Chapter 29

Felicity

“I have good news and bad news.” Detective Montgomery sat across from me in what the stained-glass couple would have called a parlor, but what I called a living room. A cup of coffee—no cream or sugar, thanks—steamed in front of her seat, while a cup of tea—more cream and sugar, thanks—was nearly empty in front of me. The empathy in her tone, the softness of her expression, the slight lean forward and pat on my arm—the combination told me everything I didn’t want to know.

“We weren’t able to trace the call made to your dog grooming store. It was likely made from a burner phone, so unfortunately we’re at a dead end with that.”

I had anticipated as much. “What about with the girl you found in the river? Any idea when we’ll know for sure who she is?”

“Like I told you before, the pathologist is pretty sure it’s not Vera. But it’s our top priority to confirm the identity.” Pat pat.

“I’m hoping that’s all the bad news?” I wondered aloud.

“Yes.” She picked up her coffee and sipped. “The good news—while we hadn’t had success earlier in tracing Vera’s phone while it was turned off, we did follow up on that after you and I spoke. This time we were able to locate the cell phone and the user that your husband has been texting with.”

“And?” The creepy fifty-year-old orthodontist who lived in his mother’s basement and collected used retainers from his victims popped back into my head.

“And we paid a visit and spoke with her in person.”

“It’s a her?”

“Yes, a girl and her mother.”

So Oliver was right.

“Do you think there’s any connection between her and Vera?”

The detective set her mug down, and here came that not-as-comforting pat on the arm. In fact, it was downright infuriating. “The girl is exactly who the texts say they’re from—a twelve-year-old who lost her father in a car accident. She had found the phone in the woods, and when Oliver first texted her, she took it as some kind of sign that her dad was contacting her from heaven.”

Just like Oliver, the girl thought it was a connection beyond the grave. It would have been magical if it wasn’t so tragic.

“I spoke to the girl and her mother, and I retrieved the phone, which unfortunately had been completely factory reset. So we couldn’t pull anything, no app history or online searches that would help in finding Vera. But like I said, I’m pretty confident there’s no connection between the girl and Vera.”

“Where did you say she found the phone?” I asked.