Page 80 of Murder in The Summer House

Kelly tugged Brent into the lobby. She waited until the two men got comfortable before announcing, “I’ll get you anything you want to drink, but the catch is you have to start talking. We’ve been waiting for days to find out what Vince told you.”

Brent chuckled as he plopped onto one of the sofas, and Trey followed suit. “This case turned into an all-out puzzle. We had to put the right pieces together to get it resolved. Getting a roster of all the players was key. Setting down with Vince was more than enlightening. Once I got there to Klerksdorp, it started with Elliott. I received confirmation that Christian Highsmith is Elliott Dolworth. Vince did a DNA test fifteen years ago that proved Elliott belonged to him. A lab at the hospital ran another test while I was there. I saw the test results for myself. There’s no mistake.”

“What about charges against Vince?” Jade wanted to know.

“They’re coming. Extradition from South Africa is a slow process. There will be legal entanglements for sure, attorneys lobbying for deals and lots of money changing hands. One reason is that Paul Highsmith is now a well-respected member of the Klerksdorp community. He married into the well-known, well-off Graf family and stayed out of trouble. People around town couldn’t believe he kidnapped two kids after a double murder.”

Brogan sat down across from Brent and angled toward Trey. “But how did he get you to go along with leaving your parents, leaving the US? Over the years, why didn’t you ever contact your parents?”

Brent held up a hand and looked over at Trey. “I’ll explain it to them. But I’ll start at the beginning. It’s better that way. After Matthew shot his sister and brother-in-law, the shots woke up the toddler. Elliott zipped out of the open doorway, running out of the house and down the driveway, where he bumped into Trey.”

Jade helped Kelly hand out coffee to everyone as Brent stopped to take a sip before going on.

He shifted his weight on the couch as he sat down the mug. “When Vince took off after Elliott, he had no idea Trey would enter the picture in such a protective way. Unfortunately, the two boys didn’t get far before Vince caught up with them at the edge of the woods. Once Vince confronted Trey, a scuffle ensued between them. Vince pushed Trey away from Elliott. Trey fell back, hitting his head on a rock. Instead of leaving him there where he’d fallen, Vince says he got back to the cargo van and panicked.”

“Vince rented that cargo van, didn’t he?” Birk charged.

Beckett ran with that nugget. “So if it got stopped, which it did, it wouldn’t be connected back to him or the murders. But he didn’t count on the trooper running his driver’s license.”

“You’re both partly right,” Brent returned. “It wasn’t Vince who rented the van but Chad Pollock. That’s a critical detail we can prove and use at trial.”

“For goodness’ sake, let him get back to what happened with Trey,” Brogan urged.

Brent grinned and looked, once again, at Trey. “I’ll tell Vince’s version and let Trey handle his own. How’s that?”

“Just get on with it,” Brogan insisted.

“According to Vince, as a nurse, he claimed he couldn’t leave an injured kid behind with a head wound that looked serious. Trey’s head was bleeding. So once he secured Elliott in the vehicle, Vince told him to stay put while he returned to the woods and retrieved Trey, who was still unconscious. He carried the fourteen-year-old to the van.”

“So the two kids were in the back of the van the entire time during the traffic stop?” Lucien prompted.

“Yep. Vince had given Elliott a sedative to calm the kid down while Trey was still out cold. The cop had no idea about the double murders or the kidnappings until several hours after it hit the airways that afternoon.”

“That still doesn’t explain what happened to Trey?” Kelly muttered.

“That’s complicated, and I’m getting there. Vince considered dropping Trey at the nearest emergency room. But he couldn’t follow through because Trey could identify him as the one who snatched Elliott.”

“And a manhunt would link him to the double homicide,” Lucien finished. “The plot would unravel too fast to suit anybody involved.”

Brogan put a hand to her mouth in disgust. “So Vince’s solution was to get Trey out of the country and take him to South Africa?”

“I was unconscious for a couple of days, so it gave Vince an excuse,” Trey added.

“The real story is that Vince likely kept Trey doped up for days,” Brent corrected. “At least until he could get him to Klerksdorp on a private jet—courtesy of his girlfriend at the time, Valkyrie Graf—and keep him there long enough to make up a story for Trey’s benefit.”

Trey shifted on the couch, uneasy talking about it. “When I woke up, I was out in the countryside, on a farm, away from town. I could tell I was in a different country because of the accents. I didn’t recognize anyone who was taking care of me. The people coming in and out of my room seemed determined not to say much. But a day or two later, I spotted Elliott playing in the yard and recognized him as the little boy who ran screaming out of the house. Then I began to remember what had happened. I remembered Vince shoving me away from the kid. We wrestled. I fell and hit my head. That’s when I kept asking those people to let me call my parents. But they wouldn’t let me. It was sometime later that Vince showed up. We went for a walk, and he explained everything by convincing me that he couldn’t take me back to America. He claimed he was in trouble for trying to save Elliott from an abusive home life. Weeks turned into months. Vince and Valkyrie hired a tutor so that I could keep up with my schooling. After a few months, I began to adapt to my life in Klerksdorp. There were all kinds of livestock on the farm. I enjoyed working with the animals. When the new school year started, I began attending a private school under a different name. By that time, they’d already started calling Elliott Christian Highsmith. I began using the last name as well and became Trey Highsmith. The school didn’t have many students, probably less than fifty. It was very secluded and very strict. The experience was nothing like my high school back in Santa Cruz. Then after I finished my secondary studies, Vince—who by this time insisted that I call him Paul—sent me to university, where I got a degree and became a veterinarian in Klerksdorp. Valkyrie and Paul treated me well over the years. I can’t complain about that.”

Trey paused before getting to the heart of what he wanted to say. “In the beginning, I remember being sort of depressed, I guess, that I was in such a different place. I waited for quite a while, believing my parents would come looking for me. Maybe show up to claim me, set everything right. But they never did. I realize how childish that sounds. When I started school, having to learn new things became the distraction I needed to move on. I began to forget about my former life, forget about my family, and I tried to go on with my new surroundings.”

“They never forgot about you,” Brogan assured him.

“I didn’t know that,” Trey conceded. “I justified forgetting about them because I thought they must not have wanted me. Brent told me differently.”

“Are you married?” Jade wanted to know. “Do you have kids?”

“No to both questions. I’ve enjoyed my life. There’s no doubt I’ve had it pretty good, but I always thought something was missing, the warmth and humor I remember from before, before that day in June 2001. I never recaptured that feeling of belonging. I missed my mom and dad. Maybe that’s why I never married and put down roots back in South Africa.”

“Why didn’t you get in touch with them?” Brogan asked again.

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