Page 4 of Jina

“I’m aware your sister lives in Madison with her husband,” he said with a nod. “I plan to talk with her too.”

Anger flashed in her eyes. “Why? Shelly is pregnant; there’s no reason to upset her. I just told you we haven’t lived there in years.”

“Eleven years give or take a few months,” he agreed. “Why would talking to me upset your sister?”

She flushed. “I’m a cop, and you’re a detective. I assume some crime has taken place that has brought you here, dredging up the past. Shelly had a miscarriage last year and is in the early months of her pregnancy. I don’t want her to be overly upset.”

Was there more to her concern? “I promise I won’t stress your sister.”

She looked like she wanted to argue but didn’t.

After another pause, he decided they’d tap-danced enough. “I need to know if you know anything about a male body being buried on the farm.”

Something subtle flashed in her eyes. Alarm? Fear? Worry? “Are you serious? I hadn’t heard anything about that.”

“You’re sure?”

She lifted her chin. “Yes. I don’t know anything about a dead body. Sounds like you believe this man was the victim of a crime.” When he nodded without expounding on why that was, she asked, “Do you know anything else about the victim? How old he was? How long he’s been buried there?”

He couldn’t fault her for asking the same questions he would have. Yet he sensed she was more than a little curious about what had been found. Maybe because she was a cop, or because she knew more than she was letting on. “We’re waiting for the ME to finish the forensic examination, but his initial assessment based on the degree of decomp of what was left of the clothing is that the body was underground for at least a decade, maybe longer.”

This time she didn’t react at all. “Wow, I guess that explains why you’re here asking me questions about where I grew up. I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything about the dead man. I wish I could help, but I’m sure that poor guy was put there after we moved.”

Maybe, maybe not. “You are helping by talking to me.” He wondered again why she’d bristled about his interviewing her sister. “I have a few more questions if that’s okay.”

“I’ll do my best.” Her smile came across as forced.

“There was a young man who went missing about twelve years ago. Do you remember anything about that?”

“Missing?” She frowned, looking confused. “I don’t remember anything about a missing person. Granted, twelve years ago I was only seventeen, but I believe I would have remembered something like that. A missing person would be a hot topic of conversation around town at the time.”

He tried to gauge if she was being truthful. She didn’t look as if she were hiding anything, but it was dark, and he found it difficult to read nuances in her expression. “The missing man’s name was Bradley Crow, and he would have been twenty years old back then.” He paused, waiting for a response. When she remained silent, he asked, “Can you tell me if that name sounds familiar?”

“Bradley Crow,” she repeated, her brow furrowed. “No, sorry. That name doesn’t sound at all familiar. I attended Peabody High School, and I think I’d remember someone with the last name of Crow.”

He’d convinced himself that her path had crossed with Brad Crow’s at one point or another, but maybe not. He tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. “He was probably a few years ahead of you in school.” Cole didn’t add that Bradley had been a high school dropout working for a local pub owned by his parents before he disappeared. And that his parents hadn’t even reported him missing until after he had been gone for a full three months.

He was here to interview Jina, not the other way around.

“Yeah, well, my high school days were a long time ago.” She uncrossed her arms as if she were feeling less defensive. “Sorry I can’t help.”

He prided himself on his ability to read people, but Jina was doing an admirable job of maintaining her composure while being grilled about a dead body found on her parents’ farmland.

Or covering up the truth. It was annoying that he wasn’t sure which.

“Do you remember anything strange going on back then?” He searched her gaze in the darkness. “Anything that, looking back, raises a red flag?”

She looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook her head. “No. Farming wasn’t going well for my parents. Like I said, my dad had a heart attack, so the moment I graduated from high school, they sold the property. Some houses were already going in back then, so the land was purchased at a premium. They moved to a smaller house outside of Madison. It wasn’t that much longer before my dad died. My mom was a nurse and worked at the health center. I headed off to college, and Shelly finished high school there.”

“I see.” He’d wondered if her parents had sold the place because of some mishap with Brad Crow. Maybe the stress of killing a kid who was bothering his beautiful daughters had caused her father’s heart attack. But if that was the case, he’d need to come at this from another angle. Jina wasn’t giving him anything to go on. “I noticed your mom passed away five years ago.”

“Yes. She had pancreatic cancer.” Jina’s expression reflected her grief and sorrow. “It’s just me and Shelly now.”

He nodded, and when she didn’t say anything more, he decided to let it go. “Well, that’s all I have for tonight, but I may have to stop by to talk to you again.”

“I understand,” Jina said. “I know how police investigations work.”

Yeah, and that was exactly what he was afraid of. “Thanks again. I appreciate your help.”

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