. Marsha excused herself from the shoppers and gestured for Cate and Tessa to follow her out the front door. She led them a couple of steps to a small alcove where they wouldn’t block tourist traffic. Cate deliberately didn’t look at the beautiful wind chime.

“Did you find out who left that box at my store?” Marsha folded her arms and looked from Cate to Tessa. Marsha Bishop’s red hair was coiffed into what Cate thought of as a helmet. A stylish helmet. Her eyeliner was a bit heavy but precisely applied, and she tastefully wore jewelry and finely knitted items from her store. For a long time, the woman had been dealt one bad hand after another, so seeing Marsha run a business with panache made Cate’s heart happy.

“No,” Cate and Tessa replied in unison.

Marsha toyed with a lovely earring as she watched the tourists pass by. “Maybe it’s nothing, but last night I looked online for articles about your case. That poor woman . . . Kori Causey . . . losing a daughter like that.”

A pang hit Cate’s heart as she realized Marsha felt an affinity for Kori. She’d lost her daughter for twenty years. The fact that Samantha had returned after all that time was nothing short of a miracle.

“But while I was reading and looking at the pictures of that precious little girl, I realized that Kori looked familiar.”

Cate and Tessa exchanged a glance. “Her parents moved to the island about a year and a half ago,” said Cate. “I’m sure she’s visited a few times.”

“She’s not missing, right?” asked Marsha.

“Kori? No. I saw her yesterday.” Cate frowned at the confusion in Marsha’s eyes. “What is it?”

“The day before I received that box addressed to you, I had a customer show me some photos of a missing woman, wanting to know if I’d seen her.” She raised her palms. “As if I can remember what all my customers look like. I looked at the pictures and said I hadn’t seen her. But she stuck in my mind because she had red hair. Not a deep red like mine or Sam’s, but I’d call it a strawberry blonde. I swear the photo he showed me was the same woman I saw online—Jade’s mother.”

“Kori does have pale-red hair,” Cate said. “Jade too. But Kori’s not missing, so I don’t know why . . .”

A chill touched her spine.

Rich Causey?

Could Rich be searching for Kori?

Tessa sucked in her breath, and Cate knew the same thought had occurred to her. “Did he leave contact information?” asked Tessa.

“He didn’t leave anything. He showed me several photos on his phone. I don’t remember what he said her name was or her age, but she appeared young—probably barely into her twenties.”

“Do you remember what he looked like?” Cate pulled out her phone and started googling for photos of Rich Causey.

“Tall. Glasses. Rather thin, with a crooked nose. Short light-brown hair. He wore a red Hawaiian shirt that was one of the most obnoxious ones I’ve ever seen. And cargo shorts.”

“Age?” Cate opened a photo of Rich that had been in every article back when he had vanished. It was slightly blurry and had been cropped from one with him and a few friends at a bar. The photo was nearly five years old back then, so it was very out of date now. But it was all they had. Rich’s penchant for staying off the grid had included staying out of photos. She showed the photo to Marsha, who took Cate’s phone and squinted. She put on her readers and squinted again.

Rich Causey had been tall, but his nose hadn’t seemed crooked.

Noses can be broken.

Marsha looked doubtful. “This guy was much older. Probably in his fifties.”

“The photo is at least twelve years old.”

Marsha slowly shook her head. “I don’t know. His hairline was receding . . . the shape of his mouth doesn’t seem right, and the nose definitely isn’t crooked.”

“He was a stranger to you?”

“Definitely not a local,” Marsha said emphatically. “He asked lots of questions about who I buy the jewelry and art from. He wanted to know if I’d just buy it off anyone who brought in a collection. I told him I’d have to see it first, but I had bought on sight when someone showed me pieces I knew I could sell.” She looked around and lowered her voice conspiratorially. “I felt like he primarily wanted to sell me something.”

“Not to find the woman in the photos?”

“Well, that too.”

“If he’s not a local, he might be staying at one of the hotels,” said Tessa. She stepped aside and spoke into the mic at her shoulder. Cate heard her pass along the man’s description and direct one of the other deputies to start checking hotels.

Could Rich Causey be on the island?

The island had only a dozen hotels, but many other options were available because of private rentals. It would be a needle-in-a-haystack search. And just because Marsha had seen him alone didn’t mean he was traveling alone, so they couldn’t limit their search to a single man. From what Cate knew of Rich Causey, he’d leave no trace behind. She couldn’t see him staying in a hotel that required a credit card that could be tracked.