Page 41 of Haunted By Sin
Clouds floated lazily across the sky, allowing rays of sunlight to drift intermittently across the SUV’s dashboard. The thunderstorms had moved out of the area late last night. Given that the storm front had taken with it the humidity, there was a slight chill that lingered in the morning air.
Sylvie had dropped Theo off at the hospital around twenty minutes ago. Theo had wanted to obtain security footage of the hospital’s elevator banks that served the ICU. While the recordings would be forwarded to Bit for further analysis, Theo preferred to examine the three-day footage himself to quickly ascertain if any of the suspects they had on their list had attempted to visit Sheila Wallace.
“Damn it,” Sylvie muttered as she stared down at the tablet in her hands.
She had read through the case files that Fred Dawkins had emailed her the other day. As a matter of fact, she had gone over them multiple times, but she was just now noticing that a page had been left out of Mitch Swilling’s file. Just to make sure that she wasn’t missing a specific section of Mitch’s history somewhere, she closed out the document and gently pressed the screen to regain access.
There was no denying that the file wasn’t complete.
Sylvie glanced out the passenger side window. She was currently parked outside of Andrea Simpson’s residence. Sylvie’s intention was to locate Mitch Swilling. The only one who had that information was Andrea, but Sylvie would prefer to be armed with as much information as possible.
With a sigh of resignation, Sylvie reached into her purse. She had already turned the engine off, so her phone was no longer connected to the Bluetooth. She exited the document once more to access Fred Dawkins’ contact information. Once it was on the screen, she pressed the corresponding numbers.
Holding the phone to her ear, she listened to the dull, repetitive ring. After several peals, she was met with Dawkins’ voicemail. Sylvie kept the irritation from her voice as she explained the situation. She disconnected the line after requesting that he email her the missing documents as soon as possible.
With no immediate way to fill in the blanks, Sylvie tucked her tablet into her purse. She pulled the key from the ignition, secured the strap of her purse over her shoulder, and stepped out of the SUV. Just in case Fred called back, she kept ahold of her phone as she shut the driver’s side door.
The suburban neighborhood was quiet this time of the morning. Not even the distant hum of a lawnmower could be heard in the distance. Sylvie walked up the driveway, toward the thin pathway that led to the front door. She raised her hand and knocked firmly.
After a few seconds, Sylvie could hear the shuffle of footsteps. The inner door opened, revealing Andrea Simpson. They might have been separated by the flimsy barrier of a screen door, but it was impossible to miss the way the woman tensed and became wary at the sight of her visitor.
“Ms. Deering. What are you doing back here?”
“I need to speak with you about Mitch Swilling.” Sylvie opened the screen door, not wanting to give Andrea the chance to slam the door shut. “I have some follow-up questions for him, but we can’t seem to locate him. Do you happen to know where he is staying?”
Andrea regarded Sylvie for a long moment before she released her hold on the doorknob. She opened the inner door wider, motioning for Sylvie to enter the house.
“Why do you want to speak with Mitch?” The wariness in Andrea’s tone suggested that she had invited Sylvie inside to collect more information. It wasn’t all that hard to detect the edge in her tone…a protective one at that. “I’m sure I can answer anything that you need to know from back then.”
Sylvie stepped over the threshold. The faint odor of cigarette smoke still lingered in the air, but the smell took a backseat to the burnt scent of toast. She didn’t see any sign of food in the living room, though.
“You love him.” Sylvie normally wouldn’t have made such an assumption, but Andrea wasn’t going to give up Mitch’s location without good reason. Even then, there was a good chance that Sylvie left here without an address. “Don’t you?”
Andrea crossed her arms as she stood near the couch. She didn’t reply, but she also didn’t meet Sylvie’s knowing stare. There was only one avenue left for Sylvie, so she took it.
“Have you been watching the news lately? Keeping up on current events?” Sylvie asked before taking a seat in the same chair as she had on her previous visit. She set her purse in the same spot, only she kept her phone in her hand. “Three women named Mary Jane Reynolds have been murdered over the course of seven months. All of them resided in the state of Michigan. You see, a woman by the name of Mary Jane Reynolds was the recipient of Sheila Wallace’s heart. Unfortunately, the killer wasn’t privy to which Mary Jane Reynolds was the actual recipient. He has taken it upon himself to kill every single woman with that name until finds his target…all to ensure that her heart stops beating.”
“And you think Mitch murdered those women?” Andrea’s features lost all color. Her response indicated that she had heard about the three previous murders, but she hadn’t connected them to Sheila. If Mitch was their unsub, he hadn’t mentioned the name Mary Jane Reynolds to Andrea. “Mitch isn’t a killer. I don’t know why you would believe he is capable of murdering someone, but you’re wrong.”
“Andrea, someone doesn't want Sheila's heart to beat any longer,” Sylvie stressed as she pushed a little harder. “I’m not accusing Mitch of being that person, but I do need to speak with him. Mitch made some previous claims about Sheila, but Fred Dawkins indicated that the stories were embellished at the time. All I want to do is verify the information that I received from social services.”
“What claims? Because I don’t believe that Mitch would have said anything that the rest of us didn’t say back then,” Andrea protested as she lowered her arms and finally sat on the couch. “Sheila had strict rules. As long as we adhered to them, she let us be. She didn’t care what we did or where we went, as long as we followed her house rules. As we told you the other day, there were worse places to be. We all grew up and went our own way. None of us are capable of murder, though.”
The room seemed to contract around them. They were at a crossroads. It didn’t appear that Andrea was going to give up Mitch’s location, but Sylvie wasn’t ready to walk away just yet. She needed some time to think of another approach.
“Would you mind getting me some water?” Sylvie asked with a small smile, attempting to ease the tension in the room. “I’d also like to use your bathroom, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure,” Andrea replied as she stood from the couch. She gestured toward the small hallway in front of the foyer. “Through there. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“Thank you.”
Sylvie advanced across the living room, noting that the small hallway most likely led to the kitchen from the other side. Andrea, on the other hand, had walked directly through the living and underneath the arch, disappearing from view. Sylvie didn’t need the facilities, but she did use the time to wash her hands in the bathroom sink. Doing so gave her time to think of another way to obtain Mitch’s current location.
As Sylvie exited the bathroom, she retraced her steps toward the living room. She hesitated when she spotted a small, thin latch underneath the staircase. Coming to a stop, she inspected what at first appeared to be a wall, the kind with white wooden panels that followed the sharp incline of the staircase. Only this wall had what appeared to be a small door. Since the latch had been painted white, the metal had blended into the background.
Sylvie hesitated, compelled to find out what was behind the wooden panels. She certainly didn’t have a warrant to search the premises, but she had also been invited inside. In all likelihood, Andrea used the space as a storage area for additional rolls of toilet paper and extra hand towels.
“What are you doing?”