Save Her Soul (Detective Josie Quinn #9)(49)
The print on it had faded. Even with her reading glasses, Gretchen had to squint to see it. “Looks like she was charged for an exam of some kind.”
Noah said, “We can use the copier to darken that up, you know.”
Hummel gave it to Noah. “I wanted you to see this before we dust it for prints so wear gloves and be very careful.”
“You got it,” Noah said.
From where she sat several feet away, Josie noticed Amber watching them with interest, her fingers frozen over the keyboard. They watched Noah don gloves, remove the receipt from the bag, place it face down on the copier glass, and then punch some buttons. A few moments later, he had darkened copies of the receipt for each of them. Josie looked at the date. May 28, 2004. Only a few weeks before school had ended that year. “There’s no possible way to get records from this visit,” Josie said. “Wellspring is gone and even if it wasn’t, medical providers aren’t required to keep records this far back.”
Noah said, “Hummel, was there anything else in the pockets of the jacket or her jeans?”
Hummel shrugged. “Couple of dollars, a lip gloss. That was it.”
Gretchen sighed. “So until we meet with Alice or get the list of clients from Vera’s old employer—assuming they are able to compile one at all—we’ve really got no leads.”
No one responded.
From the other side of the room, Amber cleared her throat. “Maybe now is the time to release Beverly’s identity. We could ask the public for help in locating Vera as well. The Chief mentioned to me the possibility of rolling out a tip line since this case is quite old. I’ve already laid the groundwork during the press conference earlier today. All I would have to do is release a statement with some photos. The press will run with it on broadcasts and social media. I’m happy to answer the tip line.”
Josie looked at Noah and then Gretchen and saw from their expressions that neither of them had any objections. Josie said, “If you get the Chief’s approval, it’s fine with us.”
Gretchen said, “Come on, Watts. I’ll go with you to talk to him. We need to work out what information we want to tell the public and what we want to hold back.”
Josie and Noah watched them walk into the Chief’s office. They waited a long moment, expecting to hear the Chief holler, but there were only the sounds of hushed voices and the tap of Amber’s fingers over her tablet keyboard.
Noah said, “You ready to go home? Misty said she’s making paella. Patrick’s supposed to come over too. Bringing his new girlfriend, I hear.”
Josie smiled. She hadn’t seen her younger brother in a few weeks. He was a student at Denton University. Josie usually enticed him into coming over to visit by offering the use of her washer and dryer. Also, he had told her he was dating someone, but she hadn’t yet met the woman. “That sounds wonderful,” she said. “But I need to talk to Gretchen before I leave. You go ahead. I’ll meet you there.”
With no one else in the room, Noah walked over, leaned down, and kissed her. “Don’t be long.”
Gretchen and Amber emerged from the Chief’s office a few minutes later. Amber sat down at one of the desks and started typing away. “I’ll have this statement ready for your review in a few minutes, Detective Palmer,” she said.
Gretchen gave her the thumbs-up and headed to the stairwell door. Josie followed her, waiting till they were in the stairwell and the door was closed to tell her about the plan to meet Alice the next morning.
Gretchen looked around the cramped stairwell. “You don’t want Amber to know?”
“Just humor me, okay?” Josie responded. “Alice doesn’t think this is a safe place to meet. The only thing different around here is our new press liaison.”
“But she has no connection to anyone here. How could she be dangerous to our mystery woman?” Gretchen asked.
“She has connections to the Mayor who has connections to city council. Maybe it’s not the police that Alice is worried about. Maybe it’s someone else. Someone higher up.”
Gretchen pursed her lips as she considered this. “Seems like a stretch, but there’s no harm in keeping this from Amber, so she won’t hear it from me.”
Josie thanked her and headed home.
Dinner was fabulous, as always, and with Patrick and his new girlfriend, Brenna, there, Harris had new adults to regale with stories of the bugs he had seen outside; his grandmother’s false teeth; and the exploits of Pepper and Trout. Josie laughed when everyone else did, but her mind was on the case. After dinner, Patrick and Brenna returned to campus and the rest of them went into the living room and watched the local news, which ran the spot about Beverly and Vera Urban as their top story. Josie sat on the couch with Trout on one side and Misty’s dog, Pepper, on the other.
From his spot on the floor where he was putting together a Duplo Lego set with Harris, Noah laughed. “The Chief must be thrilled. For the first time in a week, the top story isn’t Quail Hollow.”
Josie listened as the anchor read off the scant details that Denton PD had offered: the identity of the victim recovered during the flooding on Hempstead had been verified as Beverly Urban; confirmation that Beverly had been murdered; the fact that Beverly had been a former student at Denton East High back in 2004, and that her mother, Vera Urban, could not be located. The tip line flashed across the screen, and then the newscast moved on to the next story.