Chapter 3 - The Silver Star
Annie left the hospital after two weeks.
Her closest living relative was her mother’s older sister, Linda Carver, who lived three hours away. Linda wanted to care for Annie but had serious health problems and limited money.
For a time, the state considered placing Annie in temporary foster care.
Tom could not stop thinking about the way she clung to his sleeve whenever unfamiliar adults entered the room.
He visited Linda and offered to help.
What began as an informal arrangement became permanent. Linda remained Annie’s legal guardian, but Tom became a regular presence in the girl’s life. He drove her to therapy, attended school meetings and spent weekends repairing Linda’s aging house.
The arrangement surprised everyone, including Tom.
He had never imagined himself raising a child.
Annie still refused to speak, but she communicated through drawings.
Most showed ordinary things.
Trees.
Birds.
Houses.
A blue car.
A man holding a flashlight.
Then she began drawing black boots.
The boots appeared everywhere.
In pictures of the Mercer house.
In drawings of dark hallways.
Beside trees and cars.
Sometimes she added mud to the left heel.
Sometimes she drew a silver star beside the laces.
Tom showed the pictures to a child psychologist, Dr. Evelyn Shaw.
“She may associate the boots with whoever frightened her,” Evelyn said.
“And the star?”
“It could be a symbol she remembers. Or it could represent something personal.”
Tom searched the crime scene photographs.
No star-shaped object had been recovered.
He checked local jewelry stores, police insignias and company logos. Nothing matched the simple five-pointed silver star Annie drew.
Marcus continued to discourage the search.
“You’re building an investigation around crayons,” he said.
“I’m listening to the only witness.”
“She never saw the attacker. She was hiding under a bed.”
“How do you know when she started hiding?”
Marcus paused.
It lasted less than a second, but Tom noticed.
“Because that’s where we found her,” Marcus answered.
Tom began documenting every conversation he had with his partner.
He also reopened the missing tip-line investigation without telling Marcus.
David Mercer’s employer, Northbridge Development Group, had received millions of dollars in city contracts. Several projects had gone far over budget, yet company executives continued to receive new contracts.
David had managed financial records for those projects.
The missing cabinet in his home office had likely held documents.
Documents someone had wanted badly enough to enter the house during a storm.
Tom requested the company’s accounting records.
The request was denied by Deputy Chief Raymond Voss, who claimed there was no probable cause.
Marcus seemed relieved.
May you like
That was when Tom first allowed himself to consider an impossible thought.
Marcus might know more than he admitted.
