Page 78 of Echoes at Driftwood Cottage

“And I thought I held the bombshell of the day about Gwynn. How did you find out all this?”

“We reconnected with the list of members at the commune and asked them different questions,” Daniel provided. “In turn, they pointed us to an entirely different group of people. We reached out to them. Turns out, they were at the party that November weekend. After a little persuasion, they started talking.”

Rowan put her hands on Brent’s desk. “It needs to be said that several people we spoke with thought that it was Lynette’s idea to start selling babies from the commune and refer to them as legitimate adoptions. We even tracked down the man who signed most of the paperwork, including birth certificates, and probably signed the fake child’s death certificate.”

Daniel slid a piece of paper across the desk to Brent. “We think that couple you found—who could be Rowan’s real birth parents—is one of these seven missing people who started disappearing from the commune in late 1999.”

Brent scanned the list of hippie names. “These can’t be real—Shiloh, Journey, Meadow, Bear—how am I supposed to use these for identification purposes?”

“It was a commune. People took names that embodied peace, love, and nature,” Rowan explained. “Phoebe is still digging through her notes, trying to come up with their real names. But it isn’t like the commune kept archives with pristine records.”

“Why didn’t anyone come forward back in 1999? Why did they wait until now?”

“They didn’t exactly come forward. We had to prod the information out of them. People who were friends with Nichols knew about his reputation. They wanted their names kept out of the public eye because of the violence that went down that November night.”

Brent’s eyes widened. “Violence? What sort of violence?”

“According to witnesses, that weekend, Nichols exhibited extreme mood swings. He got into several altercations with guests.”

“So their reluctance to come forward had nothing to do with Tamsin Southwick’s drowning?”

“Not from our understanding. If they’re telling the truth about the incidents there was a small revolt within the compound that weekend, starting on Wednesday night. Several children had gone missing the week before. Worried parents started showing up in town asking retail shops if they could put up flyers. And because there wasn’t enough food to go around—remember it was Thanksgiving—things got tense. When members found out Nichols was living an opulent lifestyle while they were working the fields every day to put food on the table, people became upset.”

Brent steepled his fingers and leaned back in his chair. “I’ll want a list of the people willing to go on record about this.”

Prepared for his request, Daniel removed another list from his folder. “We also have a handful of witnesses who saw a young couple in their twenties show up at the party on Saturday afternoon to confront a man and a woman who fit the description of Jim and Lynette. It seems they were upset because Lynette hadn’t returned their four-year-old daughter to them after claiming to take her shopping the week before Thanksgiving.”

“These eyewitnesses claim the hippie couple accused them of stealing their daughter,” Rowan supplied. “Not just their child but their little girl. The confrontation escalates when the man’s attitude ticks off Jim. Lynette jumps in to defend her man. So much so that she gets in the younger woman’s face. There’s a big yelling and screaming match. That’s when Jim goes into another room and comes back carrying a rifle. Lynette gets aggressive. Now, they’re both trying to get the young couple to leave. But these parents refuse to go anywhere without their daughter. Jim and Lynette force them out of the house at gunpoint. And that’s the last time anyone sees the young couple. Unfortunately, no one could remember their names. They were just two more misguided souls who’d joined the commune hoping they’d found paradise.”

“But you think they’re on this list of hippie names?” Brent clarified.

“They disappeared because Jim and Lynette buried them in a grave,” Rowan pointed out. “But someone could’ve reported them missing. We could look into that if you want—”

Brent got to his feet, ending the meeting. “We’ll take it from here. How about letting us handle the interviewing going forward.”

“Okay,” Rowan muttered. “But there’s something else you should know. Someone’s been sending Will Snelling anonymous messages that claim I’m Hallie Snelling. It’s what brought him here. Will knows it isn’t true. I know I’m not Hallie. But someone in this town wants us to think that. Do you understand what that means?”

“Yeah,” Brent decided. “There’s someone still living here who was privy to what Jim and Lynette were up to all those years ago with Nichols. But why would they think you’re Hallie? Have you compared your DNA to Will’s?”

“Will didn’t show up in my genealogy letter. We’re not related. The only relatives I have are from the nineteenth and early twentieth century, sixty-nine to one hundred markers back. I mentioned that right up front when we sat down. Remember? No, I believe it’s because the Snelling’s boat went down roughly a month later—around Christmas. Maybe sometime during that period, I showed up at the Dewhurst house before the end of the year under suspicious circumstances. Whoever is sending these messages to Will’s blog believes the two events are connected.”

“There was a lot going on with Jim and Lynette,” Daniel reminded them. “The big event might’ve been double murder, but they did bury a fake child to cover it up. When you think about it, the fake burial is kind of brilliant.”

“Interesting,” Brent muttered, turning to Eastlyn. “Did you get all that down?”

“Every word.”

“Then get Colt up to Redwood City. I want these witnesses interviewed as soon as possible before they decide to lawyer up. I want a three-day timeline of that party covering everyone’s movements. If necessary, I’ll request county deputies help with canvassing.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Brent assembled his team in the conference room for a formal briefing. He used Eastlyn’s notes from the meeting and transferred the information to a whiteboard to make his points. “Colt, I want you to contact the current owner of the Nichols’ mansion near the lagoon and ask how many times the place has been painted or renovated over the years. If there’s any chance we can get trace evidence out of the house, we’ll need to get a warrant to go in there. In the meantime, Eastlyn will contact Muriel to see if the forensic team found any jewelry, or tattered clothing, or anything else found inside the hole where they were buried that might give us a lead. Also, ask her about facial reconstruction. Get a timeframe for how long that would take. If we successfully ID this couple, I doubt it comes from the hippie names they took at the commune.”

“If we could get facial reconstruction,” Theo pointed out, “we could check other communes that existed back in 1999 from Vancouver down to Southern California to see if they recognize this couple. A lot of times, these people move from commune to commune.”

“That’s a good point,” Brent said, adding that step to the board. “While we’re interviewing the witnesses at the party, get details we can verify. Make sure their statements line up with the facts as we know them. Jim allegedly produced a firearm during an ongoing argument. I want verification, and if possible, try to find out what kind of vehicle they were driving at the time of the altercation back in 1999.”

Eastlyn’s head whipped up. “Chief, Rowan bought Jim’s old pickup, a Dodge Ram Prospector, from Wally. It’s sitting in her driveway. If they used that to transport the bodies, that truck could yield trace evidence somewhere inside it.”

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