She shook her head. “We never could. My fault. That’s why we became foster parents. These kids need adults in their lives, helping to guide them.”
“Yes they do,” said Wallis. “That was very good of you.”
“We do it through our church. They get children in from other parts of the country. We had to go through all sorts of, I guess they call it vetting. But that makes sense because children are precious. And they pay us, of course. Most of the money goes for the child’s expenses and the like, but there’s some left over. It’s a lot of work.”
“I’m sure it is,” Wallis said. He slipped something from his pocket. “Now, ma’am, we need a positive ID on Frankie. I, uh, I have a photo here.”
Duncan stiffened. “I saw the sketch on the news. That’s why I called the number. Do I…do I have to look…?”
Wallis said gently, “If you would, ma’am. Just to be sure.”
Wallis passed across the photo.
Duncan glanced at it, cringed, changed color, and hurriedly handed it back.
She nodded. “That’s…Frankie.”
Wallis put the photo away and said, “We’re very sorry for your loss.”
The noise upstairs intensified. Duncan said, “The other kids don’t know. They’re so young, I was thinking of not telling them what…what happened. I thought I might just tell them that Frankie went to another family.”
“Whatever you think best, Ms. Duncan,” replied Wallis.
Pine said, “When was the last time you saw Frankie?”
Duncan sat back in a chair that had half its stuffing missing and was covered with a frayed throw rug.
“Three days ago. He went to school and then when he didn’t come back home, I called around to see if anyone had seen him. He’d already made friends in the neighborhood. I thought maybe he’d gone over to one of their homes.”
“How did he get back and forth from school?”
“On the bus. I would usually walk him to the bus stop in the mornings. But in the afternoons he would walk home. There’re lots of kids around. And parents.”
“But did you walk him to the bus stop that morning?” asked Wallis.
She shook her head, her eyes filling with fresh tears. “No. He…he said he knew the way and wanted to walk there by himself. I think…I think he was embarrassed to have me with him. You see, most of the other kids just walked there by themselves. They might have made fun of him, for all I know.”
“Was it confirmed that he was actually at school that day?”
“Yes, he didn’t miss any classes.”
“And he was on the bus home?”
“Yes.”
“And he got off at his regular stop?”
Now Duncan looked uncertain. “The thing is, the kids and parents I talked to weren’t sure that he did. And the police talked to the bus driver, but he lets off so many kids at so many stops, he’s not always paying attention who gets off where. And…and there are a lot of little boys who look like Frankie.”
“Meaning Hispanic?” said Pine.
“Yes.”
“So it was not confirmed that he got off at his regular stop?”
“No, it wasn’t. But why would he get off somewhere else? He knew the right stop.”
“He might have if someone had asked him to.”
“But who would do that? And if they did, Frankie wouldn’t have done it. I told him never to talk to strangers.”
“Well, it might not have been a stranger,” pointed out Pine.
“I can’t believe that anyone who knew us would have done this to Frankie,” she said stubbornly.
“Would he walk home with some of your other kids?”
“No, they’re in kindergarten. They have different hours. Frankie was in fourth grade. I never had a second thought about him using the bus. His English was pretty good. He said his mother taught him.”
“And where are his parents?” asked Laredo.
“I don’t know. No one ever told me. Frankie didn’t have any pictures of them. I believe Frankie was born here.”
Laredo glanced at Pine. She said, “So what did you do when you couldn’t find him?”
“I started phoning around to everyone I could think of, including the school. After that, I called the police.”
“And they came and took a report?” said Wallis.
“Yes. And that was the last I heard from them. Until I…until I saw that sketch and the description on the news. I knew right away it was Frankie.” She pursed her lips. “Can I…can you tell me what happened to him?”
Wallis glanced at the two FBI agents before saying, “His