Page 49 of SEAL Mates

“Maybe a little of both. “

I didn’t hate her confession, if anything I expected her honesty. We would head to the house, together and since this nightmare began, I would feel positive about what was going to take place next. I had a feeling that we would find what we were looking for and it would be in that house.

* * *

Once we arrived at the house, Paula hesitated about searching in it, once we saw Louisa, Stacey’s mom crying uncontrollably and telling us to do whatever we wanted. She’d been on the net, found some stats on missing cases and concluded that seeing as we hadn’t found Stacey within twenty-four hours that it was all over.

“Louisa, it’s not like that. And I promise that if we don’t get any further by the end of the day, then for sure I will call help and we won’t stop till we find her.”

Her swollen eyes turned to Paula, as if for reassurance as she slanted her head.

“Is this true? You won’t stop till you find her?”

Paula nodded, and part of me wanted to tell her that she wasn’t here that long and she shouldn’t make promises that she clearly couldn’t keep especially seeing as she was leaving soon. I felt as if I was in a prison cell, I had the numbers on my wall, and I knew that she was going soon. Our interview hadn’t happened the way it should have done. It should have been the furthest thing on my mind, but it toyed with it on a constant basis.

“Yes, I’m here for you. Now, we have to work together and think properly. Let’s role play exactly what happened that night.”

Lousia Anna said, “I’ve done it so many times. Even when I’m alone.”

“Do it with me. Now, I’m Stacey. Where should I go?”

Louisa pointed to the other side of the chair. “She sits there whenever we have dinner. And her brother where does he sit?”

“There!”

Paula motioned for me to follow in that direction and sit down in the seat next to where Stacey was sitting. I’d asked Stacey on the night and even this morning about the same thing, but the role-playing I’d done a couple of times and for some reason I’d never done it this time.

“Here?” I confirmed as I sat down and pretended to be Abe, Stacey’s eight-year-old brother.

We didn’t ask about her husband, who was out fixing the door at the steak-house, because they had an emergency there and he had to fix it that night. This part of the story, we’d been through and the only time he did come back to the house was after Stacey was reported missing. There were enough witnesses who confirmed he was there, and I’d ruled him out as a suspect from the start.

I’d interviewed him alone, but Paula was right. Sometimes sitting and talking it through was so much better.

“Abe come help me clear up. Stacey, go to your room and then get washed up for bed.”

“Now, I’m Stacey what do I do?”

Louisa said, “You pull a face and then you get up.”

“What do you do next after saying those words?”

“I get the plates, and then shift to the kitchen like this…”

Paula pointed to her. “Ok. So you do not know what direction that Stacey went in.”

Louisa looked doubtful for a second, then as if she’d realized her mistake, she nodded as she agreed with Paula. She covered her face, and once again started to sob.

“No. Louisa not now. We need to focus. You need to stop crying and say exactly what happened next. So after you got up, what happened next?”

She shook her head. “I remembered that Abe and Stacey were teasing each other. Something they did on a regular basis.”

I piped in. “Yes, Abe said that it wasn’t fair that she had to go to bed, Abe pointed out that it wasn’t fair that he had to help clear up and then she ran off.”

“Where?” Both Paula and Louisa barked at the same time.

“He said that she left, but because Louisa said that he had to clear up. She told him off, he wasn’t sure where Stacey went, but most likely to her room.”

Paula cheered, as if she’d had a bright light moment.

“Where does she go when she hides? When she is sulking?”

“The basement, but then she doesn’t really go down there without permission.”

“What’s down there?” I asked, thinking that I remembered asking about the basement earlier, and we searched the house. I knew that Stacey went to the attic. Her toy house and everything was there, but the basement Louisa had made out that no one went there, but the role-playing had made her think of something else. Silly me. I knew her husband, Ron and we’d had a drink a few times, so I knew this family well. I was emotionally involved and for that reason I should have called it in from the start.

We went to the basement. We were there for five minutes, and it didn’t take long to find a clue. A sock in which Stacey had been wearing, it wasn’t much to go on, but it was clear she was hiding down here and once forensics showed up, it was apparent that she wasn’t hiding alone.

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