It was a blue plastic hair clip, shaped like a butterfly, with one of the hinge pins rusted through.
“I found this near the shoulder of Route Nine yesterday morning,” Evelyn said, her voice dropping its formal tone for a second. “About thirty feet from where they found the metal truck.”
I reached out and took the plastic clip, the cheap material cold against my palm.
“Daniel never wore things like that,” I said.
“No,” Evelyn said, resuming her stitching with a small, sharp tug on the thread. “But the little girl who lived in the house on Elm Lane did.”
“Whose child was she?” I asked.
Evelyn’s needle paused mid-stitch, her eyes fixing on the maple leaves drifting across the lawn. “She was Thomas’s niece.”
“His brother’s girl?” I asked.
“The one who died in Ohio,” Evelyn said, her voice dropping to a murmur. “They kept her there for three weeks before the papers were signed.”
“Thomas’s brother was always looking for a quick way out of Oakhaven,” Evelyn said, her needle pulling a blue thread through the muslin with a soft hiss. “He had those big ideas about real estate in Ohio, but nothing ever came of them except bills.”
“Why would they keep his daughter at Elm Lane?” I asked.
“Because nobody was looking at that house,” she said. “The lane was blocked with brush even back then, and the mailbox had been knocked off its post since the late nineties.”
The gravel lot behind the Oakhaven Diner was mostly empty at five, save for a few delivery vans and the kitchen staff’s rusted hatchbacks. The smell of frying grease and damp earth hung in the cool air as the sun dipped below the tree line.
I had spent two dollars on a lukewarm cup of coffee just to use their restroom, and now my car was blocked.
A heavy black sedan had pulled across the exit lane, preventing my path to the street.
Mayor Thomas opened his door and stepped out, his large frame filling the space between our vehicles.
His silver watch strap glinted in the late afternoon sun as he adjusted the metal band against his wrist.
“Margaret,” he said, his booming voice carrying across the asphalt. “I saw your car parked down by the courthouse earlier.”
