Unintended Consequences - By Marti Green Page 0,84

dried himself off and dialed Dani’s number.

“That’s it,” Dani said after he’d told her. “The ties to Sunshine Harrington have all been cut. As far as anyone in authority is concerned, it’s as though she doesn’t exist.”

Tommy couldn’t get Sunshine Harrington out of his thoughts. Everyone at HIPP believed she was George and Sallie’s daughter, including him. The medical records didn’t lie. Even though Dr. Jeffreys wouldn’t say with absolute certainty that the two girls were one and the same, it was too coincidental to be otherwise. No, it all pointed to one conclusion: Sunshine Harrington was Angelina Calhoun.

But how could they find her? It was his job to investigate, to look for clues, put them together and get results. He pushed the food around on his plate, unable to eat. Patty talked to him, but her words were a blur. Suddenly, he had one more idea, a long shot but worth a try.

Trudy Harrington’s neighbor Laura Devine had told Tommy that Sunshine was married. Somewhere there had to be a record of a marriage license. “Patty, I can’t eat now. Maybe later. I’m just not hungry.”

Patty nodded as he headed down the hall to his den. He sat in front of the computer and typed “marriage licenses” into the Google search bar. A string of websites appeared, all offering access to marriage records. He chose one and typed in the name “Sunshine Harrington.” He clicked the box for all states and then clicked on “Search.” Nothing. That’s what the screen said. “There are no results for this name. Please try another name.” Damn!

Sunshine Harrington had grown up in Minnesota. Chances are that’s where she’d have married. It was one hour earlier in Minnesota. There was still time. He placed a call to the Minnesota Department of Health, Section of Vital Statistics. “What do I need to do to check a marriage record?” he asked when a female voice answered.

“Where was the party married?” she asked.

“Not sure, but maybe Olmsted County.”

“Then you need to call the local registrar in Olmsted County. They’ll send you a form to fill out and you send it back with an $8 fee. You’ll have to provide a form of proof of your kinship to the married couple. It can be a driver’s license or birth certificate. A few other things, but it’s all spelled out on the application. Do you need the phone number for the registrar’s office?”

“No thanks, I’m set.” Tommy knew it would be fruitless to start dealing with a new bureaucrat at this stage. Instead, he dialed Helen at the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Rochester. She’d gone out of her way for him before and he hoped she would again.

He caught her in the office. “I need a big favor,” Tommy said after they’d exchanged greetings. He filled her in on everything he’d learned since she’d tried to help him. “So now that we know what happened to Angelina Calhoun, we’re stuck trying to find her. I thought maybe if I knew her married name, I could do an Internet search for her.”

Helen remained silent awhile. “I’m not supposed to do this,” she finally said, “but if ever there was a reason to bend the rules, this is it. Hold on and I’ll check our computer records.”

Tommy waited nervously for Helen to get back on the phone. Even if she found the name of Sunshine’s husband, would that be enough? Despite the astounding amount of information on the web, there were gaps. And even if he had the name, was there enough time to track her down?

“Tommy, you still there?”

“Tell me you have a name for me.” Tommy wondered if she could hear the desperation in his voice.

“I’m sorry. If she’s married, it wasn’t in Olmsted County. There’s no marriage license for her in our records.”

He had failed. It had happened on occasion before, both with the FBI and at HIPP. There were times when he did everything right, when he explored every avenue, and still came up empty. He knew it wasn’t his fault that Sunshine couldn’t be found. And he knew an innocent man would die.

CHAPTER

31

Mickey Conklin had expected Detective Cannon’s visit. Janine had asked him whether he’d ever had Stacy’s fingerprints taken. He’d forgotten all about it. They’d been walking through the mall and saw a sign that read, “Help Us Help Your Child.” He went to the booth to see what it was about. A registry of children’s fingerprints, in case anything happened to them. A