From a Single Seed: A Novel Read online

  “What are the friends’ names?”

  “All I know is Greta and Jenna, no last names.”

  “Do you know Shannon’s boyfriend?”

  “Jake?”

  “I thought his name was Keenan.”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  “Who’s Jake?”

  “He’s her HTH.”

  “Huh?”

  “Home Town Honey.”

  “They still together?”

  “No, I mean, not really.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “They agreed to see other people when they went away to college.”

  “And Shannon was seeing Keenan?”

  “Right.”

  “But she was also still seeing Jake?”

  “Yeah. But don’t judge her. It’s not like it sounds.”

  “I’m not interested in judging her. I just want to know where to look for her. You know how to get in touch with this Jake guy?”

  “No idea, but he’s from her home town. Shouldn’t be hard to find.”

  “Of course not.” Dustin didn’t appreciate the rich college girl telling him how to do his job. “I just thought you might know, save me some work. So, can you tell me who might have seen her after you last saw her?”

  “You should talk to Greta and Jenna. I’m pretty sure that’s who she was going out with.”

  “Okay, thanks for your help. If you think of anything or hear anything that would help with our investigation, please give me a call.”

  “I will. Officer?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Do you think Shannon’s okay?”

  “I hope so,” Dustin said. But it was starting to look doubtful.

  After a phone call to Shannon’s parents, Dustin tracked down Jake Miller in California.

  “When did you last speak with Shannon?” Dustin said.

  “I don’t know. It’s been a while. She hasn’t answered my calls or texts in a few days.”

  “I understand you go to Columbia. That’s in New York City, right?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “When did you leave to go back home?”

  “I flew out last Thursday.”

  “Can you prove that?”

  “Probably, why?”

  “Shannon hasn’t been seen since Friday, more than forty-eight hours ago. People who knew her, like you, are going to need to account for their time, their whereabouts around the time she was last seen.”

  “Okay. How about a copy of my itinerary from Delta? I could forward it by email.”

  “Sure. That would be great.”

  “Officer, you think somebody did something to Shannon, don’t you?”

  “I hope not. That’s why we investigate. To rule out the possibilities.”

  Using the skating club list, it was easy to locate Greta and Jenna. He called Greta first.

  “Oh my God, Shannon’s missing?”

  “I understand you were one of the last people to see her.”

  “I went to the party with her, but I think she left with Keenan.”

  “About what time would that have been?”

  “I’m really not sure. Around eleven o’clock maybe?”

  “But you’re sure you didn’t see her after the party?”

  “Absolutely. I only saw her for a few minutes after Keenan showed up.”

  “Was everything okay with those two?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, for example, did Shannon and Keenan have any sort of fight or argument?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Do you have any idea where she went after the party?”

  “You’d have to ask Keenan.”

  “One more thing. Was she using drugs or anything?”

  “No, Shannon’s not like that.”

  “I heard that maybe she was drunk.”

  “She didn’t seem like it to me.”

  “Okay. If you hear from Shannon or you think of anything else that might help us find her, please let me know.”

  Jenna called Dustin back an hour after he left her a message.

  “I just heard about Shannon,” she said.

  “I understand you were with her last Friday, the last day of the term.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Can you tell me what you remember about that night?”

  “I just talked to Greta about it, and we remember it the same way. We went to the party, and then Shannon disappeared not long after Keenan showed up.”

  “You’re sure she left with Keenan?”

  “She must have because she didn’t leave with us.”

  “Did anything seem wrong between them, like were they fighting?”

  “I really can’t say.”

  “How drunk was she that night?”

  “She wasn’t that bad. She drove to the party.”

  “Whose vehicle did she drive?”

  “She drove her Golf.”

  “Where did she park it?”

  “I don’t know. Somewhere on Maple Street.”

  “Did you happen to notice if it was still there when you left?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t think to look.”

  “Okay, when you get back to town, I’ll need you to give me a written statement.”

  POLICE CHIEF Harold Higgenbottom hated dealing with parents of college students. They usually started calling him when they were unhappy with the answers they had gotten from someone else in his department. He almost never got complaints from the local citizens, but for some reason college parents seemed to have no problem calling him whenever Junior had a run-in with the law, as if they somehow deserved special treatment because they paid as much as his salary in tuition each year.

  “Chief, Olivia Dawson’s on the line. Again. You want to talk to her?” the dispatcher said over the intercom.

  “You’d better put her through.” Two seconds later the phone rang and he picked it up.

  “This is the chief.” He never answered the phone, “Chief Higgenbottom,” even though it might have sounded more professional. He preferred to be called plain “chief” by his subordinates, so that’s what he called himself. He’d never told anyone, but it made him feel in league with Celtics great Robert Parrish, who also went by the nickname. Besides, he’d never liked his name.

  “Please tell me you have some news.” Olivia Dawson’s voice was like sandpaper. The chief suspected she had been drinking coffee around the clock for two days.

  “Sorry, Mrs. Dawson. I was hoping you had something for me.”

  “No, we keep hitting dead ends. You have to be doing better.”

  “I have one officer working full time on this, but he hasn’t turned up anything yet.”

  “Just one? My daughter has been missing for two days and you think that’s enough?”

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Dawson, but we’re a small department. One man full time is a significant commitment. I have total confidence in his work. Besides, we don’t know for sure that your daughter didn’t just take off. College students have been known to do that.”

  “Not my daughter.”

  After he hung up, the chief rubbed his eyes and called Dustin Shores into his office.

  “Please tell me you’ve got a lead.”

  “Not a realistic one.”

  “What have you got?”

  “The girls Shannon went to the party with said she left with Keenan Brody. Nobody saw her afterward.”

  “What about Shannon’s roommate?”

