Find Her Alive (Detective Josie Quinn #8) - Lisa Regan Page 0,29
or her we have a possible match, and go from there.”
Gretchen said, “That report says she was from Keller Hollow. That’s almost an hour from here, on the other side of Bellewood. They don’t have their own police department. Too rural. They rely on the state police.”
Josie clicked on the report again to find the name of the officer who had submitted Nicci Webb’s dental records. “The investigating officer is Detective Heather Loughlin.”
Gretchen smiled and took out her phone. “Perfect.”
They’d worked with Heather on several cases. She was thorough, fair, and no-nonsense. Gretchen put the call on speakerphone. Heather picked up after three rings. “Detective Palmer,” she said. “What can I do for you?”
Gretchen said, “We found some… remains here in Denton. The dental images Dr. Feist took match up with a missing woman in the National Dental Image Repository. Nicci Webb.”
There was a beat of silence, then a long sigh filled with disappointment and sadness. “You sure?”
From over Gretchen’s shoulder, Dr. Feist piped up. “I’ve been staring at them for the last half hour. It’s a match.”
“Shit,” Heather muttered. Then, “Send me what you’ve got. I’ll call you back in fifteen minutes.”
Dr. Feist emailed the x-rays to Heather and the three of them waited in silence. While Gretchen fired off a text to Mettner letting him know about the ID, Josie looked over the NamUs report for Nicci Webb. It didn’t contain many details—her age, height, weight, and town she lived in. Under ‘last seen’ it simply said: Keller Hollow. That could mean anything. Had she disappeared from her home or from somewhere else in the small town? Josie studied the photo, wondering how forty-five-year old Nicci Webb had come to be gruesomely displayed behind Trinity’s rental cabin. The photo showed Nicci from the waist up, wearing a red sweater with a multi-colored scarf wrapped round her neck. It looked as though someone had cropped other people out of the rest of the picture. Nicci sported shoulder-length brown hair shot through with gray and glasses over a narrow nose and thin lips. Her smile looked slightly strained.
Josie used her phone to search various social media outlets for Webb. She found a Facebook account, but its privacy settings were so strict that Josie could only view her profile picture which showed her face up close. Her brown hair was pulled back with a black headband and her smile was slightly wider than in the NamUs photo, but it still didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Gretchen said, “Does she look familiar? Do you think Trinity knew her?”
“No,” Josie said. “I’ve never seen her before. Trinity never mentioned her, but it’s entirely possible they knew one another, and I didn’t know about it.”
“Once we have the laptop dump and get her phone unlocked, we can see if Nicci Webb is one of Trinity’s contacts or if there’s any evidence there that they knew one another.”
Josie said, “We should also ask Trinity’s assistant. Nicci might have been a source of some kind for one of Trinity’s stories.”
Gretchen’s phone rang and she answered, putting it on speakerphone. Heather’s voice filled the room. “That’s my missing person,” she said, words filled with resignation. “You mind telling me where you found her?”
Gretchen quickly gave her a rundown of the situation. The only thing she left out was the fact that the bones had been arranged in a strange and disturbing tableau. Josie knew that that was a detail better discussed in person. As if reading Josie’s mind, Gretchen told Heather, “There are a few other details, but we’d rather discuss those in person.”
“Of course,” said Heather. “Can you ladies meet me in Bellewood in an hour? There’s a gas station at the edge of town, right before the road that leads into Keller Hollow.”
“I know it,” Josie said. “We’ll see you soon.”
As soon as they hung up, Gretchen called Mettner to let him know what was going on. They thanked Dr. Feist and headed to their vehicle. Gretchen drove, stopping for takeout cheeseburgers before taking the twisty back roads to Bellewood, the Alcott County seat. Josie thought she had no appetite until the smell of the burgers filled the car. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was after four in the afternoon. She thanked Gretchen before scarfing down the food. Once she finished, she turned toward the window, watching the gorgeous mountain scenery flash past, her mind working to make some kind of connection between Trinity and Nicci Webb.