“It is a different thing,” Mel confirmed.
“Just so. Serena stayed, but not out of some approval for Raymond. Rather, I think she stayed because she thought she could mother us, perhaps protect us in the only way she knew how. As I said, she was a sad little thing.”
“And they had a fight?”
“They fought a lot, but this time was different. The little roadside inn we were staying at had paper thin walls and I heard them. She was yelling that I was shrinking away and he was killing me. She told him he had to stop or she’d make him stop.”
“I see.”
“No, I don’t think you do. I was shrinking. My clothes weren’t just loose, they were too long. Dresses with flounces that brushed my knees went below them. Sleeves went to my knuckles. I had noticed, but not in any urgent way.”
Mel considered this and how it might have been in reality. A child in fear and unable to properly eat, or perhaps not being fed, would lose weight. Losing weight would also make clothes seem longer. Material not used to cover a rounded belly would hang lower. In looking for the hidden truths inside Baby’s story, this one wasn’t hard to find.
“And what happened?” Mel asked, not wanting to interrupt the flow of Baby’s words.
“Raymond killed Serena.”
The apple slice on its way to Mel’s mouth stopped in mid-air. “What?”
“He killed her. I don’t know exactly how, but he put her body in the car, told the man he’d hired to help with the children to watch us, then drove away. The next day, the car was empty.”
Murder. Baby was describing a murder, one in which she was an ear-witness. Murder brought a lot more heat and time in prison. If Baby was telling at least some truth, then that meant a body was out there somewhere. It was even possible that body was already an open case, one not yet tied to the Papa case.
Trying to remain calm, Mel asked, “What did Serena look like? Was that her real name, do you think? Do you remember where this was? The hotel or the city or the state?”
Baby smiled rather slyly, like she knew exactly why Mel was asking those particular questions. She pointed to her cheek and said, “Serena had a scar here. It was shaped like a crescent moon. She said it happened in an accident as a child. She was olive skinned with beautiful dark hair. I don’t know what her real name might have been, but it’s possible Serena was her real name. People didn’t have to hide names so much back then. No internet.”
“And where it happened?”
“Oh, I’m sure that old place isn’t there anymore. As to exactly where it was, I’m not certain. I wasn’t as good with geography back then. I remember dunes. The beach was across the road and there was always sand on the road and in the parking spaces. There were lots of dunes there.”
Mel understood that Baby was prevaricating on the time because it didn’t fit her narrative. There was an alternative. “How old were you then? About the size you are now, smaller?”
Baby’s smile widened. “This size, give or take an inch. It’s hard to keep up.”
So, a recent murder then. Dunes were common, but not as much anymore. With the sea rising, many beaches and their dunes were going the way of the dinosaurs. If the beach was across a road, then it had to be someplace where the beach hadn’t been taken by the sea. Sadly, there were plenty of bodies found near beaches, particularly the bodies of young women, but still, it was something. And a recent body meant a comprehensive autopsy, complete with DNA and samples to compare.
Pointing at Mel with an apple slice, Baby asked, “Do you want to hear the rest?”
“Of course,” Mel answered. And she did. These talks were yielding clues and clues were what she needed. “Whatever you’d like to tell me is what I’d like to hear.”
Baby tucked into her apple for a few moments, and Mel wondered if they were done for the day after all. But no, Baby was simply hungry. Once the last slice was gone, she folded her paper plate and tucked her used napkin into the folds. It was very neatly done.
“I suppose that’s when Raymond started realizing there was magic in me, and that he could use it to make money.”
Rather than sigh or give any other sign that she wished Baby would give her more real information, Mel listened, giving her full attention to the girl.
“At first, it was just that I didn’t grow and got a little smaller and younger. As time went on, the other kids grew and he kicked them out or they ran away. He got more kids. I was always the same on the outside, but on the inside, I was growing up. In here,” she paused for a moment, pointing to her head. “That part of us doesn’t age, per se, but it gets information and experience, and that’s really what growing up is.”
“I understand,” Mel said, when Baby looked at her for confirmation.
“Raymond understood the magic before I did. I only found out about it because of the way we traveled. It changed as the years passed. And eventually, there were no more children. It was just me. I knew enough about money to know there was no way he could finance our increasingly lavish lifestyle on the proceeds of one child. There had to be more to it, you see. We traveled as a father and daughter by then. Our car was new, our clothes finely made, our meals taken only in the best
