“When can I have copies?” I asked. “I need to read them.”
“Give me ninety minutes, and I’ll have them at your office,” he said. “I’ll send one of the guys right over with them.”
“You’ve got it,” I said. “And log this calendar into evidence, too, okay?”
“Sure,” Mueller said. He looked as relieved as I felt that we were done at the scene and had found what we’d come for.
As I turned to leave, my cell rang. My heart immediately sped up a bit when I saw Max’s name on the screen, and I made a conscious effort to slow it down. “Hey, what have you got for me?”
“Good news,” he said.
Max explained that Jacob had come out of the coma and was in surgery, that he’d be out in a couple of hours, and that the doctor thought we might be able to communicate with him late that afternoon.
“That’s great news,” I said, hopeful that we might have a big break in the case. “And they think he’ll recover well?”
“The doctor says he thinks so,” Max said. “Thinks he’ll be able to talk and breathe normally again. Said the same thing the paramedic did, that Jacob was lucky.”
“I still have a hard time seeing him that way,” I admitted. “But good news here, too. We found the letters. I’ll have copies in an hour and a half. Want to meet me at the office so we can read through them?”
“You bet,” Max said. “How about we grab lunch and then head to your office? I’ll buy.”
I hesitated, wondering if that was a good idea. Dinner at his house the evening before, now lunch? We were spending a lot of time together. Yet I couldn’t deny that I wanted to see him. An hour off to talk about the case, but more than that, to just talk, was appealing.
“Okay,” I said. “Lunch and then we’ll head over to my office to read the letters.”
We agreed to meet at the diner, but then Max said something, and our plans changed. “You know, Clara, what’s really peculiar is that Naomi was at the hospital again.”
“She was?”
“Yup. As a matter of fact, she was in the room with Jacob when he woke up. She hit the call button for the doctor,” Max said. “And what seemed even odder, at one point, she was holding Jacob’s hand.”
For a moment, I was silent. I thought about what I’d overheard at the shelter, the woman who said that even before the killings Naomi appeared interested in Jacob. Then I considered that brief moment the previous day when she’d been in the room alone with Jacob and I thought I saw her talking to him. I wondered what was going on. I’d never known her to be secretive, but I wondered if she was hiding something. If Naomi wouldn’t tell me the truth about their relationship, who would?
Then I knew. It was a long shot that she’d cooperate, but maybe I could convince her?
“Max, I can’t make lunch. I’ll meet you at the station, but I’m going out to the trailer first,” I said. “I need to have a talk with my mother.”
Twenty-Five
Three months in Alber, and after I finished the case that brought me home, I’d only driven to my family’s trailer once. A few weeks after I signed on as police chief, I had tried just dropping in. I’d knocked on the door on a Sunday afternoon and one of my half-sisters, twelve-year-old Delilah of the auburn hair and freckled nose, spotted me. She’d screamed my name and run to me. “Clara! Clara! I was hoping that you’d come.” Jabbering so fast I could barely understand her, she’d said, “I ask my mom all the time if I can see you, but she won’t let me!” Delilah giggled, excited and happy, and I’d laughed and wrapped my arms around her.
“I wanted to see you so much.” Delilah scrunched up her nose. “And now you’re here.”
The news of my arrival had spread and the other children swarmed me. I’d thought my heart might burst. This is what I’d wanted more than anything: to spend time with my family, to get to know my brothers and sisters. But before I’d said more than hello, Mother Sariah rushed over and gathered Delilah up, pulled my arms from around her waist and walked her off. In a split second, Mother Naomi had corralled the rest of the children and had whisked them away.