The detective opened the old file he’d pulled out. “Tragic case. There was a three-year-old boy who interrupted his stepbrother, who was playing some computer game. The stepbrother became enraged and started beating the child with a metal shovel, that sort that used to sit by fireplaces. Kid got a concussion and some bad bruises. His sister intervened to save him from his half brother. She took a really bad beating from the stepbrother, had two broken ribs and a lot of bruising. She was afraid of the perp and didn’t want to press charges, but the officer who took her home from the emergency room saw the condition of the three-year-old, called an ambulance for the kid and promptly arrested the stepbrother. The suspect was tried on two counts of second-degree assault and battery, plus assault on a police officer and resisting arrest. He was found guilty and sent to prison for six years.” He closed the file and grimaced. “The perp was on drugs and high as a kite, not that it’s any sort of excuse for savaging a little kid and a nineteen-year-old girl.”

“Lowlife bum,” Banks muttered.

“Truly. But the assault case doesn’t really pertain to your missing person.”

“Where’s the perp now?”

“In prison somewhere,” he said. “His father’s dead, victim of a hit-and-run not long after his son went to prison. No witnesses, the driver was never found.”

Banks was frowning. “That’s a lot of turmoil in one household,” he mentioned.

“Yes, it is. They seemed well-adjusted, except for the boy on drugs, but the neighbors said a rough crowd used to hang out there during the day. The babysitter was afraid of them. She usually took the three-year-old to her house, to avoid them.”

“A missing grandfather. A dead father, victim of a hit-and-run. A man sent to prison for assault on his three-year-old half brother and his stepsister.” He pursed his chiseled lips. “If I wrote soap operas, this would appeal to me.”

The detective laughed. “I guess it sounds that way.”

“When’s the boy due to get out of prison?”

“He’s been a model prisoner, apparently,” the detective said sarcastically. “He may get early release. It depends on the parole board. They’re meeting this month.”

“Can you keep me informed?”

The detective gave him an odd look. “Can’t your assistant do that?” he asked.

Banks laughed. “Sure. Of course she can.” He didn’t question the strange wording.

“By the way, assistant DA Darrell Tarley is familiar with this case,” the detective added. “He has a vested interest in it. He was the prosecuting attorney when Duffy was sentenced, and Duffy’s threatened to kill him when he gets out.”

“Really like a soap opera,” Banks commented drolly.

“Pretty much,” he chuckled. “How do you like working for the Texas Rangers?” the detective added.