joke around. And he could speak Spanish. He was teaching me some.”
“I bet. Sounds like you two really hit it off.”
“I liked him,” she said simply. “He was nice.”
“I’m sure. From all we’ve learned he was a really nice boy. Now can you tell us what you saw and heard that day?”
Sarah looked up at her mother, who nodded and said, “You tell them everything you can remember, Sarah. Go ahead, you can do this, honey.”
She nodded and put her hands together in her lap. “Frankie was ahead of me on the street that morning. We were walking to the bus stop. It was only another block before we got there. I was going to catch up to Frankie and say something to him in Spanish to surprise him when this man comes out of nowhere and walks up to Frankie.”
Pine interjected, “Can you describe him, Sarah? Any detail you can remember. Take your time. There’s no rush at all.”
“He was tall, taller than you or your friends. A big guy.”
“Could you tell if he was white, black…?”
“Oh, he was definitely white.”
“Age?”
“Older. He had white hair. It was kind of long and thick. It hung out from under his hat.”
“His hat? What kind of hat was it?” asked Pine, shooting Wallis and Laredo a look.
“Like a cowboy hat, you know. Like you see on TV.”
“What about the rest of his clothes?”
“Jeans and a shirt. A dark shirt, I think.”
“Shoes?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Okay. What did he do when he reached Frankie?”
“He said something to him and then handed him an envelope.”
“Could you tell what was in it?”
“No, but it was like a regular white envelope.”
“Okay, what else?”
“Then he handed Frankie some money. Some bills. I don’t know what they were. I mean, how much it was. I couldn’t see.”
“And what did Frankie do?”
“He said something to the man, and the guy patted him on the shoulder and said something back. Frankie smiled. I remember that.”
“What happened after that?”
“Then the guy walked off. I watched him for a bit. I was worried at first. I mean, I’m not supposed to talk to strangers and I’m pretty sure Frankie’s not, either. But then the man just walked off, so I didn’t know what was going on. I thought maybe Frankie knew him.”
“What did Frankie do with the envelope and money?”
“He put the money in his pocket. Then he opened the envelope and pulled out a slip of paper. He seemed to be reading it as he was walking along. I was too far away to see what was on it. Then he put it in his pocket.”
“Did you ask him later what the man wanted? Why he had given him the money and what was in the envelope?”
Sarah’s mouth drooped. “I was going to, but then the bus passed us on the way to the stop. We were going to miss it. We all started running. Frankie was faster than me. When I got there, he was way ahead of me and was already in line to get on. He got on with some other kids and ended up sitting with them. I had to go sit in the back. I was going to ask him about it later when we got to school, but…things got busy and I never did.”
“Did you go home on the bus that day?” asked Wallis.
Sarah’s mother answered. “Sarah had a doctor’s appointment that day. I went to the school and got her about an hour before classes let out. We came home directly from the doctor’s, so she wouldn’t have seen Frankie again.”
Sarah looked at them with a trembling look and tears filling her eyes. “If…if I had asked Frankie about what that man wanted, he might not be…”
Pine put a hand on her quivering shoulder. “None of this was your fault, Sarah. You didn’t do anything wrong. This was all someone else’s doing. And you’ve been a big help and told us a lot of things we didn’t know that will help us find that person. We really appreciate your help, Sarah. Okay?”
“Okay,” said Sarah before she buried her face in her mother’s shoulder and started to cry.
On the way back to the car, Laredo said, “Okay, guy gives the kid a note and some money. What do you want to bet that the note said, get off at a different stop and someone will be waiting to take you to…I don’t know, home, or the car dealership to maybe take a ride in one of the