Find Her Alive (Detective Josie Quinn #8) - Lisa Regan Page 0,30
one. Perhaps that connection would help them locate Trinity—before Trinity met the same gruesome fate as Webb.
At the Gas ‘N Go station on the east side of Bellewood, Detective Heather Loughlin waited, leaning up against the side of her unmarked Chevrolet Tahoe with a cup of coffee in her hand. She wore black slacks and a polo shirt under a light jacket with the State Police logo emblazoned next to the left lapel. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she offered them a grim smile as they got out of their own vehicle.
“I’m happy to see you, but not under these circumstances,” she told them. “Tell me what you couldn’t tell me over the phone.”
Josie let Gretchen do the talking. She watched Heather’s face transform from cool professionalism to shock when Gretchen showed her the photos of Nicci’s remains as they’d been found behind the cabin. “Sweet lord,” Heather muttered.
Josie stepped forward. “Nicci Webb wasn’t involved in anything… satanic or ritualistic, was she?”
Heather shook her head. “No, not at all. She was a regular parishioner at the Episcopal church in Bellewood.”
Josie said, “What can you tell us about her?”
“She was a sixth grade schoolteacher in Bellewood. She lived in Keller Hollow for well over twenty years. Raised her daughter here. Daughter’s name is Monica. She’s twenty-one, lives with Webb. Monica has a two-year-old daughter. Nicci’s husband died of a heart attack six years ago. She drove out to the cemetery to tend to his grave almost three weeks ago, which is something she does regularly, and no one saw her again. When she didn’t come home, the daughter tried calling her. No answer. The daughter drove to the cemetery. Found Webb’s vehicle there with everything left inside: purse, phone, keys in the ignition. It was like Webb just got out and walked away.”
Josie felt a shiver along her spine. Just like Trinity—Nicci Webb had left everything behind and vanished into thin air. “There was nothing left behind at the cemetery, right?” Josie asked Heather. “Nothing unusual or… alarming?”
Heather gave a dry laugh. “If you mean some kind of sickening display like what you guys found, no. Nothing. Believe me, I would have led with that. Part of the problem with the investigation was that it looked like she just walked off. That’s what everyone thought. Her daughter searched the area, found nothing, and so she called us in. We did some searches, didn’t turn anything up. Monica said that Nicci sometimes got depressed, especially after her husband passed, although she never sought professional help. For a while I thought maybe she had gone off and killed herself, but we never did find any evidence. Brought in the K-9 unit, they found her scent, but it didn’t go anywhere.”
Josie said, “Which usually indicates that the person got into a vehicle.”
“Exactly,” Heather agreed. “We checked into every person Nicci knew. She doesn’t have a very wide social circle. Everyone checked out.”
“What about the cemetery?” Gretchen asked.
“It’s small and rural. No cameras. It’s maintained by a couple in their eighties who live in Bellewood. They take care of the grass-cutting and other needs using their own equipment.”
“So unless someone else was inside the cemetery that day with Nicci, no one would have seen anything,” Josie said.
Gretchen said, “Someone was inside the cemetery with her, obviously. No one saw them.”
Heather nodded. “We talked with everyone in Keller Hollow. As you probably know, there are only about four hundred people who live there, but between Monica and my people, we got to everyone. No one remembers seeing Nicci that day. No one remembers seeing any other vehicles arriving at or leaving the cemetery. We asked Bellewood PD to talk to people in their community. They put some stuff up on social media. We got no leads.”
Josie asked, “There was no one she was feuding with? No troublesome boyfriends or ex-boyfriends?”
“No,” Heather replied.
“How about Monica?” Gretchen asked. “You said she’s got a two-year-old daughter. What about the father?”
“He’s in the air force,” Heather replied. “Deployed. They’re not married but they have a good relationship. I did check out all of Monica’s known associates though just to be thorough. No one sent up any red flags.”
Josie motioned toward Heather’s Tahoe. “You asked us here.”
Heather nodded. “I’ve got to give Monica the death notification. She’s going to have a lot of questions. Since her mother’s homicide was in your jurisdiction, you should meet her.”
“Of course,” Josie said.
Seventeen
Heather drove them down the long, wooded, two-lane