“Did she leave anything else behind?”
“She had a little silver purse, and it was laying on the seat of my car where she’d left it. I looked inside thinking maybe she’d left some i.d.. It was empty, though. I found a gold cap on the floor that looked like it was from a lipstick,” Johnny added. His stomach tightened even further. Talking about it made it seem all the more bizarre. None of this made any sense. Why would a girl empty out her purse, leave it behind, and leave her shoes behind as well?
“And you didn’t hear anything that woke you up, maybe alerted you that she was gone, huh?”
“No. I woke up because the sun was beating down on me, and I was hot. I couldn’t believe how long and deeply I’d slept. I saw Maggie’s shoes and thought she’d probably taken a walk along the beach, waiting for me to wake up. I could see that she had been in the car because the driver’s side door was ajar.”
“I’ll want to see the shoes and the purse, as well as the lipstick cap.”
“Aw, shit,” Johnny thought to himself and ran aggravated hands through his hair. Why hadn’t he held onto the shoes? He hadn’t been thinking, that’s why. Now he was going to have to explain to Chief Bailey all about the connection to the Honeycutts. And how was he supposed to do that without getting Maggie in a whole heap of trouble?
“Is there anything that happened at the dance or before you got to the reservoir that was out of the ordinary -- that makes you suspicious now?” Chief Bailey’s voice had become softer, and he was zeroed in on Johnny’s face, watching him, as if he knew Johnny was trying to determine what and what not to tell him.
Hell, what hadn’t happened? Johnny thought. “The whole night was out of the ordinary.” Johnny leaned forward, his arms resting on the chief’s messy desk. “Here comes the part where you and I are just gonna talk,” Johnny suggested.
Chief brought his hands down from his head and set his feet on the floor. Then he leaned forward too and leveled his eyes at Johnny.
“She took that car last night, didn’t she?”
Johnny sighed and dropped his head in defeat. Chief Bailey was no dummy. If Johnny was going to help Maggie, he couldn’t lie now.
“She did. She and Lizzie Honeycutt seem to be friendly. Lizzie helped her devise a plan to borrow the housekeeper’s car. They didn’t think Mrs. Smith would even notice it was gone, and Maggie was just going to bring it back when the dance was over.”
“Lizzie Honeycutt? Don’t you mean Irene?” The Chief of Police was a little perplexed.
“No, I mean Lizzie. Lizzie and Maggie both say they are related, but neither of them would tell me more than that. Lizzie seems to think she went home...or, in her words, ‘back where she came from.’ But she doesn’t seem to know where that is.”
“So you’ve talked to Lizzie since Maggie disappeared?”
“I went there earlier today. She hadn’t seen Maggie either, and honestly, she didn’t tell me much. She asked for the shoes -- and Maggie’s dress for that matter. Apparently Lizzie helped Maggie ‘borrow’ a dress from Irene. I handed over the shoes. I didn’t think....I’m sorry.”
Clark Bailey had resumed the position, hands on head, eyes trained on the ceiling, thinking.
“You shouldn’t have helped her leave the dance, you know.” Chief Bailey dropped his eyes and pinned a look on Johnny. “Technically, I could charge you as an accessory to a crime.”
Johnny sighed and folded his arms, a little of the hoodlum resurfacing to smirk at the chief’s bluff. “You’re not gonna do that, Chief. The car is back in the garage, no harm done, and I didn’t take it. Plus, if you’re ever gonna have a chance with my mother, you’d better not throw me in jail on a two-bit charge like that.”
Chief Bailey actually blushed a little and started moving papers around on his desk. Johnny laughed out loud.
“Chief, take it from me, it’s gonna take a catastrophic event to make my momma wake up and come to her senses. She’s a good lady, and Lord knows she’s a pretty one, but she is downright stupid when it comes to men, and you’re not her type. I actually wish you were ‘cause I think Maggie was right. I think you’re one of the good guys, and my momma could definitely use one of those.”
Chief Bailey stared at the mouthy teen for a minute, wishing he didn’t like him so much, but recognizing a bit of the young Clark Bailey’s attitude and guts in Johnny Kinross. Damn if the kid wasn’t right. Clark Bailey knew he would never get Dolly Kinross to turn her head long enough to discover that he could take care of her if she would let him.
“Well, it seems we’re both a little blind when it comes to certain women, now doesn’t it, son?” Chief Bailey had recovered from his discomfort and was back in the driver’s seat once more.
Johnny grinned at that. “Yes, sir. I guess so. But in my defense, Maggie seemed pretty gone on me too.”
“I’m sure she was, son. I’m sure she was.” Clark Bailey shook his head and laughed. He’d had to listen to his deputy, Brad Wilkey, complain for two weeks about Johnny Kinross. He had been sure his daughter was going to be ruined after attending the prom with someone like him. It seemed to Clark that Brad should spend a little more time worrying about the reputation his daughter had acquired before she’d been asked out by the young Kinross.
“Tell you what, Johnny. I will make some calls and see if there are any missing persons reports for a girl matching Maggie’s description in the surrounding areas. I will also have my men be on the lookout around here. I will go see the Honeycutt’s housekeeper this evening, just as a courtesy call, and I will ask to speak to the little girl as well -- see if I can get some information about the girl she told Mrs. Smith was her cousin. Beyond that, I don’t know that I can do much more. But if I find anything, I’ll let you know.”