“Little ones have a tendency of doing that,” Detective Fitzgerald says.
“Yes, they do,” she nods. “Can you believe my youngest, Aaron, is going to be getting married soon?”
“Is that right?” Detective Fitzgerald asks.
“It is,” Laura says. “I found a nice girl for him. The two of them are going to be so happy together. It's going to be so nice having him home for good now.”
“He's been away?” I ask, trying to maintain control of the conversation before it spirals away into small-town gossip.
“Oh, yes,” Laura says. “Ever since that summer…” her voice trails off and her expression gets sad for a second before she shakes it off. “Anyway. It was hard on him and he thought it would be best to get away from all of it. I would see him in the summers, but that grew less frequent when he got around college age. But now he's home.”
“I'm glad to hear that,” I say. “I hope you don't mind if I ask you what you recall about that day. I know it's hard on you. It probably brings back some bad memories.”
She swallows hard and nods.
“I couldn't believe something like that. That poor girl. Didn't even know where she was. How could her parents not know where she was? I wanted to hold my boys close that night.”
“I heard they were a part of the search,” I say.
She nods.
“Oh, yes. They hated the idea of that little girl wandering around the woods all by herself, too. They wanted to help bring her home. They searched and searched, but…”
Her voice fades, and I nod.
“I know. So, it sounds as though you’re really familiar with the area. You think you could show me around a little bit? Tell me from your perspective what happened that day?”
“Sure,” she nods. “Where should I start?”
“Where's your cabin?” I ask.
“Cabin 2.” She turns and points all the way across the lake to one of the large cabins up on the opposite hill.
“So, you weren't close to where the Montgomerys were staying?” I ask.
“No,” she says. “But I saw them several times. A sweet family. Even with the tension.”
“Tension?” I ask.
The thin smile on her face says she regrets letting that word out of her mouth.
“I shouldn't say that. I don't mean to gossip.”
“Your sharing observations like that is the whole point in talking to law enforcement. Something you might not think is significant can mean a lot to my investigation. It could give insight into why they might have been distracted, or why Violet might have tried to get away from a difficult situation happening between them.”
“I don't think it was anything like that,” Laura says. “That's not what I meant. It wasn't as if they screamed and yelled at each other or anything. There just seemed to be something between them. Something just a little bit…not right. I didn't know them well. I wasn't privy to their private lives. That's all just observation.”
“Okay,” I say. “Thank you.”
I let her guide me around the campground and tell me everything she remembers from the days leading up to Violet’s disappearance and then the day she actually went missing. I try not to ask any questions, but just let her talk. Just as I’d told her, often it's the things people don't realize have any significance that actually stand out. But by the time we are done with the tour, I don't feel that's going to be the case with her. Most of what she told me revolved around her sons and memories of their family vacations.
“I have one more potentially unpleasant question for you,” I say when we get back to the beach.
“Okay.”.
“The cavern where Violet’s body was found,” I say. She cringes slightly, but nods. “Do you know where that is?”
“I know the general area,” Laura says. “But I've never been back there. I love being out here, but I tend to stick to the trails and the lake.”
“How about your sons?” I ask.
“My sons?” she bristles immediately.
“Yes,” I nod. “Would they know how to get to the cavern?”
“I don't know why they would,” she says. “Are you suggesting something?”
I shake my head adamantly. “No. Not at all. I'm just trying to get a general idea of how many people were aware of that location, and how many different ways there were to access it. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.”
“Of course,” she says.
She starts away, and I stop her again, realizing I had only talked about Violet.
“One more thing,” I say. “What about the other disappearances and murders? Can you tell me anything about them?”
“Oh, I don't know anything about that,” she shrugs. “We were so caught up in my sons’ friends and activities and everything at that time, it's all sort of a blur. The summer of Violet's death changed a lot of things for us.”
I nod. “Thank you.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Laura leaves and I walk over to Detective Fitzgerald where he's sitting at one of the old picnic tables, staring out across the lake. I can't even imagine the thoughts going through his head.
“Thank you for having her come here,” I tell him.
“I hope she was helpful,” he says.
“It sounds as if the two of you know each other well,” I say.
“Not really,” the detective says. “I know of her, but only so far as talking to her about Violet’s disappearance. She was here a few times when I came back to investigate, but I only spoke to her a couple of times. She didn't have any information I could use.”
“And her sons?" I ask.
"What about them?"
“I heard you never spoke to them," I say.
“Honestly, I don't remember every single person I spoke to that day and in the months following. My team interviewed every person who was staying at the campground or was in the area that day. Only the ones who had information that
