Page 77 of My Child is Missing

“Why not?” Josie asked.

He looked at her as if she was trying to trick him. “Because it ain’t like that between us.”

“Like what?” asked Gretchen.

When he didn’t answer, she tried again. “Did you know the friend who owed Henry money?”

“Nah, I didn’t know him or his girl.”

“Did Henry ever talk about him?” asked Josie.

“Only to say he owed him money,” Morris answered.

“Why did he owe Henry money?” Josie said.

“What?”

She repeated the question.

He hesitated, sucking on the end of his cigarette, staring at Josie over the end of it. “I don’t know.”

“You sure about that?” asked Gretchen.

He tossed his cigarette onto the ground and stubbed it out with his foot. “I’m sure.”

“Okay,” said Gretchen. “I’ll tell you what. We’re going to come back here tomorrow to check again. To make sure that you’re sure.”

Lauber’s eyes bulged. “What? You can’t do that.”

Josie said, “Mr. Lauber, a girl is missing and on top of that, we’ve got another girl who was just murdered in the woods. I don’t know if you’ve watched the news in the last twenty-four hours, but our investigation is heating up. The press is all over us to figure out what’s going on in this city. Among our many leads and suspects, we are looking at Henry. We believe you have knowledge about him—specifically about his past—that is relevant to our investigation. We can come back as many times as we want.”

Gretchen turned to Josie. “But maybe we’re being unfair to Morris. How about this? We’ll meet you at home instead. I think Darcy really liked me. I wouldn’t mind seeing her again.”

“Good God,” Morris muttered. “You can’t just—I don’t know anything about this missing girl, or the dead one! I’m telling you I don’t think Henry had anything to do with either of those.”

Josie said, “But right now we’re asking you about something that happened in Henry’s past. Something he already went to prison for.”

“Right,” Gretchen agreed. “We’re looking for a little more background on what Henry did back then. He’s already served his time for it, Morris. We just want to fill in some gaps.”

He regarded her with suspicion. “You’re saying he won’t get in trouble if I…fill in the background?”

Josie said, “How could he get in trouble, Morris? It’s time served.”

“I don’t know. He might get mad at me.”

“Mad enough to put a gun to Darcy’s head?” asked Gretchen.

“I told you, he would never do that. Not to me.”

“Why not?” Gretchen said. “The truth this time, Morris. That case was open and closed. We’re not looking to add charges to something that’s said and done.”

With a heavy sigh, he took out another cigarette and lit it. “’Cause I’m a real friend to him. That guy whose house Henry went into? He owed him money for drugs.”

“Henry sold him drugs?” asked Josie.

“No,” said Morris. “Back then—and I’m telling you that this was years ago, before Henry went away. He’s clean now. Back then, Henry ran in some circles. His dad always told him to get out of it, but it was too lucrative.”

“Henry was a dealer?” asked Gretchen.

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