“Who?” Evan sat up straighter in his chair, all thoughts of weariness gone.
“An English teacher named Susan DeKalb and a janitor named Earl Winslow.”
“Teacher first,” Evan said. He was aware of Annalise listening intently to the conversation.
“Susan DeKalb is sixty-three years old and according to the financials I have, she’s completely broke. Six months ago she pulled out her retirement funds and put her life savings into a restaurant her son owned, and it’s now gone belly-up. She’s looking at retirement with only a very small pension and a social security check.”
Evan frowned thoughtfully. “So, it’s possible she’s helping Jacob out for a financial benefit.”
“That was my thought. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a connection between her and the Brotherhood of Jacob and any of its members. I’m still digging into that aspect.”
“And what about this Earl Winslow?” Evan asked.
“Also financially struggling. He was hired less than a year ago as a janitor after not having worked for several years. Also a search of his name pulled up a three-month-old newspaper picture of him attending a sort of open house at the Brotherhood of Jacob compound.”
Evan’s blood quickened. Had one of these people sold out their coworkers and the students for a deal with the devil? There was no question he believed the motive for all of this was money.
He got off the phone with Hendrick and immediately called Chief Cummings and arranged for the police to pick up the teacher and the janitor for interviews inside the police station.
“I’m heading out,” he said to Annalise. “I’m not sure when I’ll be back here. Text me if Sadie writes you?”
“Of course,” Annalise replied. “I’ll keep you posted.”
“Make sure you lock the door after me and don’t open it to anyone you don’t know,” he said.
“Trust me, I won’t,” she replied. Annalise reached into a vase that stood on a stand next to her front door. “Here’s the spare key.”
“Thanks.” He quickly attached it to his key ring.
“I hope you find some information that will help.”
“So do I.”
Maybe they didn’t need Sadie to make contact to break the case wide open, he thought as he flew out of Annalise’s front door. Maybe, just maybe the rat was at this very moment being rounded up by the local police.
THE MOMENT EVAN was gone, Annalise sat down at her computer with a thoughtful frown. Susan and Earl? Was it really possible that one of them was working with Jacob and Gretchen? Was it really possible that one of those trusted people had put fellow teachers and students at risk for their very lives? Had one of them participated in a scheme that had seen three people killed?
It was so hard to believe that anyone she knew could be a part of this, and yet somebody in the day-to-day life at the school had to be involved. Both Susan and Earl would have access to the van and garage keys that hung in the office. Both would know that on a Tuesday afternoon Annalise would be in the school building after hours with her smartest students.
Although she knew nothing about Earl’s finances, she did know that Susan had been terribly concerned about her future after her son’s restaurant had failed. Susan had divorced years ago and so had no one to share the financial burdens. She also knew that Sadie was terrific on the computer.
If one of them was behind this, she knew without a doubt Evan would ferret out the guilty and surely that person would know where Jacob and Gretchen had taken Sadie.
In the meantime she tapped her fingernails on her mouse pad. “Come on, Sadie. Talk to me.”
Tears blurred her vision. Had she not heard anything from the little girl yet because it was already too late? Was it possible that Sadie had been unable to do what they’d asked and she was now dead?
There were plenty of heavily wooded and mountainous areas where a dumped body might take years to find, if ever. “Please, please, don’t let Sadie be lost forever,” she whispered aloud.
Annalise didn’t know how long she sat watching the page before a deep weariness overtook her. She got up and stepped out on her back porch where woods encroached on her backyard.
She stared for several long minutes at the tall trees and brush, which normally brought her a sense of peace. This evening they only brought her more dreadful thoughts about Sadie.
She stood out there for only a few minutes and then returned to the house. After grabbing an afghan from the hall closet, she went to sit on the sofa and pulled the blanket around her shoulders. Her thoughts of Sadie and deep, dark woods had created a chill inside her.
Annalise glanced over at the computer and a new weariness struck her. She had her notifications turned up loud enough that if she did doze off the sound would awaken her.
With all the stress of the crime and worry about Sadie, she’d scarcely had time to process her feelings toward Evan. There was no doubt there was still something there. She didn’t want to distract him from doing his job, but she hoped when this was all over, when the bad guys were behind bars and Sadie was back safely, she could have a real discussion with Evan about them.
When she’d been in the school, he’d said he’d had regrets, but the conversation had been interrupted before he could explain. She wanted to hear about his regrets, and she wanted to tell him about her own.
Yes, she hoped to have a conversation with him about what had gone wrong and the possibility of a second chance to get it right.
But first and more important, they had to find Sadie.
CHIEF CUMMINGS MET Evan at the front door of the police station. “I’ve got Susan DeKalb in
