“Don’t get an attitude with me. I’m not the one who called you. All I know is that Tracy was talking to your dad and she was upset about something. If you want details, you will need to talk to her.”
Troy sighed. Nothing seemed to be going right today. “If she comes back, call me.”
He and Natalie hung up without any I-love-you pleasantries being exchanged between them and Troy tried his sister one more time.
“Trace, I got all of your voice messages and I’m trying to get in touch with you. You got me worried and now you’re not answering. I don’t like that. Call and let me know what’s up.”
Troy tried his dad. His voicemail kicked in, too. He didn’t bother leaving a message. He started the rental and headed back to Shauna’s office. He would be early, but at least he would be there.
• • •
“What’s on your mind, Troy?” B.K. announced as they hopped onto I-45 and headed south to Hitchcock.
A lot! When Troy went back to Shauna’s office, he was forced to wait in the parking lot because her building was also locked. He understood the safety precautions since Shauna was in session with Lilly and there were no other personnel around. Still, all this waiting around seemed futile. Troy sat in the parking lot stewing after several additional failed attempts to get ahold of Tracy before B.K. and his mother arrived. He got out of the vehicle without saying much to either of them and got into B.K.’s sedan while B.K. walked his mom to the building door, which had been miraculously unlocked.
Troy watched in the rearview mirror as his mom and B.K. embraced for what seemed like a little too long in his opinion. So, when B.K. asked what was on his mind, Troy decided to take heed to the New King James Version of Proverbs 29:11, “A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.” He had a lot he wanted to say to B.K. right now, especially regarding whatever game the man was playing with his mom. Instead of taking the foolish route and lashing out at him with everything that was going through his head, Troy simply said, “Where did you and my mom go?”
“To a little spot not far from Shauna’s office. I enjoyed talking to your mom. She seems like a very nice lady. She’s also funny.”
“Since when did socializing with my mother become more important than working on Elana’s case?” Perhaps he wasn’t doing so well with the whole Proverbs thing.
“Rest assured, I’m always working. If you think I’m trying to hit on your mom, relax. I’ve been happily married to the same woman for nearly thirty-five years. Since Diane and Lilly were close during the time Elana went missing, I wanted to see if she could provide any insight.”
“She was nowhere around that day.” Troy shared his new revelation about Jerry.
“I already knew he was faking. Insurance fraud. He got into a car accident and it was the other person’s fault so now he’s trying to get money.”
“But he was in town about the time Elana’s body was discovered.”
“I know. He had a meeting with the insurance company. As far as being a suspect in Elana’s case, he’s been eliminated through DNA.”
“When and how did you get his DNA?”
“Jerry is a convicted felon. Under Texas law, he had to submit a sample to be kept in CODIS.”
CODIS stood for Combined DNA Index System, which was a nationwide FBI database that matches DNA from known criminal offenders with biological evidence from crime scenes. “When were you going to tell me? I can’t help solve the case if you are constantly withholding information.”
“You and I have never had a chance to sit down and discuss things. Besides, the day I met you, I didn’t have the results of Jerry’s DNA. We’re discussing everything now, to some extent, and I’m telling you what I know. But, for the record, I’m not going to detail every single step I make. I will keep you informed as best as possible. However, there are some things I’m going to keep to myself whether you like it or not. You’re too emotionally involved in this case. You’re going to miss something. You already have.”
“Like what?” Troy asked. There was a venomous tinge to his tone, and he didn’t hide his distaste for B.K. at that moment.
“You’ve told me about Jerry and Edgar, but you have yet to mention Bill’s statement at the service. I’m assuming it’s because you didn’t catch the oddity of his words.”
Confused, yet concerned by B.K.’s accusation, Troy softened his tone. “What did he say?” He felt completely incompetent when B.K. brought back to his remembrance Bill’s words about someone having dumped Elana off the back of his truck.
“How could he possibly know this unless he was the one who put her there?”
“If you suspect him, why are we on our way to Herbert’s instead of his place?”
“I can’t say for sure that Bill is the one, despite his odd statement. Remember what I told you when we met? I consider everyone a suspect until proven otherwise. The more suspects we eliminate, the easier it will be to focus on those who are left,” he spoke condescendingly and Troy felt like even more of an idiot. He knew how investigations worked. This wasn’t his first case and yet, he felt like a novice compared to the veteran investigator. Maybe B.K. was right about his emotions being in the way.
“We have to tread with caution when it comes to Bill,” B.K. continued. “I’m sure you know how close he and Lilly are. I was under the impression that she and Elvin weren’t going to tell anyone in the family that they’d hired me, but he knows. I tried to talk to him casually and he immediately referred me to his attorney. I got a message from his attorney this morning requesting a meeting. There’s obviously something weird going on with him, but until we know for sure what it is, we have to keep digging everywhere there’s a possible lead, hence why we are still paying Mr. Greenfield a visit.”
Troy stared out the window, feeling useless. He wanted to ask if he could sit in on the meeting with Bill, but at this point, he thought it best to let B.K. fill him in as needed. He was angry with himself. How could he have not been alarmed by Bill’s statement?
