Roosevelt Fields
"Carry, this isn't what you think it is."
Evan put the shovel back against the side of the Tuscan and picked up the other spade.
"We are digging in dirt. That one you had is used for shoveling loose gravel and debris."
Carry frowned. "So? I liked that one... it had a big soft rubber handle."
Evan sighed, staring down at his 10-year-old daughter.
She shouldn't be a part of this. He had wanted to keep her out of the situation entirely. But with Heidi missing for 4 days, Carry wasn't going to be okay either way.
"Okay honey, you can use whatever you want. Start over there where it's a little loose."
Carry raised her eyebrow. "Why are we doing this again Dad?"
Evan looked across the parking lot toward the taped off area of the ball field, where the police were going over some 'so-called' evidence and had refused to let the family continue searching.
"Because when Hiedi and Alyssa saw the man that evening, it was over there."
"So then why aren't we over there with the cops?"
"Because Carry, they think they've found something. But this dirt was left over from the dugout construction going on at the diamond over there."
Evan pointed to the right of the softball diamond to the adjacent high-school sized field.
"It was dumped and packed in over here the day after the girls saw him."
"But Hiedi didn't go missing until later when she went to Alyssa's dad... this feels stupid."
"We don't know when she went missing Carry, Alyssa was asleep."
"Yeah, but Alyssa said Her and Hiedi went back to her house after the ball fields."
Evan caught his eyes burning. The intensity of a sleepless week was making him testy, and the worst had turned into rage. Carry's question made Evan want to cry.
Evan tried to straighten his face for his daughter.
"I know baby but right now, all we can do is look."
_
"It's not going to be his."
"Who's is it then?"
"Well, it's a leather glove. The kind used for landscaping. Probably one of the guys working on that ball diamond the last few days."
Detective Demmer glanced across the street at the Piersons.
"What are they doing over there, that could be a potential crime scene."
Detective Molly raised an eyebrow and followed his partners gaze to Evan and Carry; covered in dirt, hacking away at the dumped debris.
"Greg, his kids missing. He's worried and trying to help. You know how these things go."
Demmer shot a look back.
"I guess we're going to need that help if all we have is your landscaping glove."
Greg rubbed his eyes in exhaustion.
Since the call came down about the Pierson girl, the detectives have been running off of nothing but coffee and lucky strikes. The district was stretched too thin to bring on anyone else from another department. The two detectives have been juggling 3 missing persons cases in cherish county; so, exhaustion was officially moved in.
'Lease, signed.'
"A glove is a glove. We still need to rule it out."
Demmer reached into his pocket and pulled the last cigarette from its pack and lit it. Exhaling the cloud out of the corner of his mouth toward the dugout wall so the uniforms wouldn't see him smoking at an investigation zone.
"Okay, so let's rule it out. Let's talk to the school board, have the uniforms find the landscaping crew and the construction crew and go and ask every one of them to show us their gloves."
Molly shook his head. "No, we don't have the time and resources for that kind of movement."
Demmer nodded, "exactly, it's just a glove. Let's pack it up. I'd like to catch a nap before I follow up with the Timm's case."
Molly leaned against the dugout wall; it was cool compared to the humid August air.
"How is Ms. Timms? I've been so focused on the Pierson's case that I haven't reached out about the hit and run."
"She's basically catatonic at this point."
Molly nodded in thought.
'Daughter and granddaughter mangled in a hit and run, teen driver to blame missing from the collided vehicle and no phones in either vehicle have been recovered. It's going on 6 days and we haven't found her or any answers.'
"It's a good possibly that the Clarey girl limped away and hid in fear and bled out in the forest somewhere. I'd be in psychosis too."
Demmer looked out at the 3 uniforms in the distance, tired and drenched in the mid-morning sun. It was only 11am but everyone was defeated.
"Yeah, that's the thing. I don't think so. While you were gathering the Pierson girl's electronics last night, we had a development with Clarey."
Molly glanced at Demmer.
"A development? Why wasn't I told about this?"
"It's nothing major. A few hours after the crash, one of the girls in Clarey's friend group received a call. It lasted for about 6 seconds. Nobody said anything on the other end, but she claimed she heard rustling. We're thinking it was Clarey trying to reach out with Timm's phone. We'll have to pull the records to be sure."
Molly shook his head and waved the uniforms over.
"Let's clean up here, have the blues go and see who the daily mowers for the field are. See if we can pin down the glove owner. Give Grandma Timms my condolences and fill me in if there's any more developments. I need to catch an hour."
-
It was another 4 hours before the detectives managed to leave the ball field. Evan Pierson found a discarded metal water bottle and stormed the search area, swearing it was Hiedi's but there was never a record of Hiedi having a metal water bottle. Let alone one so outdated.
After much arguing and explanation, a threat of arrest and detainment; the Piersons left in their Tuscan. But the damage was done. Carry was in tears and a group of onlookers had been pulled in to the dramatic expose.
"They think we're lazy."
"Who's does?"
"The whole damn population of Cherish."
"Greg that's not true. Those people are just emotional. Imagine how you'd feel if me or Dean disappeared."
Detective Demmer rolled his eyes but knew his wife was right.
"You're under a lot of stress right now. Maybe it's time you and Christian talk to the captain about state police help."
"Tara, the one thing that will come out of state police involvement in Cherish is that the public will not only think we're lazy. But also, inept."
Tara sighed, "Just come home, let me rub your back and you can tell me those bad jokes I pretend to like."
"Pretend? We both know you like my jokes."
Tara chuckled, "Honey, they're terrible."
Demmer grinned, "Okay how about this one then.. a mailman gets caught stuffing this lady's Yorkie into his mailing. (You can't do that!) The woman yells. The mailman looks back at h-"
A loud beep signaled the passage into the Cherish hills and Tara's call was dropped.
Greg sighed as he realized he hadn't spent any time with Tara or Dean in an age.
Rounding the bend into Durnham, he saw the Timm's home. The grass had started to extend into overgrowth and the fence gate was left ajar. A somber aura seemed to ooze from the home. Ellen was surely inside quietly crying over her daughter and grandchild. As she had been the last time Molly had visited.
As he parked and looked up at the home, he couldn't help but sense the sadness inside.
"So, this is what grieving looks like