Judge Bonnet stared across the dining room table. I made sure to hold eye contact. The end of his nose was practically twitching as he searched for a weakness. Like a rabbit hiding from a hawk, I did my best to be very still until his gaze went elsewhere. I was on his turf, and I needed to be careful.
The Bonnet house was decorated like a Pottery Barn catalog, all tasteful neutrals, varied textures, and natural fabrics. Everything looked like it had been carefully placed, even the casually tossed knitted blanket on the sofa. The house wasn’t as large as I’d expected—?just another McMansion on the west side of town doing its best to be more impressive than it really was—?but I still felt nervous to be inside. When I sat in the fancy dining room chair, I almost slid off the slick silk fabric, as if the house and its contents wanted to reject me. I tried to take in as many details as I could in case I needed them, but it was hard to focus. My gaze kept flying around, pulling in the wallpaper pattern, the reflection off the glass-fronted cabinet, the silver bowl in the center of the hutch, but I was unable to settle on any one thing, to put the pieces together to make a picture I could use.
“May I get anyone some iced tea?” Ms. Bonnet offered from the doorway.
“No thank you.” Judge Bonnet waved his hand dismissively, and then remembered his manners. “You should feel free to have something of course.”
My glance slid over to Paige’s mom. Her outfit was perfect, crisp, clean, ironed into sharp pleats. A pink and blue floral shirt with a matching cotton sweater. Talbots, if I had to guess. The only sign of upset was the thick smear of concealer under her eyes, doing its best to hide the dark circles.
I turned back to the judge. He was the one I needed to read. I wasn’t going in cold. I wouldn’t have to count just on lucky guesses today. Pluto had made certain I had enough inside information to pull this meeting off, but now that I was here, I wasn’t completely sure I could do it.
“Pay attention,” Pluto had snapped. “The judge isn’t a joke. You need to take him as seriously, no, more seriously, than the cops. He’ll want to look you in the eye. He thinks that after years on the bench he can tell if someone is lying just by being across from them. You need to be sharp for that meeting. Don’t trust him. He may try and suck you in by being nice.”
“Great,” I’d mumbled.
Pluto smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m going to tell you everything you need to play that bastard like a violin.”
I looked the judge over to see what else I could glean now that we were actually across from each other. I’d heard and read so much about him, the meeting felt almost anticlimactic. He had on a suit, but the jacket was tossed over a chair and he’d rolled up his shirtsleeves as if he was ready to take some kind of action, like fix a tire, or single-handedly rescue a plane by taking control of the cockpit when the pilot dropped dead. He was fit, like he worked out. He had the body I imagined a military dad might have.
He drummed his fingers on the polished table. That was when I noticed it. Faint, but there, a tinge of yellow. Nicotine stains on his fingers. I’d read an interview with him where he mentioned how he’d quit years ago and talked about the importance of willpower and focusing on health. I also know nicotine stains fade with time. I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling. He was a secret smoker. One of those people who keep a pack hidden in the glove box of their car. Who puff away out of sight and then pop Tic Tacs to mask the smell on their breath. Or maybe he was smoking again because of the stress—?either way, I filed away the detail.
Detective Jay and Detective Chan smiled as Ms. Bonnet came back in the room carrying a silver tray with glasses of iced tea, complete with a sliver of lemon balanced on the crushed ice for each of us. It was like I was in Downton Abbey all of a sudden. The judge stood quickly and took the tray from her and placed it on the table.
Detective Jay smiled at me. “As you might imagine, the Bonnet family wanted to meet you. We appreciate you coming here with us and answering some of their questions.”
“I’m not sure if I can help, but I’m happy to try.” I folded my hands into my lap. My throat was dry, but I was certain my hands would shake if I tried to pick up the glass of tea.
“I should start by saying I have zero belief in any kind of psychic whatever,” Judge Bonnet said, almost as if he were apologizing. “I asked you here because my wife and I will do anything to get our girl back.” His voice caught, and he looked down for a second, then cleared his throat.
I kept my breathing even, forcing myself to count to three with each inhale. The last thing I could afford was a panic attack. I had no interest in meeting Paige’s parents, but it would have looked weird if I’d refused. When the cops ask you to help with something, it’s pretty much a command performance.
“We want to assure you we’ve checked out Skye’s story.” Detective Jay looked down at his notes. “There’re no indications that she and your daughter had any kind of interaction. She has an alibi for the date in question. And our interviews with people who know her haven’t led us to anything unusual.”
“Fair enough, but it’s possible that she has some kind of connection to what happened even if she didn’t do it herself?” The judge raised his hands. “I’m not trying to accuse anyone, but I am skeptical by nature.”
Detective Chan shook his head in agreement. “I understand, sir. I’m skeptical myself.”
“But,” Detective Jay interrupted, “we’ve checked out Skye and her mom. They have no connection to Paige or your family. There are no links to anyone with a criminal history. We’ve got no motivation for Skye to be involved, and if she were, there’s no compelling reason we can identify why she would come forward.” Detective Jay glanced at me, then quickly away again. “And to be honest, we don’t think Ms. Thorn has capacity to pull this off. To grab your daughter and keep her hidden takes resources and planning. This isn’t something a high school kid is able to mastermind. The people behind this have specialized knowledge. The FBI agrees. Whoever is behind this is very likely a pro.”
“FBI?” I sat up straighter.
Detective Chan nodded. “There’s a chance Paige’s been taken out of state. That would make it a federal offense. They’re acting as a resource for us and can step in if we need them to.”
I smiled like I was happy about the idea of interagency cooperation instead of breaking out in panicked sweat. Pluto had never mentioned that the FBI could be involved. I pinched my thigh under the table. I was an idiot. Oh Jesus, I was going to end up in jail.