“Well, now. That does make things interesting.”
“I am afraid you’re not going to find much in that report. Just your basic information and inventory of what was found in the car. The forensics team went through the vehicle and didn’t find any evidence of foul play.”
“But with her call in to the tip line, then it does start to make it all look pretty interesting.” Fingers drumming the desk. Ellie resting her chin in her hand in thought.
“We think that Shelby either found out, or saw something that got her worried. Worried enough to make a call anyway. Either way, with her missing, it doesn’t look good.” Looking concerned and tired, Jim sunk into the comfortable chair much farther.
He began to speak again. “I am afraid that this is all part of our ongoing investigation and has to remain between the two of us. This is the reason I came to your office. You can’t let anyone know what I told you. I don’t want to see you get hurt on this one. I worried that you might get into this and ask the wrong question to the wrong person and get yourself in a bit of a mess or worse”
Ellie’s head jerked up at the warning. Looking across the desk at Jim, she could see the concern written in his eyes. Looks like her first case was going to be a tough one and a dangerous one at that. Well, I wanted excitement and looks like I am getting it. She began to wonder if she was biting off more than she could chew.
As Jim left her office, she found herself, chewing on the end of her pen in thought. Maybe Shelby wasn’t missing but hiding. If she found out something about his drug ring, it would make sense to want to hide. Hopefully, something worse hadn’t happened to the girl. Ellie found herself shuddering at that idea and tried to remove it from her mind. She would need to interview her friends. Girls talk and maybe one of them knew more than they were saying.
Time to talk to Stacy and Lynn. They were the last ones to see her.
*****
Driving out to Wolf Creek.
Ellie found Stacy’s home easy enough. Her parents had a beautiful log home, overlooking Holter Lake. Pulling into the driveway, Stacy was standing in the doorway, waiting for her. The girl didn’t look eager to talk, standing there with her hands shoved deep in her pockets. Ellie thought this might be a tough nut to crack. Either that or this girl knew more than what she had previously said in her statements to the sheriff and Shelby’s father.
The girl said a quiet hello and lead Ellie into a study just off the entrance. Looking around the room, Ellie saw that this girl grew up with no shortage of money. The study was two stories high flanked with tall book shelves. Glancing at some of the titles on the shelves, she saw some rare additions that had to cost a penny or two over her budget. It was a library collection most would envy. She led her over to some reading chairs that weren’t quite your typical reading chairs But more of an overstuffed calfskin-leather-covered high-class BarcaLounger. Looking at the chairs, they probably cost almost as much as her car. The room was definitely built to impress for those brought into its presence.
Ellie sat down in the comfortable chair. She decided to take the tact that she would wait for the girl to speak. This was a tactic she had learned in her schooling. It would give the person being quiet the upper hand. It set a level of dominance between two people. Ellie felt like she would need the upper hand with this girl, but she also wanted to build a level of trust.
“I am not sure I have anything that can help you out with Shelby’s disappearance,” the girl said rather quickly.
“First, let’s get to know one another. Then we can get into all that. Are there any questions that you would like to ask of me?” She had heard the girl say Shelby’s disappearance and began to wonder why she used that term. It was an odd and interesting way to start a conversation. Most people thought Shelby’s was probably murdered, but this girl specifically said disappearance.
“Not really. You just don’t look or act the way you see private detectives on TV.”
“Well, that’s probably true. I think I am going to take that as a compliment!” she said with her best grandmotherly smile. She could see the girl begin to relax in the chair. It was amazing what a simple smile could do.
“How did you end up doing this?” Stacey asked, relaxing further back into her chair.
“Boredom, my dear. My life was at a crossroads, and I needed some excitement added to my life,” she answered simply and honestly, hoping to further the trust.
“Cool,” the girl said with little enthusiasm.
“How long have you known Shelby?” Simple questions first.
“We have been best friends since second grade.”
“That’s a long time.” She could see Stacy smile at the thought of their friendship and the compliment.
Ellie decided to start her questions. “Can you tell me about that night and what you girls decided to do and did?”
“Not much. We drove around for bit, then ended up down at the ball field at the school.”
“Where did you all drive around?”
“Let’s see. We mostly drove around up at the lake and the campgrounds. We were wanting to see if any cute guys were camping up at the lake.” A blush filled her cheeks on her last statement.
“Did you find any? Cute guys, that is.”
“No. Just a couple of high school kids with their parents. We stopped and swam for a bit down at Log Gulch Campground. They have a nice sandy beach there, and more people tend to come down and swim there. It’s not so rocky on the beach like at the other campground.”
“Did Shelby talk to anyone, or seem to argue with anyone while you were there?” Ellie was trying to move the conversation along.
“No. We were all together. Steve drove by with his friends, and they stopped by for a minute. But there wasn’t an argument with anyone.”
“Okay. So there were no arguments. Are you talking about Steve Elliott? Didn’t he and Shelby just recently break up, or quit seeing each other? How was their conversation at the beach?” There his name again. The man keeps popping up everywhere.
“They didn’t argue, but Shelby tried to end the conversation quickly.” A nervous edge back in her voice.
“Why did she try to end the conversation so quickly?” Now I am getting to the meat of the matter.
“Shelby didn’t want to see Steve anymore. He kept coming around, and she had been trying to avoid him.”
“Why was she trying to avoid him?” Odd. Maybe it was just a young lover’s thing?
“Shelby said that sometimes Steve was too intense. When he got that way, it made her nervous. Shelby wanted to have fun, and Steve would get in one of his moods and ruin her fun times.” Stacy sounded like she was avoiding the answer.
“What specifically made her nervous?”
“Well. Shelby said he would get jealous of other guys when she talked to them. He started wanting to know where she was at and what she was doing all the time. Sometimes she felt like he was keeping too much of an eye on her.”
“Do you think he was stalking her?” Right to the heart of the matter.
“I wouldn’t say that, but he did show up at strange times. But then it’s a small town, so you’re bound to run into one another sooner or later.”
“Was this while they were dating, or after they broke it off?” Ellie was beginning to get the sinking feeling that somehow this Elliott character was involved in this whole thing. Her gut feeling was telling her to look more closely at their relationship.
“Both,” Stacy said too quickly.
“Sounds like Shelby was becoming afraid of Steve? Do you think Shelby would take off on her