message, that someone knows she’s trying to communicate with the outside.”
“I’ve got no one with that name born on that day in Brooklyn.”
“Leave out the location.”
Eve got out, took an evidence bag from her field kit, and sealed the note inside.
“Nothing, Dallas,” Peabody told her when Eve got behind the wheel again.
“Run variations. Search for the name Foxx in Brooklyn in that year.” As she spoke, Eve pulled out of the lot. “Try her full name using the birth year without the month and day. Spread it out.”
Eve called up her in-dash, contacted Detective Yancy.
The police artist answered quickly, and Eve heard the sound of cranky New York traffic.
“Are you off shift?” she asked him.
“Not yet. I’m uptown, about to work with a wit. Some asshole tried to snatch her kid. Kid kicked him in the balls, and they both got a good look at him. I’m going to them because the mom’s pretty shook. Apparently the kid’s feeling just fine.”
“I need you to work with another wit after that. I’ll clear the OT with your lieutenant.”
“Who’s the wit?”
“Me, potentially Peabody. I’ll explain later. Give me the address where you’ll be and I’ll send transpo to bring you to my house.”
“I’m only going to be a few blocks from your place. I can get there. I know where it is. I was at your Christmas party.”
“Right. Text Peabody when you’re done. I’m heading there, but I’ll clear you in if we’re not back.”
“Copy that.”
“I’m not getting anyone with the full name that fits, Dallas. On a national search I get some Ella Foxxes, some Alice Foxxes, but nobody in that age range. I’m getting results for the last name in Brooklyn, residents in that year.”
“Copy to my home unit. Contact McNab, and let’s have EDD do a search. Tell him to come to the house.”
Eve went back to the in-dash. This time Roarke’s face filled the screen.
“Lieutenant, heading back from Connecticut, are you?”
“Yeah, and I’m bringing cops into the house. I’ll hit the details later, but I had a woman pass me a note with her name, birthday, and birthplace. Nothing pops on a search.”
“Data in the system can be altered.”
“Exactly, which is why one of the cops is going to be an e-geek. I thought you might want in on that.”
“As it happens I would. I’ll be on my way home myself shortly.”
“I’ll send you the data, and see you there.”
“McNab will head out as soon as he’s wrapped at Central. He’s finishing up testing out the echo deal on the tracker and ’link.”
“They recovered enough of it.”
“It was pretty mangled, but … He went into ultra-geek mode, so I cut that off. He’ll bring the results with him, and he’ll fill us in, and dig into Ella Foxx. Why wipe her data, if that’s what happened?”
“She doesn’t want to be there. She didn’t write that note yesterday. She’s been carrying it around for a while now, looking for her chance. She doesn’t want to be there, but she obviously can’t walk out.”
“She’s eighteen—if that date’s right. Just, but eighteen and legal. If she’s being held …”
“Walls, security, cams, close supervision. Maybe she walked in there on her own at some point, but she sure as hell believes she can’t walk out again. She won’t be the only one. You wipe her data so she doesn’t exist outside those walls.”
Like she hadn’t existed, Eve thought, outside that room in Dallas, or the other ugly rooms her father had locked her in.
“The woman doing the weeding. She was afraid, she was afraid of Wilkey. The kids weren’t, but she was. This Ella and the other woman with the tea?” Eve continued. “Mirium didn’t even acknowledge them. Like they were droids, or more, just invisible. You say things in front of people you just don’t see that you wouldn’t say otherwise.”
“You think she—Ella—might know things.”
“I think she knew cops were coming so she had that note handy. I think Mirium was plenty pissed to have to deal with cops on her own—what was it?—veranda, and likely said so. What else has she, or others, said in front of the invisible?”
“And they lied. They might consider some of the staff as no big, but they said specifically nobody goes out during retreat. And the cart driver said some staff does. We already knew that because Marcia Piper said her husband works at the HQ and was home Monday night. Either she lied or they did about that one.”
“He was home long enough