“Pedophiles and other registered sex offenders, drifters, hired help in the neighborhood, and anyone else who might have seen someone coming or going. We talked to the friends and acquaintances of both families. Mrs. Fitzhugh said there was a yard guy with a leaf blower next door, working his way up the drive. She assumed he was from a lawn company, but the couple who owned the house were off at work and when we talked to them, they said they didn’t have a service of any kind. The husband handled all the yard work himself.”

“Did you find the leaf blower?”

“No sign of it. A gas-powered mower had been removed from the garage and it was sitting in the drive, but the guy must have worn gloves, because there were no prints on it.”

“How’d he get into the garage?”

“The doors into the house were locked, but not the garage doors. Most days they were left open. Too much trouble to get out of the car and close them.”

“No barking dog on the premises?”

“Nope.”

“Interesting that Mrs. Fitzhugh saw the guy.”

“From a distance. She said he was in coveralls and since he had the leaf blower, she assumed he was the gardener.”

“How’d the kidnappers get to Mary Claire?” I asked. “I thought the yard was enclosed.”

“They cut through the wire fence behind her playhouse. They might have been hiding there, waiting until she was left by herself. We’re not sure how they got her out of there. No one reported seeing anyone with a kid. Chances are, they used the bridle trails. There’s a whole network of trails that winds through Horton Ravine. If they stuck to those, probability is no one would have seen them. Someone on horseback maybe, but we never had a report to that effect. We know Rain didn’t make a fuss, so it’s likely Mary Claire didn’t either. Little girls tend to be compliant anyway, and Rain says they were nice to her.”

“So Rain wasn’t carried off kicking and screaming.”

“No need. The one fellow offered to let her play with the kitten and off she went. Kids that age are trusting. It’s likely they pulled the same thing with Mary Claire.”

“What’d they feed her?”

“Nothing fancy. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

“And as far as she knew, she hadn’t encountered either one before?”

“Nope. They were either smarter than we thought or the luckiest sons of bitches on the planet.”

“You’re convinced there were only two?”

“Two would have been optimal; one on the phone to the mother while the other took the kid. If more guys had been involved, we might have had a better chance for a break. With three or four guys, somebody’s bound to blab or start throwing money around.”