“I get why you want to be involved with this case. If it were someone close to me, I would feel the same way. I have no doubt that you’re a good cop, Troy. You have to put guilt on the back burner and treat this case like you would any other.”
“This is not any other case. I am partly responsible for the chain of events. I owe it to Elana to find out what happened and somehow try to make things right.”
“Yom Kippur,” B.K. mumbled.
Troy looked away from the window and at B.K. “What?”
“Yom Kippur. It’s a Jewish holiday, which means Day of Atonement. It’s first mentioned in Leviticus 16 when Aaron was instructed that he would have to make yearly sacrifices, known as the sin offering. It was the priest’s responsibility to atone for the sins of the people. Nowadays, Jews typically fast for twenty-four hours and they also pray and have special synagogue services, all for the purpose of repenting and making amends for their sins. That’s what I feel you’re trying to do. Don’t take offense, but your motive for wanting to solve this case is all wrong. It’s not about you and easing the burden of whatever guilt you may have. It’s about finding justice for Elana. The sooner you realize that, the more effective you will be.”
“Are you Jewish?”
“Nope. I happened to know a lot about various religions because a long time ago, I attended seminary.” B.K. laughed as the shock on Troy’s face must have been evident. “What, you can’t see me standing in a pulpit with a robe?”
“Now that you brought it up, it doesn’t seem that far-fetched.” From the moment he and B.K. first met, Troy had taken note of his commanding presence. “So, were you studying to be a pastor?”
“I can’t really say what I would have done because I dropped out. Of course, my parents were not pleased, particularly my father because he wanted me to be a preacher, but I feel that I have made more of a difference in people’s lives by working in law enforcement than I ever could have done in a pulpit. Nothing
against those who serve in official capacities. I don’t think it was my calling.”
“A buddy of mine had a similar experience except he did pastor a church for several years until he was forced to step down. I didn’t know him at that time,” Troy explained. “We met a few years back when I worked on a case involving his daughter. Now he’s working in a totally different field and feels the same as you, that preaching was never his purpose. He did it because he’d been expected to follow in his father’s footsteps.”
“Yeah, sometimes fathers can put a lot of pressure on their kids, especially their sons. I guess that’s why the good Lord gave me four daughters. None of them work in law enforcement. What’s your relationship like with your dad?”
“Complicated,” Troy replied humorously as B.K.’s GPS instructed them to get off at the next exit.
Chapter 21: Legal Authority
Hitchcock was an extremely small town only about forty miles from Houston, located in Galveston County. Troy was willing to bet that the population hadn’t yet reached 10,000. Its serene residential environment combined with the ease of travel between Houston and Galveston made it an attractive place to live. In fact, Troy had heard once before that many workers from the Johnson Space Center commuted from Hitchcock. Named after the thirty-sixth U.S. president, Lyndon B. Johnson, the Houston-located center was the place NASA educated its astronauts. It’s also a really neat attraction because visitors could actually watch space explorers train for missions and participate in a bunch of other out-of-this world activities. The space center was a place Nate would likely enjoy and Troy felt bad that he probably would not have a chance to take him there or anywhere else this week.
“Your destination is on the right,” announced the GPS as they pulled in front of a one-story, mustard-yellow house.
Troy trailed slightly behind B.K. as they headed up to the front door. A petite Caucasian woman dressed in scrubs answered. “May I help you?”
“Hi, I’m B.K. Ashburn, an investigator with the Texas Department of Public Safety. I called last week about seeing Herbert Greenfield.”
“And you are?” She eyed Troy suspiciously.
“He’s a detective. Now may we speak to Mr. Greenfield, please?”
“I tried to tell you that he’s in no condition for company.” She stepped aside and let them in. “Have a seat. I’ll go get him.”
As soon as the unnamed lady and Herbert came around the corner, Troy knew that this trip had been a waste of time.
• • •
Neither B.K. nor Troy said a word for the first ten minutes or so after leaving Herbert’s.
“I had been told that he wasn’t in good health, but I wasn’t expecting to see him like that.” B.K. finally spoke.
“Yeah, that was shocking. Am I wrong not to have sympathy for him?”
“I’m not the one you should ask because I feel the same way. Perhaps life has paid him back for his misdoings.”
Those were Troy’s exact sentiments. The lady, who was Herbert’s full-time caregiver, rolled him out in a wheelchair. Herbert appeared before them as a partially blind double amputee, paralyzed from the chest down, all courtesy of a drunk driving accident from years ago. He had some cognitive difficulties as well and was unable to form complete sentences or comprehendible words at times. When B.K. showed him pictures of Elana, he kept saying, “Maggie hurt her,” which made no sense. There was no one, family member or otherwise, with the name Maggie connected to this case. Herbert denied any personal involvement with Elana’s abduction.
The thing that angered Troy the most and rid him of any compassion he may have had for Herbert under different circumstances was when he admitted to molesting Elana. When B.K. asked if he’d ever touched her inappropriately, he nodded yes. He continued nodding as B.K.’s prodding became more descriptive, adding the words, “I’m sorry,” each time and becoming increasingly agitated with each question.
