“We've never had to leave an investigation. We've never backed down or experienced a danger too severe. We have never done it and we never will. We know the risks. We know the dangers. Now as we face those dangers coming to fruition, I want to assure you my commitment hasn't changed. My dedication hasn't wavered. We will not regret what we've done and what we've learned and accomplished. We committed ourselves to this path and we will continue to follow it. Thank you."
The video ends, but I keep staring at the screen for several long seconds after.
"He has got to be kidding," I say. "That was his idea of a statement about his co-host, the woman who he himself describes as his best friend, being missing?"
"What was wrong with it?" Dean asks.
I stare at him incredulously. "Seriously? Dean, you know people. You read people. And you also know the complexities and nuances of the pungent aroma of bullshit. That man just tap-danced through a one-man vaudeville act and called it classical Greek tragedy. He's using Elsie's disappearance to promote himself and his business. He could have done a three-sentence announcement. I would even give him six sentences and it would have still been appropriate. But that was just ridiculous.
“He spent more time on his drama and trying to get people to pay attention to his website, where he sells merchandise and books private tours, by the way, than he did actually talking about Elsie. And what was all that about trusting the local authorities and that they are doing their jobs? Did you hear his tone?"
"I did," Sam says. "He wasn't telling them to trust the police. He was trying to imply that they are covering something up. That they aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing. He needed to tell everybody to stay away for liability purposes. That way no one can say that he encouraged or provoked people to go out there. But he wants there to be a fuss. He wants to make a big deal out of this because it will give him more notoriety."
"Exactly," I say. "It's all about attention. I know you guys admire Ken Abbott, but there's something about him that strikes me wrong. And it's not the paranormal stuff. He craves attention and he'll do anything to get it."
Chapter Nineteen
“Does that mean you think he has something to do with Elsie’s disappearance?” Xavier asks.
“I'm not necessarily saying that. All I'm saying is this seems to be working out a bit in his favor and he's not shying away from it," I say. "It almost makes me hope that it's a hoax or a publicity stunt."
"He might love attention, but I don't think he craves it enough to file a false police report,” Sam counters.
“I know,” I acknowledge. “But at least if it was fake, that would mean both of them were shady at best. It's better than thinking she really is missing, that something actually did happen to her, and he's still acting like that.” I take a breath. “Come on. Let's eat before everything gets cold.”
We all move around the table filling up our plates. It's the same every time we order Chinese food. Each of us picks out our own thing, but we all end up grabbing little scoops of everything until we have plates that are just a couple shades short of obscene. Those last us for the hour or so it takes to eat, then we rest for a while. Then… cookies. Fortune first, then chocolate chip. Strictly in that order. I'm pretty sure Xavier has some complex reasoning behind it all, but I haven't asked.
"What else did you find out?" Xavier asks, several bites into his shrimp fried rice. "Yesterday it seemed as if you had found out a lot more."
I nod, setting down my chopsticks and wiping my fingers on a napkin as I finish chewing the bite in my mouth. "I don't know if I would say a lot, but I did a lot of roaming around on the internet."
"Always a reliable source of information," Dean mutters.
I look at him for a second, trying to understand the attitude radiating from him. He's focused on the food on his plate, which is fairly considerable, as he's barely eaten a bite of it.
"That sleuthing forum you were telling me about?" Xavier asks.
"Yeah. Well, the forum isn't specifically for web sleuths. It's just a page on a bigger forum that's used by people who are interested in cold cases and other crimes. They talk about the details and try to come up with theories. Sometimes there are some pretty interesting insights. But what I found most interesting and most useful is all the details that are in there. Things that get lost really easily over time. Some of these people scan in old newspapers and embed news reports.
“I don't even know where they get some of this stuff. Sometimes it seems as though they could give Eric a run for his money. There's one main page for those four years, and then more in-depth pages about the individual sets of deaths and disappearances. There are even pages that people use almost like photo journals. They document going to the campground and what they saw there.”
“I thought it was closed,” Xavier says. “Police don't allow anybody in the area.”
“Technically, it is closed,” I say. “All the paths and trails leading to it are blocked off. The parking lot is closed. Anybody who gets caught in there can be arrested. They kept officers up there for a while after the last set of disappearances, but it's just not practical to keep them there all the time. And despite popular belief, parks like that don't have their own police forces or officers patrolling through them
