A temporary arrangement until they had more information about what happened to Elayne. A practical choice, since, as Kowalski pointed out, the Courtyard was closer to the Chestnut Street station than Monty’s apartment, and it was a safe haven for his little girl, because who would think to look for her here?
Monty picked up Lizzy’s folded pajamas and felt something the size of a small book. Unfolding the pajamas, he stared at the pink diary sprinkled with gold stars. It had a latch and a tiny keyhole. He tried the latch, confirming that the diary was locked. A quick feel through the suitcase didn’t turn up a key.
He rubbed his thumb over the stars. A diary? What would a seven-year-old write about? School? Friends? Please, gods, no confessions about a crush on a boy. Not yet.
Before he could wonder too much about the contents, Lizzy yelled, “Daddy! Make the water turn off!”
Monty stuffed the diary in the drawer with Lizzy’s underwear and hurried to make the water turn off.
CHAPTER 17
Watersday, Maius 12
At seven a.m., Douglas Burke gave the phone his typical fierce-friendly smile and waited until the third ring before picking up.
“Chestnut Street station, Captain Burke speaking.”
“Captain,” Vladimir Sanguinati said smoothly. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Of course.”
It was a disappointment, but not a surprise, that the Sanguinati had gotten back to him before the Toland police called to inquire about a missing child.
There were a few reasons why Elayne Borden had sent her child to Lakeside, allowing the girl to travel several hundred miles alone. According to the verbal report he’d received from Officer Kowalski, Lizzy had said her mother was hurt in the belly. Acute intestinal distress could account for Elayne looking hurt or being in pain. It could also account for her decision to send the child to Monty while she sought medical help—especially if she was in enough pain that she wasn’t thinking clearly. Or, considering what had been found in the stuffed bear, maybe she was thinking clearly and realized she couldn’t trust anyone but Monty where Lizzy was concerned.
Or she could have put the child on a train without a backward glance so that she could go off with her new, socially prominent lover unencumbered.
He didn’t think Elayne was that cold or callous where Lizzy was concerned, or that any of his speculations were accurate, but they were arguments he could make if anyone asked why he hadn’t called the Toland police after Lizzy arrived in Lakeside.
Had Monty called anyone in Elayne’s family yet? He didn’t think so, but he would check.
“Did your kinsmen hear anything on the news about a woman being injured or taken ill at the train station yesterday?” Burke asked. The Wolves had talked about dried blood on Lizzy’s bear, but the truth was, the patch of fur that had brushed against some blood was so small, the blood could have come from a fresh cut on someone’s hand, a moment’s jostle while people were boarding the train. A human would have overlooked it. Humans had overlooked it. If that hadn’t been the case, a conductor or someone on the train would have questioned the child about a bloody bear and the absence of an adult.
A hesitation. Then Vlad said, “Stavros considers it part of his work for the Toland Courtyard to read the human newspaper and listen to the news. There was a report yesterday evening about a woman being stabbed at the Toland train station. Dead at the scene. Police investigating. Name withheld until next of kin are notified. When I spoke with him, he hadn’t listened to the morning news, so I don’t know if they’ve named the woman yet.”
“So the police are investigating a suspicious death.”
Lizzy had been on the early westbound train. Next of kin would have been notified well before the evening news aired. If the dead woman and Elayne were one and the same, then someone had known Elayne was dead . . . and hadn’t called the father of her child.
Hadn’t even noticed Lizzy was missing?
Another, longer hesitation before Vlad said, “Train stations are a good hunting ground.”
Burke sat up straight. “Are you saying one of the Sanguinati killed Elayne Borden?”
“No. I’m saying that the Sanguinati are often at train stations, especially stations in larger cities like Toland because so many trains come in and go out, and there is usually an abundance of prey. But the stations also provide a way to study humans. The Sanguinati observe as well as hunt. They weren’t in that part of the Toland station when it happened, so they didn’t see the attack, and they didn’t see the Lizzy get on a train. They became curious about all the activity once the police arrived—and then they listened.”
Great. Were Sanguinati usually in the crowds around a crime scene, drawn by the commotion and the cluster of humans who would make easy prey? Something to think about. Later. “What did they hear?”
“The restroom where the woman was found had an Out of Order sign on the door. The maintenance staff at the station insisted that the sign had been on the men’s restroom door, not the women’s. It was unclear if the woman moved the sign in an attempt to hide or if her attacker moved it to delay anyone finding her. The woman was wearing a small gold key on a long thin chain hidden under her shirt. It was speculated that the key opened the lock on a jewelry box, but the woman’s suitcase wasn’t opened at the station, so the Sanguinati couldn’t say if the box was found.”
Burke scribbled notes. “Anything else?”
“The woman had two tickets for a commuter train going to Hubb NE. She was found shortly before that train left the station, so police searched for her companion among the passengers boarding it but didn’t locate anyone who knew the woman.”
Burke thought for a moment. Had Elayne purchased a second set of tickets to give herself another escape route? Or had one set been a diversion? If Lizzy had both tickets for Lakeside, that could explain why no one had questioned the absence of an adult. Mommy was in the bathroom. Here was her ticket.
Mommy had been in the bathroom. Just not the bathroom on the train.
“Thank you for the information,” Burke began.
“Captain?” Vlad’s voice, which had been conversational up to that point, suddenly chilled. “Has anyone called you or Lieutenant Montgomery to ask about the child?”
Burke felt his heart thump heavy against his chest. “No,” he said, swallowing a sour taste he recognized as fear. “No one has called to ask about the child.”
“That’s what we thought.” Vlad hung up.
Gods above and below, he thought, noticing how his hand trembled as he returned the receiver to its cradle. It was one thing for him to condemn that disregard for the child’s welfare. It was quite another to wonder how the Sanguinati viewed that disregard.
Considering how the terra indigene had reacted to the deaths of cassandra sangue babies, he didn’t think the Others were going to allow humans to make all the decisions where Montgomery’s little girl was concerned.
Burke slumped in his chair but straightened again a moment later when Louis Gresh tapped on his doorway. Waving the bomb squad commander in, he said, “Come in and close the door.” He studied Louis and added, “Aren’t you off duty today?”
“I was supposed to be, but with Monty being off I thought you could use an extra hand.” Louis shrugged. “Did you hear from the Toland police?”
“Nothing from the police yet, but I did hear from the Sanguinati. I called Vlad last night and asked him to make some inquiries with his Toland kinsmen.” Burke blew out a breath. “A woman was attacked and killed yesterday morning at the train station. I’m guessing it was Elayne Borden.”