“Fellas, I think your time is up. Clearly, he doesn’t know anything about a kidnapping or murder. This other stuff is irrelevant. I trust that you will see yourselves out.” The caregiver then got up and rolled a sobbing Herbert away, swiftly ending the interrogation.
Troy was curious about what prompted B.K. to venture into that line of questioning and asked.
“A little birdie told me that Herbert was a pervert,” he’d replied lightheartedly. “We couldn’t find any criminal records, but there were enough collaborating stories to at least ask him. I’m surprised he was truthful, but then again, what does he have to lose at this point?”
Troy didn’t bother getting all bent out of shape about B.K. not telling him about this before. He had come to accept the fact that he would not be in the driver’s seat during this investigation. Considering his emotional connection, that was probably for the best. At least justice had been served in some capacity and Herbert would never get a chance to hurt another child.
“You want me to take you back to your car or are you coming with me to speak with Edgar?”
Troy opted to go with B.K. and from Hitchcock, they ended up in Katy, a small city about thirty or so minutes west of Houston, located within the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area. They rode in silence, listening to the turn-by-turn instructions being given by B.K.’s GPS and soon pulled up to a luxurious, two-story, multicolored brick home.
“Looks like the computer software business has been good to him.”
Troy never knew what Elvin’s dad did for a living. “You think he’s here?” he asked.
“There’s only one way to find out.”
Once again Troy followed behind as B.K. led the way to the front door of another suspect.
The current Mrs. Campbell answered the door wearing a red see-through dress with a black, fitted extremely low-cut shirt underneath and skin-tight leggings. Her heels were higher than any that Troy had ever seen in his life and she was holding a martini. She looked like she’d been expecting someone else. “May I help you?”
“Uh, hi, ma’am. My name is B.K. Ashburn. I’m an investigator with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Is Edgar Campbell home? I would like to talk to him about his daughter, Elana.”
“Yes, but this isn’t a good time because we’re on our way out. The only reason I answered the door is because I thought you were the babysitter.”
“Everything okay, honey?” Mr. Campbell walked up behind her.
“Edgar,” she whined, “These people want to talk to you about Elana. Tell them we have to go. I don’t want to be late to the party.”
“We won’t be. I promise. Finish getting the baby ready. I’ll handle this.” After his child-like wife walked away, he turned to them. “Gentlemen, what can I do for you?”
Again, B.K. spoke. “I’m investigating your daughter’s disappearance and death. I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.”
For a father so distraught at his daughter’s wake and supposedly too torn up to attend her funeral, he had bounced back pretty quickly. “As you can see this isn’t the best time. My wife and I are due at a holiday party in less than an hour.”
“This will only take a few moments. May we please come in?”
Reluctantly, Edgar agreed and they followed him inside to a huge family room with a ceiling so high it could almost reach heaven. “Have a seat. I’ll be right back.” Though it was hard to make out the words that he and his wife exchanged in another room, it didn’t seem like a pleasant conversation.
“Let’s hope he’s asking the missus to put on more clothes,” whispered B.K. jokingly.
Troy admired B.K.’s laid-back and calm demeanor. He, himself, was fuming. What kind of father would find an investigator’s visit inconvenient because of a party? A guilty one. He realized that B.K. was right: he was too emotionally involved. His best bet was to keep quiet.
“I’m sorry about that,” Edgar said when he returned. “Like I said, we have plans this evening, so can we make this quick? Have you found the person who killed my d
aughter?”
“Not yet. I was wondering if you could answer a few questions for me. Where were you on the afternoon Elana disappeared?”
Edgar rolled his eyes. “How many times must I go over this? I’m not going through the details again. I told the other investigators. You guys really need to compare notes.”
“I hear you and your wife adopted a baby earlier this year?”
“Yes. A little girl we named April because that’s the month she was born. What does she have to do with anything?”
“Did you have any contact with April’s birth mother?”
Immediately, Edgar’s disposition changed from annoyance to nervousness. He fumbled over his next words before spitting them out. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I’m curious. Some people find it peculiar for you to adopt a child in your seasoned years.”
“Did either of you bother to show my wife or me identification?”
B.K. pulled out his ID, while Troy sat still. He didn’t see any reason to show his ID since he was out of his jurisdiction.
“I thought you said you were a police officer.”
“No, I used to be on the force. What I said was that I’m with the Texas Department of Public Safety. I’m a private investigator hired to look into the abduction and killing of your daughter. I would think you would be more cooperative.”
The doorbell rang.
“Looks like that could not have come at a more perfect time. I’ll see you two to the door.” They had no choice but to follow him. Mrs. Campbell could be heard giving instructions to the babysitter. For someone so immature, she seemed very responsible when it came to the care of their child—a child that could possibly be Elana’s.
“Is it possible for us to continue our conversation another day?” B.K. held out a card to give to Edgar.
He didn’t take it. “No. If I answer any more questions, it will be with those who have the legal authority to make arrests.”
“Is there some reason why you should be taken into custody?”
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