Page 17 of The Sheriff's Baby

“I do.” Hamlin handed Duncan the envelope. “There’s a lot of information in there so I’ll try to summarize and hit the high points. Five months ago when Sheriff McCullough was murdered, he was investigating a missing pregnant teenager.”

“Mandy Vernon,” Duncan automatically supplied while he opened the envelope. He took out what appeared to be police reports.

“Yes,” Hamlin agreed. “Some thought Mandy had just run away because she wasn’t getting along with her folks or her boyfriend, but Sheriff McCullough thought she might have been kidnapped or lured into the hands of someone who wanted her for the baby she was carrying.”

Joelle knew that was also true. Her father had been insistent that something bad had happened to Mandy.

“I believe Sheriff McCullough was right,” Hamlin went on, and then he stopped and took a long breath as if steeling himself up. “A month ago, my own sister, Isla, went missing. She’s seventeen and was seven months pregnant at the time she disappeared. I swear on my life that Isla wouldn’t have just left. Like Mandy, I believe someone took her for the baby.”

Joelle glanced at the reports again. “Do you have proof?”

“Circumstantial but yes, there’s proof,” Hamlin insisted. “Over the past year, eight pregnant teenage girls have gone missing in the state, and none has been seen or heard from since.” He leaned in, putting his arms on the table, and he looked straight at Joelle. “I believe there’s a black market baby ring operating, and that your father found something that could have gotten him killed.”

This wasn’t a total news flash. Joelle, Duncan and everyone in law enforcement in Saddle Ridge had looked at that connection since it was a case that had occupied a lot of her father’s time. But if her dad had actually found anything big related to the investigation, he hadn’t put it in his reports. Nor had he mentioned it to anyone. Since three of his kids were cops, Joelle thought he would have told them.

If he’d gotten the chance, that is.

It was possible he’d been murdered before he could reveal something he’d learned.

“Bottom-line this,” Duncan said, holding up the one-inch thick stack of papers he’d taken from the envelope. “Is there proof of any kind for who killed Sheriff McCullough? And for the attack on Deputy McCullough and the kidnapping of the dispatcher?”

Joelle expected the PI to hedge and repeat hiscircumstantial. But he didn’t.

“Yes,” Hamlin stated, and he gathered his breath again. “Since Isla went missing, I’ve been digging, and talking to every informant I could. One name kept popping up when people would whisper about a black market baby ring.” He paused a heartbeat. “Kate Moreland.”

Of all the names Joelle had thought he might say, that wasn’t one of them. “Kate?” she questioned.

Hamlin gave a firm nod. “Don’t ask me how I got access to her financial records, but something doesn’t add up. The woman’s bringing in a lot more money than her businesses.”

Joelle scowled, and she was certain Duncan was doing the same. “I will ask how you got her financials,” Duncan stated, “because if you obtained them illegally, then you don’t have proof.”

The PI muttered some profanity and shook his head. “The proof is there for someone who can get it through legal channels. I took some shortcuts because I wanted to see if there were any red flags, if this woman could possibly be the person responsible for the disappearance of my sister and other teenage girls. I believe she is,” he added with what sounded to be absolute certainty.

“Spell it out for me,” Duncan ordered.

Joelle figured Duncan wasn’t forgetting about those short cuts that Hamlin had admitted to taking. He’d no doubt get back to those, but if Kate did have some part in Molly’s kidnapping, then that was the priority here.

“I have a statement from two women who say that Kate Moreland brokered the sale of their babies,” Hamlin went on.

“Their names and details are in here?” Duncan asked, motioning toward the papers again.

“They are.” Now Hamlin paused, and some of his enthusiasm waned. “But those incidents happened over ten years ago. There are some more recent,” he was quick to add. “However, those women wouldn’t go on record.”

Playing devil’s advocate, Joelle tried to see how this all might have played out. “Isn’t it possible that Kate didn’t broker the sale of the babies but rather just put the teenagers in contact with prospective adoptive parents?”

Though, so far, Joelle hadn’t come across any reference to Kate having done that sort of thing. Still, info like that didn’t usually turn up in background checks unless there had been something illegal about it.

“Kate might try to say that,” Hamlin answered, “but she’d be lying. The girls said Kate paid them five thousand for the babies.”

“Is there any kind of concrete proof of that?” Duncan asked.

“The statements from the girls.” Hamlin’s voice turned hard, and he huffed. “I figure Kate’s been doing this for years, and that she then sells the babies for a whole lot more than five grand.” He paused, looked Joelle straight in the eyes. “I also believe when she couldn’t find a readily available teenager to give up their kid, then Kate had pregnant adults kidnapped. And I think that’s what your father uncovered.”

Part of Joelle wanted to latch on to this since it would be a lead not only in Molly’s kidnapping but also her father’s murder. But as working theories went, it wasn’t nearly as strong as Brad’s and maybe Shanda’s motive. Or what had happened to her father. Because maybe Brad or Shanda had had her dad killed because of the arrest and miscarriage.

Maybe Kate had the same motive as her son.

But then why would the woman have shown up proclaiming Brad was behind the attacks? That didn’t make sense, unless...

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