“Any cameras catch anything?” Josie asked.
“She’s only got cameras around the house itself, and they only showed her walking off her back porch around one the afternoon before Chris Wills found her,” Heather answered. As if anticipating Josie’s next several questions, she continued, “Not much in the way of electronics, which isn’t surprising since the internet and phone service up there is still shit. We couldn’t find any evidence of anyone stalking her or of her feuding with anyone. She was just an eccentric old lady living out in the middle of nowhere enjoying her piles of cash. Evidently, she’s got quite the real estate investment portfolio. Next of kin is her brother, Hugo Watts. Lives in Williamsport. He was notified the day after she was found. He’s got an alibi.”
Josie sighed. Sullivan County was extremely rural and remote. Getting there, especially in the winter, could be challenging. Many of the more isolated houses could be difficult to find. Whoever killed Nadine Fiore had targeted her.
“She drowned in her pond,” Josie said. “It wasn’t frozen?”
“No,” said Heather. “It’s been unseasonably warm. We only just got snow last week. It’s probably frozen now. It’s cold as hell out there.”
“Right,” Josie said. Denton had had the same weather.
“You got something for me?” Heather said.
“I don’t know,” replied Josie. She recapped their cases.
Heather gave a low whistle. “Maybe this is some unfinished family business.”
“Starting to look like it,” Josie said. “We’re in the process of tracking down the remaining Wattses—Gabriel and Hugo.”
“You’ll keep me posted? Gabriel Watts isn’t on my radar but if he turns out to be involved in your cases, you let me know.”
“Sure thing,” said Josie. “Hey, Heather. You said the locals hated Nadine Fiore. What makes you say that?”
“Well,” Heather said. “Every local person I talked to said the same thing about Nadine Fiore, and I quote: ‘She was a bitch.’”
Twenty-Three
Gretchen returned with an early dinner and coffee for everyone. Noah still didn’t have access to Amber’s work tablet, but he was waiting for a return call from tech support. Josie texted Alcott County Sheriff’s Deputy, Judy Tiercar, who replied that she’d stopped once more at Gabriel Watts’ home in Woodling Grove, but he still wasn’t there. She took another look at the numbers in the diary, trying to find a pattern, anything that would help her figure out what they meant. Still nothing came to her except frustration. They scarfed down their food while Josie and Gretchen brought Noah up to speed on everything they’d learned from Lydia Norris and what they’d found in Amber’s house; and then Josie told them both about Nadine Fiore’s murder. Josie used their database to find mobile phone numbers for both Hugo and Gabriel Watts. Neither answered. She left them both voicemails. Gretchen’s cell phone rang.
“It’s my old partner in Philly,” she said before swiping answer. She listened for a long moment, nodding even though he couldn’t see her, and then said, “Yeah, yeah. I’ll meet you there.”
Hanging up, she looked at Josie and Noah. “He’s got information about Eden Watts. I’m going to meet him halfway between here and Philadelphia. He’s got her Mini Cooper on video getting onto the turnpike ten days ago.”
Noah said, “Eden Watts left Philadelphia ten days ago in her own vehicle and somehow ended up in the rocks of Russell Haven Dam? Where’s the car?”
Josie said, “Let’s get a statewide BOLO out for it right now.”
Gretchen pulled her coat on. “That would help. When I get back, if your contact in the sheriff’s department hasn’t found him, we’ll pay Gabriel Watts a visit ourselves.”
Josie used the Pennsylvania Crime Information Center database to issue a BOLO – “Be On the Lookout” – for Eden Watts’ Mini Cooper. The alert would go out statewide so that law enforcement in other districts would know that the Denton Police Department were trying to locate it. When she finished with that, she moved on to the National Crime Information Center database to flag the Mini Cooper’s tag so that any law enforcement officer who came into contact with the vehicle would know to stop it and hold it for processing. Researching navigation systems, she found that Mini Coopers had their own app called Mini Connected. However, it was only available for models from 2019 onward which meant that Eden Watts’ vehicle wouldn’t have it. Still, Josie put in some calls to various navigation systems companies to see if anyone had a record of Eden Watts or her Mini Cooper. Some gave her the information over the phone—they had no record of either Eden or her Mini Cooper. Others required warrants, which Josie prepared. She braved the cold again to have them signed by a judge; and when she returned, emailed them to the respective navigation systems companies. If they could locate Eden’s car, it might tell them a lot more about where she’d been and perhaps even who she had been with between leaving her home in Philadelphia and dying in the Susquehanna River in Denton ten days later.
Noah was back on the phone with tech support, Amber’s tablet glowing before him, again demanding a passcode none of them had. While she waited for him to finish, she dozed. They were all running on practically no sleep, and now with a full belly and a comfy seat, Josie could barely keep her eyes open. In her half-asleep state, Josie felt Amber’s fingers against her wrist again. Not Amber, a voice in the back of her head reminded her. Eden. Trying to hold on. Trying to stay alive.
As Josie slipped in and out of the dream, she heard the rush of the water bearing down on them and startled awake. She sat up straight in the chair, hands gripping the arms. Sweat beaded across her forehead. Directly across from her, Noah looked up from where he was tapping away at Amber’s tablet. “Nightmares?” he asked.
Josie nodded and took a sip of the coffee Gretchen had left for her.
“Lisette?”
“No. Eden Watts. I keep feeling her slip away.”
“It’s when you feel helpless that you get them, you know,” he said.
“What do you mean?” Josie said, taking another sip of the coffee, the liquid burning the inside of her mouth.
“Your nightmares. They come when you feel most helpless. Lisette, Eden. You were helpless to save them. Powerless. That’s your worst fear.”
A lump formed in Josie’s throat. She tried to swallow over it but ended up coughing. She wasn’t fully awake enough for this conversation.
“Your childhood,” Noah continued. “It was just you at the mercy of all these adults. Only Eli and Lisette had your best interests at heart and even they failed you in many ways. Not for lack of trying.”
He was right, Josie realized. Trying to save her from the woman who had taken her from her real family had cost Eli Matson his life. Lisette had spent years and tens of thousands of dollars trying to get custody of Josie.