to a thought. And a possible lead.
She had taken pictures of all the files in the old police investigation of her sister’s disappearance. There was one that now intrigued her.
Six o’clock in the A.M. That was when the police had said her mother had come into her bedroom and found Pine horribly injured and Mercy gone. She was looking at the detective notes that documented this. And this timing had been corroborated by other witnesses.
Yet the thing was her mother had a routine with her daughters. She put them to bed at nine every night. She would then check on them at ten to make sure they were still in bed and not playing. Pine had been caught out so many times over this that she knew that rule well. Then Julia Pine came to rouse her daughters at seven thirty sharp so they could clean up, dress, eat breakfast, and get to the bus stop for school at eight thirty. Even though this had all taken place decades ago, the routine had been a large part of Pine’s life, day after day. Because of that it was ingrained in her.
So the question was, why had her mother come in at six in the morning? And now that Pine thought about it, she didn’t remember her mother coming in to check on them at ten.
Pine both liked and disliked discrepancies. She disliked them because they could be inexplicable. But she also liked them because they could lead to a breakthrough.
She was hoping this was one of those times.
It could be that her mother awoke after a night of drinking and smoking weed and raced up to check on the kids. Maybe she had been unaware of the time because of her being hung over. Perhaps she had thought she had overslept and that the girls were late for school.
Pine shook her head clear.
At six A.M. at that time of year it would have still been dark. So how could her mother have thought it was hours later?
As Pine got dressed she knew the answer to that: Her mother would not have been confused about that. There had to be another explanation.
Pine walked down to the first floor of the Cottage to find Blum sitting in a chair there.
“Jenny is in good hands. I investigated the place thoroughly before I handed her over.”
“I’m sure you did.”
“Mrs. Quarles gave me a ride back here and we had a nice chat. She is a very caring, very nurturing woman.”
“I’m glad.”
“Jenny is a precious little girl. Once she warmed up to me she wouldn’t stop talking.”
“No doubt.”
“So why do I think you just had a revelation of sorts?”
“Is it that obvious on my face?”
“Not obvious to everyone, but obvious to me. So tell me.”
Pine sat down across from her and told her about the time discrepancy.
“That does qualify as a revelation, actually. Any theories?”
“Not sure. Could be a number of reasons. Some innocuous, others problematic.”
“Let’s hear them.”
Pine shook her head. “Not yet. I need to think things through.”
“Fair enough.”
“I am really glad Jenny is all squared away.”
“Who knew Cy Tanner could have a granddaughter that cute? Of course he had no idea what to do with her. I think he can barely take care of himself.”
“It was nice of the minister and his family to take her in.”
“Speaking of children, any ID on the boy?”
“Not that I’ve heard. But we do have a lead to follow up.” Pine told her about the Pagani outside her old home.
“You really think it could be connected to Jack Lineberry?”
“You think Paganis grow on trees down here?”
“But why would he be watching your old house?”
“Even if it was his car, it wasn’t necessarily him inside doing the watching.”
“That’s true. How are you going to handle it?”
“I haven’t decided yet. Eddie couldn’t track the ownership to Lineberry, but there are a lot of dodges on that score.”
Pine’s phone buzzed. She looked down at it and flinched.
“It’s from Stan Cashings.”
“The Cloak and Dagger issue you asked him to look into?”
Pine nodded as she read through the email.
As Blum watched, the expression on Pine’s face turned from curiosity to shock and then to disbelief.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look like that,” she said, worried.
Pine looked up at her. “Well, I never imagined it could be something like this.”
“What is the Cloak and Dagger? A bar, like you thought?”
“Yes and no,” was Pine’s surprising reply.
“I’m not following. Isn’t it either one or the other?”
“Not according to Stan. He did some