Gretchen pointed to the river. “The other side of the dam. In the parking lot by the steps and trail that lead down to the water release chute.”
“Where we were the other night when we found Eden?” asked Noah.
“Yes. Come on, the Chief wants us to follow him over there.”
Thirty-Two
They drove in a caravan to the other side of the river. The sun crept up the horizon as they pulled into the parking lot. The black Mercedes-Benz had been parked facing the stairs. As they got out of their cars, Noah and Gretchen began walking the perimeter of the parking lot. Josie strode toward the car.
“Quinn,” barked the Chief. “Don’t touch anything. I don’t want anything disturbed until Hummel has a chance to process the scene. He’ll need to impound the car.”
She gave him a thumbs-up as she reached the car. Careful not to touch anything, she leaned over and looked into the windows. They keys were in the ignition. Lydia’s Hermès purse was on the front passenger’s side floor. Josie assumed her phone and wallet were inside.
She looked up to see the Chief approach. “She must have met someone here,” she said.
The Chief said, “I’ll stay here, keep the scene secure until the ERT can come over to this side. Maybe we can get some prints from the car. I’ll have them search the path and riverbank just in case. You take Fraley and Palmer back to the station and regroup. This case just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and we’re already down a man with Mett out.”
Josie didn’t have to be asked twice. She called to Gretchen and Noah, and they went back to their vehicles. A half hour later they were behind their desks in the stationhouse great room, steaming cups of Komorrah’s coffee in front of each of them. Josie’s fingertips still felt numb as she picked up her desk phone and dialed both Hugo and Gabriel Watts’ numbers. It was still early, but there was never a good time to deliver the kind of news Josie had to give. Neither answered. She left voicemails asking each of them to contact her. Leaning back in her chair with her hands wrapped around her coffee cup, she asked Gretchen, “What did you find out about Eden Watts?”
Gretchen still had her coat on. From one of its pockets, she pulled a pair of reading glasses and put them on. Then she flipped open her notebook and began going through her notes. “Eden Watts was a barista at a coffee shop a few blocks away from her apartment. She was friendly with the staff there. In fact, one woman, Karishma Sinha, claimed to be her ‘best’ friend, although she knew next to nothing about Eden’s past or her upbringing, except that Mr. and Mrs. Watts were divorced and they moved around a lot when Eden was a kid.”
From his chair, Noah said, “So Eden was keeping things just as vague as Amber but not characterizing them as toxic or dysfunctional?”
“Seems that way,” Gretchen agreed. “I will say that Karishma was crushed when she found out what happened to Eden.”
“How long did they work together?” asked Josie.
“Two years. Karishma did seem to know a lot about Eden’s daily life, although there wasn’t much to tell. No boyfriends and no beef with anyone. No unusual contact with anyone in the days and weeks leading up to her leaving Philadelphia. The only thing that stood out to this friend was that a couple of afternoons last month, some old guy came into the coffee shop at the end of Eden’s shifts and the two of them went to a corner table and talked for hours. Karishma thought at first it was, and I quote, ‘that TV preacher.’”
Josie sat up straighter in her chair. “Thatcher Toland?”
“Right,” said Gretchen. “But when Karishma asked who it was, Eden said that she knew him when she was a kid and that they were just catching up. Karishma asked Eden point-blank if the guy was Toland and Eden laughed and said not to be ridiculous. He was just an old neighbor.”
“Footage from the coffee shop?” asked Josie.
Gretchen let out a long sigh and flipped a page in her notebook. “Already erased. It’s erased once a week. Eden lived in a one-bedroom apartment with a cat that Karishma has now taken custody of; she took pottery classes on weekends; yoga two days a week; and the two of them usually went out for drinks every weekend. Eden seemed very happy, not distraught at all. She had two weeks of vacation coming to her. Apparently, she never took vacation and always worked extra shifts when needed.”
“Because she was broke?” asked Noah. “Or because it was something to do?”
“I’m not sure,” said Gretchen.
Josie thought of how Amber’s best friend had described her existence as lonely until she started working at the Denton PD and met, as Grace Power had described them, “her family.” Some family they were, Josie thought darkly. They hadn’t even known about her past, and now they might never find out what truly happened to her.
“She took the vacation,” said Josie. “That’s why she wasn’t reported missing? Or did her friend file a report?”
Gretchen flipped another page in her notebook. “There was a report filed by Karishma, although it doesn’t look like Philly PD’s investigation turned up much. Eden was expected back three days ago. She had given Karishma a key to her apartment so that she could feed the cat. Karishma said Eden stopped answering calls and texts almost as soon as she left.”
“Did Eden say where she was going?” asked Noah.
“Just that she was taking a trip to the mountains. That was it.”
“In December?” Josie said.
Gretchen shrugged. “That’s exactly what Karishma said. ‘Why are you driving to the mountains in the middle of December?’ Eden was vague about it for some time and then finally, she admitted that there were some people she was going to visit from her past because she needed to atone for mistakes she had made.”
Noah said, “What kind of mistakes?”
“She wouldn’t say. When Karishma pressed the issue, Eden told her that she’d been watching Thatcher Toland videos online and that the way he talked about how it was never too late to make up for your mistakes really touched her. It made her realize that she could never live a full life until she had atoned for some things she did when she was a teenager. Karishma said it was all very strange. Eden said she’d send her a link to the video, but she never did.”
“She was watching his videos,” said Josie. “The ‘old neighbor’ that Eden met with—the one Karishma thought was actually Toland—did she describe him?”
Gretchen looked at her notes. “Jeans, Philadelphia Eagles hat, boots, brown jacket.”
“It could have been him,” Noah said.
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Josie agreed. “If that’s the case, Eden met with him before she left on her trip. Did your old partner say whether there was a copy of the Toland book in Eden’s apartment?”
Gretchen shook her head. “He didn’t mention it, no. He did send me photos of the place that he took when Karishma let him in and I didn’t see it. He did, however, get Eden’s laptop. Karishma knew the password, so we’ve got access to it.”
Gretchen pointed to a paper evidence bag on the corner of her desk.