Page 26 of Little Buried Secrets

While we waited, Sebastian stood off to the side, talking on the phone to his father. The call ended, and Sebastian said his parents were en route and would join us soon. I hoped Meredith had enough wits about her to keep quiet and not alert the entire town about what her son had found. It was wishful thinking, at best, but we needed time to check out the area before everyone started swooping in.

The trail we were on wasn’t far from town. While we waited for the others to arrive, we continued searching. The fog had lifted, and the sun was peeking through the clouds. I hoped a second glance would yield positive results.

As it turned out, I was in luck.

Dangling from a branch not far from where the shoe had been found was a strip of torn fabric. The fabric was dark blue and appeared to be made of cotton. The color wasn’t a match to any of the clothing Bronte said Margot was wearing the day she went missing. But what if it was a piece of her abductor’s clothing?

I took a few photos and left the fabric strip undisturbed, noting its location so we could circle back once Foley arrived.

The torn cloth was about fifty feet away from the tennis shoe, which seemed to tell its own story. Perhaps Margot escaped her attacker and was chased into the forest. The shoe could have slipped off, and the assailant, in hot pursuit, had clipped a branch in his desperation to capture her, thereby leaving behind a piece of his clothing.

Giovanni tapped me on the shoulder and pointed toward the trail. Whitlock and Foley were walking in our direction. Whitlock was dressed like he was headed to Sunday brunch in a paisley shirt with a black leather jacket over it, fitted black trousers, and his signature thick, black eyeglasses. Instead of the polished shoes he often wore, he had on hiking boots, a sharp contrast to the rest of his attire.

Whitlock approached me and winced, bending down to rub his ankle.

“Is everything all right?” I asked.

“Oh, yes,” he said. “I’m as chipper as an old chap sipping on a pint at a pub on a Sunday night. Might need to get rid of these shoes, though. Pity, I just bought them.”

“I take it you’re not used to wearing hiking boots.”

“No, ma’am. Never owned a pair of hiking shoes in my life. Not until Miss Margot went missing.”

“Don’t give up on the new boots yet. Give yourself a little time to break them in.”

He leaned toward me and whispered, “After we find Margot, I’m donating these rugged beauties to Goodwill. I have no use for them.”

“I’m guessing you’re not the outdoorsy type,” I said.

“If by outdoorsy you mean sipping a margarita in a cabana by the pool, I’m as outdoorsy as they come. If you’re talking about climbing Mount Everest, not so much.”

Foley shook his head and said, “Are you two just about finished? Because I’d sure like someone to show me where the shoe was found.”

Sebastian lifted a finger. “I can help you there, sir.”

“Sir?” Foley scoffed. “That’s ‘Chief Foley’ to you, kid. I assume you’re the idiot who removed the shoe from where you found it?”

Sebastian nodded. “I am the idiot, and I’m sorry.”

“Do you need a lecture about why you don’t move potential evidence during a police investigation, or has Georgiana reprimanded you already?”

“I know what I did was wrong,” Sebastian said.

“Good. You’re still getting a lecture from me, but I’ll save it until I get the chance to talk to your parents.”

Sebastian looked at me like he was worried he might be arrested right then and there, and I mouthed, Don’t worry, it’s going to be fine.

In the distance, I noticed Silas had arrived, along with Officers Higgins and Decker, who hung back on the trail. I wondered why they weren’t joining us, and it soon became evident when I spotted Sebastian’s parents. Once they reached Higgins, he held a hand up, stopping them from stepping one foot in our direction. It was a plan I assumed Foley had put into place before they arrived—a smart decision on his part. Until we knew what we had or didn’t have, it was better to keep the public at bay.

Silas made his way over to us, shook hands with Giovanni, and glanced at me.

“Mornin’, Gigi,” Silas said. “I hear you have a shoe for me to look at.”

“I do.”

I grabbed the bagged shoe out of my backpack and handed it to him.

“What do you know about it?” Silas asked.

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