Page 71 of Justice Delayed

The door slammed shut.

Seth raised his eyebrows, and Brogan shrugged. He lifted his hand to knock again, but the door’s chain rattled. He lowered his hand as the door swung open to reveal a woman with jet black hair liberally sprinkled with grey and sharp dark-brown eyes. “Come in.”

Brogan entered first with Seth behind him. The small, immaculate apartment had worn carpet and beige walls enlivened by brightly colored prints obviously done by children. The woman gestured toward the gray couch. “I am Isadora Alonso.”

“Thank you for seeing us,” Brogan began with a smile. “Do you mind if I record our conversation?”

Ms. Alonso regarded him steadily, her eyes boring into his own. “Before I answer your question, I have one for you. Why you want to know about Jesse?”

Brogan stuck to the current facts. “Melender Harman’s out.”

The former nanny frowned. “Such a sweet girl. She should never have gone to prison.”

That statement told Brogan where Alonso’s loyalties lay. He gambled that the former nanny would be candid with him. “I agree with you.”

Surprise wreathed her face. “It’s about time somebody did.” She squared her shoulders. “Yes, you may record. What would you like to know?”

Brogan opened the app on his phone and activated it, then stated the date, time, place, and those present. “In your statement to the police, you said Jared had been left in charge of Jesse and Jillian.”

“Yes,” Isadora said.

“But why didn’t anyone question Jared about that?” Brogan asked.

The nanny shrugged. “I don’t know. When the ransom note came, so did the FBI. The agents asked me over and over about where Melender was. They ask did she like the kids, stuff like that. I tell them Melender was at graduation party, but Jared was home with the little ones. Those agents think because English is not my first language, I don’t understand the questions. But it is them who did not understand me.”

Brogan exchanged a look with Seth. “Do you recall if anyone corroborated Melender’s story of being at the party?”

“Not that I recall.”

“According to Jared’s statements to both the police and FBI, he wasn’t home that night,” Brogan said.

Isadora snorted. “That one was bad news.”

“Why do you say that?” Brogan had come to the same conclusion from his own research.

“Jared did drugs. He broke his leg skiing, then he pretended to be in pain after his recovery to get more drugs. The doctor would not give him more, but Jared got them from someone.” Isadora spoke so matter-of-factly that Brogan suspected she had first-hand knowledge of such a slide. “My nephew was same, only he overdosed. I tried to tell Mrs. Thompson about Jared, but she said it not my business. I knew Melender. She loved Jesse.”

Beside him, Seth shifted on the sofa and spoke for the first time. “What do you think happened to him?”

The nanny stayed silent for a long moment. “I think he died, maybe by accident.”

“With the kidnappers?” Brogan asked.

“My family comes from Colombia where kidnappings happen frequently. We still have relatives there and hear the stories.” Isadora shook her head. “The kidnapping, it never felt right to me.”

She raised a possibility that Brogan hadn’t considered. “You think the kidnapping was faked?”

“Yes.” She twisted her hands together.

“Who do you think tried to extort ransom money from the Thompsons?” If he started from another angle, the pieces began to form an entirely different picture in Brogan’s mind

“Mr. Thompson had had an argument with Jared that morning and said he was cutting his son’s allowance significantly. I think his exact words were ‘I will not support your drug habit any longer.’” Isadora sighed. “I told FBI that, and they seemed interested. Later, the agents told me both Jared and Mr. Thompson said I had misunderstood. Then Mr. Thompson told me he was letting me go.”

Brogan tried to hide the excitement over what might be a big break in the case. “So no one really looked into Jared for the kidnapping at the time?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I pray you will find out what happened to Jesse.”

“There are times when I think it will take divine intervention.” Brogan reached for his phone to turn off the recording. “Thank you for your time.”

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