Page 81 of Remember Her Name

Turner put the necklace into his pocket. He should have left it in place and called the ERT in but it was too late now. Josie was too buzzed on the idea that Juliet Bowen might still be alive to give him shit about it—though she certainly would later.

“I’m all for big heroics,” he said. “But we don’t have any damn way to find her.”

“He left me a message,” Josie said. “‘Don’t overlook it.’”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I don’t know but we have to be able to figure it out. We have to! He made us play this game. He wouldn’t give us…game pieces if he didn’t want us to keep playing. There’s the message and the polaroid?—”

“Fuck that polaroid, Quinn. A bunch of fucking treetops? In the middle of Central Pennsylvania? Come on.”

Josie arched a brow. “Do you have a better suggestion?”

Turner jumped and made a satisfyingly childlike shriek as two rats climbed over his loafers. A stream of expletives shot out of his mouth. He nearly dropped his phone. “Can we get the hell out of here?”

Josie turned to walk back to the stairwell. “Boots. You need boots to work in Denton.”

He grumbled something under his breath. In the stairwell, Turner started talking again. “This guy doesn’t do anything randomly, right? Except maybe the classic cars, but those had a purpose. Other than that, everything he’s done has had some connection to previous cases or the people who screwed up at the Cook crime scene.”

Josie trod carefully. She couldn’t shake the remnants of panic she’d felt free-falling into darkness when the steps in the other stairwell gave way. “True.”

“He’s kind of going out of his way even when it doesn’t help him out,” Turner added. “Like now that he can’t get the cars from that lot, he’s still got one here, one there, dragging this kid all over creation. It only increases his chances of getting caught, so why bother?”

“You’re saying him using this mill does mean something,” she said.

“Yeah, and him leaving the Bowens’ car at that school in West Denton. Come on, Quinn. Aren’t there any big cases you can think of that involved this mill and that school?”

Her brain worked through the most memorable cases she’d solved. They reached the first floor and headed toward the exit. The Sophia Bowen connection to this mill wasn’t widely known and it hadn’t been reported in the press. It was a bizarre coincidence. What about the mill and West Denton Elementary School? Something sparked in the back of her mind. It was the school. A memory flickered. She chased it but couldn’t catch it. Once outside again, Turner took a deep breath and started brushing off his suit. He didn’t think the polaroid or the message were helpful but what if they were in combination with the other things?

The mill.

West Denton Elementary School.

Treetops.

Don’t overlook it.

Josie glanced around the weed-strewn gravel lot where the members of the ERT still worked. Turner went over and spoke with Hummel, gesturing toward the building. He took out the necklace again. Beyond the halogen lights was only night.

Treetops. The mill.

Josie spun around until she was facing the direction of her old high school. A small mountain separated the mill from the school. From the summit, you could see the treetops and the mill in all its decaying glory. Was Juliet Bowen there? It overlooked the trees. Maybe that was the message. But the polaroid didn’t show the mill. The treetops were unbroken. Plus, that summit wasn’t an easy place to access. The last time Josie was up there, she’d been shot—in the vest—and it had taken an eternity to get back down.

“Oh my God,” she blurted out.

Turner and Hummel were arguing now. Oblivious.

She’d been shot on the summit overlooking the mill while working the case of Lucy Ross, a seven-year-old girl abducted from the city park.

Josie stalked over to Turner and Hummel. “Hey!”

They were shouting too loudly at one another to hear her.

Lucy Ross had gone to West Denton Elementary. The case had sent them all over the city, including a very distinct place a mile into the woods in Northern Denton, only accessible by hiking trail. Now that she figured it out, she felt stupid for not realizing it sooner just from the polaroid and Bell’s message. Don’t overlook it. He’d literally spelled it out for her.

“Hey!” Josie tried again, raising her voice. When they didn’t respond, she shouted loudly enough to be heard by every person on the premises. “I know where to find Juliet Bowen!”

Turner and Hummel froze. Their heads swiveled toward her. “Where?” said Turner.

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