“You have to see this.” I pointed to the map. “Bull Valley, Illinois, is five miles west of McHenry—Jarret’s hometown.”
Nick sat beside me and studied the screen. “This means Jarret may have known Schelz’s daughter Margaret. Hell, Jarret could have seen the pamphlet and remembered the symbol.”
“Twenty years later? Jarret has no interest in the occult.”
“He’s superstitious.”
“True,” I said. “But his superstitions are meaningless baseball rituals and good-luck charms. It’s not like he’s some kind of fanatic with an altar to the devil in his stadium locker.” I winced. Nick displayed occult symbols all over his house. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean you—”
“I understand what you meant. I just don’t understand what you’re doing. You seem determined to defend Jarret even though he didn’t mind entangling you in Laycee’s murder. Do you still have feelings for him?”
“Not in the slightest. But I know Jarret well—murder and devil worship are completely out of character.”
“Like the man who walked into a beauty shop last year and gunned down his ex-wife and seven other people? His friends and neighbors thought murder was out of character for him, too.”
“That case was a child custody dispute gone bad,” I said. “Jarret didn’t have a motive to murder Laycee.”
“How can you be so sure? It’s not up to you to understand his motive or solve the crime, Liz. Jarret put suspicion on you by telling the police you hated Laycee. Meanwhile, I see a viable case building against him. A connection to Schelz’s daughter links him to the symbol.” Nick went to the den and opened my laptop. “Let’s see how many Schelzes and Smiths are listed in the Bull Valley phone book. If I have to, I’ll call each one to find Margaret.”
“And what will you say to her if you do?”
“I’ll ask if she knows Jarret. If she does, I’ll notify Eagleton.”
“I asked Jarret about Herrick Schelz yesterday. He never heard of him.”
“And of course, Jarret would never lie to you,” Nick said with a sneer. “Think about it. What if Schelz’s wife moved the children to Illinois after the trial? All three of them could live in the Bull Valley area.”
“Four. The mother and three children,” I said. “Mrs. Schelz was pregnant at the time of the murder.”
“There’s a chance Jarret and one of the two older kids are the same age. Five miles is a close enough area for the McHenry and Bull Valley school systems to overlap. Maybe he went to school with Margaret. What’s your computer password?”
“‘P,’ three pound signs, ‘W,’ two exclamation points, then ‘D.’”
As Nick typed at my laptop, I stared at the small map on my phone screen, spinning through the possibilities of a connection two thousand miles away. Jarret would never remember a specific occult symbol after all these years. But Nick was right—the connection between the symbol and Jarret’s hometown was difficult to ignore.
I stood behind Nick at the desk, watching him scroll through the Bull Valley White Pages. “Anything?”
“No Schelzes. Damn. I suppose that would have been too easy. Maybe Schelz’s wife changed the family name to Smith after the trial to escape notoriety,” he said, typing again.
“Smith” produced eight results in Bull Valley and over a hundred in the surrounding area. Nick printed out the list. “I’ll begin making calls tomorrow.”
“What if Margaret attended school and married in another city, and then relocated to Bull Valley long after Jarret left?” I said. “I realize Bull Valley and McHenry are small towns, but a lot of years have passed since Jarret lived in Illinois.”
“We know Schelz’s daughter lived near Jarret’s hometown. We also know Schelz’s symbol was left on a dead body inside Jarret’s house. I say we follow the clues we have.”
“I agree. Someone in Bull Valley must be able to help us locate Margaret.”
“What about Jarret’s parents?”
“Ask them to help incriminate him?”
“What if Margaret Smith helps to clear Jarret by telling us what happened to the rest of Schelz’s pamphlets?”
Made sense. I folded my hands on the top of my head. Nick’s cell rang and while he took his call, I dialed the Coopers in Illinois.
A recording came on after the fourth ring. “Yah, this is Marion and Bud. Leave us a message at the beep and we’ll call you back. You have a good day.”
“Marion, this is Liz. I talked to Jarret—he’s fine. But would you please give me a call? I have a question for you.” I hung up, hoping I did the right thing.
Nick finished his call with, “We’ll be right there.” He turned off his phone, smiling.
“Right where?”
“Vic Walkowiak came through. Some guy named Weisel will talk to us about the pamphlet for cash.” Nick took his keys out of his pocket. “Let’s go.”
“Where? I have to meet Jarret at seven.”
“We’d be able to walk there and still get you to dinner on time,” Nick said. “Weisel works a mile from here.”