Page 58 of Among the Innocent

“What did you mean earlier when you said he gave you a child to replace the one you lost?”

Marge’s eyes widened. Immediately, her back straightened and her chin lifted. “What? Why would I say such a thing? You know Ellis and I weren’t able to have children.”

“Maybe I misunderstood.” Leah let the matter drop. She patted the older woman’s shoulder.

Outside, the first pinks and oranges of the new day peeked through the kitchen window. Another morning and they were no closer to understanding what the killer’s true motives were than the day she looked into the sightless eyes of Beth Zook.

Sugar met them at the door before they had a chance to step inside the station.

“Something came for you, Leah. I’m not sure when it arrived—it must have fallen behind some paperwork. I’m sorry, I just found it.” She handed Leah a small cardboard box.

There was no other name on it except for Leah’s scribbled across the top.

“That’s Eva’s handwriting.” She recognized it from the note Eva had left them.

Dalton leaned closer to examine the script. “You’re right, it is.”

Sugar stopped next to her desk. “She obviously didn’t mail it. She must have dropped it here before...” Before she was murdered. “Anyway, I grabbed my purse to leave once Sylvia arrived and knocked over the picture right here. It must have slipped behind it.”

“Wait, where’s Justine? She mentioned wanting to come in and get in a few extra hours doing some paperwork.”

Sugar tsked. “She told me the same thing, but then she called and said she wasn’t feeling well. I’m about to give that girl a piece of my mind. She’s up to something.”

Leah had a feeling she knew what that entailed. “Let me speak to her first. I’ll see if I can find out what’s going on.” She stared at the box in her hand.

“I opened it,” Sugar said. “There’s a cell phone inside.” She glanced between Dalton and Leah. “Don’t worry. I wore gloves and I didn’t touch the phone.”

“Bring it to the office. I have a kit and will see if I can lift some fingerprints before we turn it on.” Both Leah and Sugar followed him to his office, where he dusted the phone and pulled several usable prints from the phone and the box. “Sugar, get Henry to take these to the lab. It’s worth a shot. I’m guessing the killer gave it to her. Chances are he wouldn’t have worn gloves around Eva.”

Sugar stepped out into the hall and yelled, “Henry, get yourself in here.”

Dalton cringed over every shouted word. Once Henry poked his head in, he explained what was needed. “Tell the lab to put a rush on the prints.”

“You got it, Chief.”

Dalton hit the button to power the phone up with his gloved hand. He examined the phone while they waited. “It appears to be a cheap phone like you might buy at any store.”

The phone’s welcome screen appeared. Leah and Sugar moved to stand over his shoulder. A message icon appeared.

Dalton tapped it. “Just one person.” His attention shot to Leah. “It’s from a Jonathan.”

“That’s the name Eva gave us.”

“There are dozens of messages between Eva and Jonathan.”

Dalton read the messages aloud. “‘Meet me at our place.’” He frowned at the screen. “There are many more like it.”

Leah’s family barn came to mind. He’d want to relive her family’s deaths. Beth’s. Having Eva there and seeing her reaction probably intensified the experience.

“This last one is curious. It sounds as if Eva was beginning to have doubts about Jonathan. The date is after we spoke to her that final time. She told him what we said.” Dalton sat forward in his chair. “She must have had an inkling that something was wrong. That’s why she delivered the phone here. Why she left the note giving us Jonathan’s name. Eva must have thought he might try to kill her.”

“That poor girl,” Sugar muttered.

“Why did she go to meet him if she’d become suspicious?” After all their warnings, Leah couldn’t believe Eva had agreed to meet Jonathan.

“He’s good at convincing women to trust him.” Dalton clicked on the photo app. “There are pictures of Eva here.”

Leah studied the photo of the young Amish girl smiling into the camera. Several more like it. Dalton swiped left and stopped. “Wow. This must be him. It looks a lot like the sketch.” He showed it to Leah and Sugar.

---