The team from Burkus arrived about an hour and a half later. By then we had phoned into the Sheriff’s office and back to Meryl, updating them as to our situation. The two lads had a long search around the area, bagging the dandelion crown and the piece of cloth and also uncovering a stray button, a yellow flower clip hairpin and what looked like a chunk missing from a homework assignment.
“We need to have Luna’s parents look at these items and see if they recognize any of them,” Oak said to Salas as he jotted down notes.
“Oak, where’s that school picture of Luna, the one where she’s in that purple dress?” I asked suddenly, examining the yellow flower hairpin.
Oak rifled around for the picture in her bag and then produced it. I examined it for a moment before holding up the picture and also the clip to her. “Looks like a match, at least as far as first impressions.”
“Oh man,” Oak sighed.
“So we’ve got a kidnapping?” Salas asked, examining the pin and the picture himself.
“Not necessarily. But probably.”
“What if she got attacked by an animal?” Oak asked. “There’s all sorts of things in these woods, and some of the towns have reported packs of wild dogs recently.”
I shook my head. “There would almost definitely be blood. The fact that forensics doesn’t seem to have found any or…any other bodily fluids suggests a straight up kidnapping. Possibly premeditated,” I added.
“What makes you say that?” Salas asked.
I gestured at the area. “Well, either they opportunistically happened to be here and kidnapped her out of the blue or they’d seen Luna on her route to her friend’s house before and knew she would go this way off the road. They could have come back again more prepared to kidnap her a second time. Either is possible.”
Oak looked at me in some surprise and I knew she was suddenly wondering who the hell I was. All she had been told about me was that I had been stationed in the capital before this. She had no idea I had worked over two dozen kidnapping and human trafficking cases, some of them large scale, in the past five years. But it didn’t matter right now. In this moment, we needed to plan our next move carefully. In all of the previous kidnapping cases I had worked and many that I had studied, the first 48 hours after the kidnapping were the most critical to retrieving the kidnaped person successfully. But I was out of my element. Back in the capital, I would have gone straight to raiding the local black-market establishments and child running routes in the area. Out here, I had no idea where to start.
“I’d like to talk to Ronnie. Since her house is just over there, let’s head over and see if we can catch her before dinner.” The light was fading fast and we needed to keep moving.
Oak nodded and we departed with the promise that Salas would oversee the rest of the forensic effort and send the final report in a couple of hours. We headed to the stately two story farm house that belonged to Ronnie and her parents. It was tidy with a large vegetable garden to one side and many materials in for construction on the other, a place that looked as though there were always projects and progress going on. Our knock on the front door was met pretty quickly by a large man, slightly overweight in his mid forties. Behind him I could see a woman who appeared to be his wife and a pair of young faces, one about 10 and the other perhaps 5.
“Mr. and Mrs. Granger? I’m DI Senel, I’m looking into the case of Luna Lampour. I believe you know her well and your daughters are good friends?”
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“We do,” Mr. Granger said. He glanced behind him. “Would you like to come in?”
“That would be wonderful, thank you.”
Mr. Granger led us into the family’s living room. He was just telling the girl I assumed was Ronnie and her younger sister to go upstairs to their rooms when I interjected. “Actually I’d like to speak with Ronnie, if that would be okay? I just have a couple of quick questions. Then we’ll be on our way.”
The Grangers glanced at each other and then nodded. Ronnie walked nervously forwards. She was a sweet looking girl with long red hair and nervous hazel eyes.
“Ronnie, hi, I’m DI Senel. You can call me Senny if you like.”
Ronnie nodded. I hesitated and took a seat on the couch, leaving it up to the rest of them to decide if they wanted to sit or not. “Ronnie, I wanted to know what sort of games you and Luna like to play together. It sounds like she comes over a lot after school.”
Ronnie glanced at her parents and then nodded. “We just play video games or go outside and play in our tree house. My dad built it for us in the back yard.”
“And do you enjoy making jewelry and art projects?” I suggested.
“Yeah,” Ronnie said, her brows furrowing slightly as if she was surprised that I had known.
“What sort of things do you like to make?”
“We make flower necklaces and bracelets and all sorts of wreaths and crowns.”
“I see. And do you and Luna have any flowers in particular that are your favorites?”
“Yeah. Dandelions. My dad says we can pull as many as we want from the yard and in town and at school. He says the more we pull the better. We make lots of jewelry with them. Luna is really good at it.”
“That’s very nice,” I said, glancing at Oak who was holding an impressively straight face. “And was Luna coming over to your house to play yesterday?”
“Well, I thought she was. She said she was going to. But sometimes she has to go home after school instead because her mom says so.”
I nodded. “And she wasn’t on the bus with you?”
“No. When she has to go home, she rides the other bus that goes downtown.”
“Thanks for confirming that Ronnie. And one more question. Do you two have any secret hideouts that you play in sometimes in the woods?”
Ronnie’s eyes widened nervously. “My dad doesn’t like us to play in the woods. There’s nomads that camp out there sometimes and it’s dangerous.”
“I see.” I watched the girl fidget with her bracelets for a moment. Working with kids was hard, especially when the threat of getting in trouble with their parents was at hand. But I needed this kid to spill. And if I had to use coercion I would, though I hoped the girl would be a good enough friend to Luna to tell me the truth.
“Ronnie, it’s very important that we find Luna as quickly as possible. You know that right?”
Ronnie glanced up and then back down. She nodded.
“And even if you broke the rules, that’s not important. Right now, what’s important is making sure Luna is safe. Now can you think of any times that you might have gone to the woods without permission.”
Ronnie glanced at her parents, who were thankfully keeping silent. Then she took a breath and nodded guiltily. “Me and Luna went into the woods a couple of times over the summer. Just a few times. We didn’t go far, but we wanted to see the nomads up close. We found one of their camps and spied on them a few times. But we stopped when their camp moved last month.”
“Ronnie!” Mr. Granger began but I held up a hand to silence him.
“I see. And where was that camp from here would you say. What direction?”
Ronnie hesitated and pointed towards the west. “That way I think.”
“Thank you Ronnie. Now you be safe and stay away from the woods from now on, okay?”
“Will you find Luna soon?” she asked tentatively. Tears had started to well in her eyes.
I always hated that question, especially when it spouted from the mouth of a child with little ability to comprehend the horrors that other humans could inflict on one another. “We’re going to do everything we can to find Luna and bring her back. I can promise you that.”
Ronnie nodded and then disappeared into her mother’s arms, sobbing. We left and decided to head back to town. I phoned in the report of the nomad camp while Oak drove. Salas called and informed us he would round up a team and get them out to explore the woods west of the Granger’s home that very evening. I was pleased at the hustle. The Sheriff’s office seemed to understand that urgency was key. Part of me wanted to join in their search, but I was sure they were capable of being thorough. Meanwhile, Oak and I had a list of other leads to track down, starting with the missing uncle.