“So, you didn’t see her leave or see Bianca?” I ask.
“No. I was in the back corner of the room at the clay table. I can’t see the office or the sign-out sheet from there. When I was done handling the situation with the boys, I noticed Gloria was no longer in the room. A few of the others said she took her stuff and left, so I went and checked the sheet. Bianca had signed her out,” Holly says.
“And you’re sure this is her signature?” I ask, pointing to the clipboard.
Holly nods. “You can look back through the sheets from the other days, and I have some on record from other activities and events she has attended.” I nod, and she leads us into the office where she pulls out a file folder and hands me a stack of sheets.
“I keep every sign-out sheet used in the center for a year. There have been occasions where we’ve been asked by the courts to prove a child attends certain programs or was in the center at a certain time, or to show the reliability of a parent. And there are times when I bring these out at budget meetings to show proof of how many children attend certain programs consistently. I like to keep verifiable records. I can say twenty children are here for the weekend yoga class as many times as I want, but the committee is much more compelled by looking at papers that show parents signing their children out on a regular basis. It shows that they were there and stayed through the entire program.”
I look over several of the sheets and compare Bianca’s signatures.
“They aren’t the same. I mean, no one signs things the exact same way every time, but there are some of these that look… odd. The letters are a little shaky or look like she was pressing really hard into the paper. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything. She could have been stressed or tired those days. Both of those can change the way handwriting looks.”
Sam and Holly exchange glances, each looking at the other like they know a secret and are wondering if the other does, too.
“Have you had any interactions with Bianca recently?” he asks her.
It means something more than just the words.
“I spoke to her briefly two days before Gloria went missing,” she tells him.
“How was she?”
“She seemed… distracted. But there was nothing I could do. Without any evidence of anything going on, I had no choice but to let her take her daughter,” Holly says.
“Evidence of what?” I ask.
Sam looks at me with a pained expression.
“Bianca has had some issues with alcohol,” he says. “It’s a problem in her entire family, so she has some genetic predisposition to it, and the stress of being a single mother and dealing with her ex pushes her over the edge sometimes. She was getting much better, but…”
“But maybe she doesn’t remember coming to pick Gloria up because she blacked out. Or maybe she did something to her, and she doesn’t actually have anything to do with the other missing children at all,” I say.
He stares back at me, and I give a single nod. “Good to know.” I look at Holly. “Thank you for your time. You’ve been very helpful.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Sam says a few more words to Holly before following me out, but I don’t care what they are. I just want to be out of that place. He finally calls out to me when I’m almost at the car, and I spin around to look at him.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.
“I should have. I’m sorry.”
“That’s not what I asked. Why didn’t you tell me the mother of a missing child whose disappearance we’re investigating, who also happens to be your ex-girlfriend, has a history of a serious drinking problem?”
“Which part bothers you worse, the mother of the missing child or the fact that she’s my ex?” he asks.
“Don’t try to get cute with me right now, Sam. This could completely change everything about our investigation. You should know that. Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” I ask.
“It’s not something she wants a lot of people to know,” he tells me.
“The woman who works at the community center apparently knows,” I say.
“She knows because Bianca had to go to treatment. In order for Gloria to continue going to the programs at the community center, Bianca had to show she was managing her condition appropriately and making progress. Holly is supposed to help hold her accountable.”
“Apparently, she’s not doing that great of a job.”
“She can’t be with Bianca every single second of her life. She’s not a doctor or a counselor,” he says. “Bianca has to learn to do it for herself.”
“And if she doesn’t? The point is, we jumped right into this situation under the assumption Gloria is another victim of this murderer. But if Bianca was drunk when she came to pick her up, she could have hurt her or done something with her, then gone back to try to cover her tracks acting like she was just coming to pick her up for the first time, not remembering she signed the sheet. This could be a completely different thing.”
“Let me call her, and we’ll ask her a few questions,” he offers.
Ten tense and silent minutes later, Bianca pulls up beside the car and steps out.
“That was fast,” Sam says.
“I didn’t take my lunch yet. What’s going on? Are you here about Gloria?” Her hands come up to cover her mouth as her eyes widen and fill with tears. “Oh, no. Did something happen to her?”
Sam reaches out to touch her arm and calm her.
“We don’t know anything yet,” he says. “We just came here to talk to Holly to see if we could get any additional details. And we wanted to look at the sign-out sheet.”
“Did you see it? It looks like my handwriting, doesn’t it?” she asks.
“We did see it. And it does look like your handwriting. Sometimes.”
Her eyes flicker back and forth between us with uncertainty.
“What do you mean sometimes?” she asks.
“We got a chance to look back through the last several months of sheets and compare your signatures on each. There are a few times where it varies kind of wildly. But other parts of it show you really did write it.”
He pauses, as if he’s trying to give her the chance to just come out and tell him what’s going on, but she keeps staring at him, waiting for him to go on. “Holly says you’ve been drinking again.”
Bianca recoils. Her expression is stung, like Sam hit her.
“She told you that?” she asks, her voice softer now.
“Yes. She’s worried, Bianca. She thinks it’s possible you did come and get Gloria, but then you forgot that you signed her out.”
“Are you blaming me? My daughter is missing, and you’re trying to say it’s my fault because I drink?”
“Not because you drink, but because you have a drinking problem,” I say.
She looks me up and down with disgust. “Where do you come off judging me? Whether or not I drink is none of your business.”
“Actually, it is,” I tell her. “Considering I’m currently assisting with the investigation into the abductions of several children, including yours, it’s the very definition of my business. Right now, we have nothing to go on when it comes to your daughter. No one saw her leave, and there are no cameras recording the community center or the church. I would think members of the staff here who have seen you many times before and know you are connected to Gloria would recognize if a stranger came into the building and left with her.”