  “Tessa. She said Shannon didn’t sleep in the room on Friday night, but it wasn’t the first time, so she didn’t really think much of it.”

  “Did she have any idea where Shannon might be?”

  Dustin shook his head. “Tessa left town early Saturday morning. And apparently, they weren’t close. Not really friends, just assigned roommates. She knew Shannon was dating a hockey player, but didn’t even know his name. That’s why it took so long to track him down.”

  “So, what are
you left with?”

  “The boyfriend said something about Maine.”

  “Maine?”

  “I think he’s just trying to get us to chase our tails, keep us from looking at him.”

  “Should we be looking at him?”

  “Probably. I listened to the tape of my conversation with him again. I think he’s lying. Something about him just doesn’t seem right.”

  “What did he say?” The chief was twirling a pen around the fingers of his right hand, a habit he started when he quit smoking years ago.

  “Well, at first he denied that Shannon was his girlfriend. Then he was really vague about the last time he saw her. And he kept referring to her in the past tense.”

  “That’s weird,” the chief said.

  “Yeah,” Dustin said. “Like maybe he knows she’s dead.”

  “She may well be.”

  “I know. Missing two days. It’s a long time for a kid in her circumstances.”

  “You really think the boyfriend has something to do with her disappearance?”

  “You know the statistics. And it’s not like we have any other leads.”

  The chief pursed his lips and nodded. “Could be random, like the Patricia Scoville case in Stowe. It took fourteen years and DNA to solve that one.”

  “Could be.”

  “When was the last time anyone saw her?” the chief said.

  “Friday night at a party. She was with some girls from her skating club. Apparently, she likes to skate. That’s how she met hockey boy.”

  “Hockey, huh?” The chief raised an eyebrow.

  “That’s part of why my gut’s having issues with the boyfriend.”

  “I get that. But keep working on the timeline. We need to figure out who was the last one to see her alive, then maybe we can figure out where she disappeared.”

  Chapter 4

  Thursday, October 10, 2014

  KEENAN SHOWED up for dinner with a single red rose tucked inside his jacket. There was a convenience store on the edge of campus that always had a supply of roses on the counter. After practice, he had showered quickly so he would have time to detour to the store. It was cliché, but he didn’t have time for anything more creative.

  When he arrived at the dining hall, the sparkly girl was sitting with her friends, but didn’t have a tray in front of her. She got up to meet him.

  “I was afraid you wouldn’t show,” Keenan said.

  “You won the bet, fair and square,” she said.

  They got their trays and went through the food line. Keenan didn’t want to look like a cretin, so he took less than normal. Besides, he was too excited to eat.

  “Are you really going to eat all that?” she said. She had a single baked potato on her plate.

  “I burn a lot of calories at practice.”

  “You must, because without your pads you don’t look heavy. You definitely don’t look like you weigh two hundred and ten pounds.”

  It took Keenan a second to process. “You looked me up on the roster,” he said.

  “I had to. I couldn’t have dinner with you without knowing your name. Could I, Keenan Brody?”

  Keenan felt himself blush. “Now I’m at a severe disadvantage because I don’t know yours.”

  “I guess you are. Why don’t you go grab that empty table while I get a salad.”

  Keenan sat alone at the table and watched her make her way through the salad bar. Even without her sparkly tights and in the artificial light of the dining hall, she shone.

  As soon as she was seated across from him, he took the rose out of his jacket and placed it on her tray. She smiled.

  “It’s Shannon. My name, that is.”

  “Shannon,” Keenan tried the sound of her name and smiled. “Are you a nice Irish girl, then?” he said with a fake brogue.

  “Afraid not,” she said. “I’m pretty sure my mother just liked the name.”

  “My mother will like it too. She insisted on giving all us kids Irish names.”

  “Are you Irish?”

  “Nope,” said Keenan. “I’m one of the few Vermonters who go to Masterson. I think my mother was just rebelling against her French Canadian family when she named us. Where are you from?”

  “Solana Beach, California.”

  “What’s it near?”

  “San Diego.”

  “You surf?”

  “A little. But skating is more my thing.”

  “I noticed. How did you learn to skate like that?”

  “I used to compete.”

  “I don’t think of southern California as exactly a skating mecca.”

  “It’s not. But there’s a rink with a good program half an hour from our house. My mom put me on skates when I was three. I think she was hoping I would make it to the Olympics.”

  “I take it you didn’t make it.”

  “I wouldn’t be here if I did.”

  “I guess that’s two things we have in common––not being in the Olympics and skating at three. Thanks to the second one, I’m just as comfortable on skates as I am in shoes,” Keenan said.

  “I could tell. Now tell me the truth. Was that really your first Salchow? You have a sister that figures skates, don’t you?”

  “No way. Both my sisters play hockey. I’m just a quick study. And I was extremely motivated to get it right.”

  Shannon laughed.

  “How about Saturday night you let me take you some place other than the dining hall?” Keenan said.

  “Okay.”

  “You like Chinese?”

  “Love it.”

  They sat and talked until the serving line closed and the workers began to pack up the remaining food. A janitor started putting the chairs upside down on the tables so he could mop. Shannon looked around. They were the only students left in the dining hall.

  “They’re going to kick us out,” she said.

  Keenan glanced at his watch. “You’re right. Technically, the dining hall closed five minutes ago. We’d better get going.”

  Keenan insisted on walking her back to her dorm.

  “You really don’t have to,” Shannon said. “It’s not far, and it’s not like Middleton Falls, Vermont is a dangerous place.”

  “I know. But my wannabe Irish mother would kill me if I let a girl named Shannon walk home alone.”

  After she had gone inside, Keenan picked up his pace. It wasn’t that he wanted to get back to his dorm. He doubted that he could study if he tried right now. He just had so much energy. He found himself whistling “Something” by the Beatles. Jeezum, next he’d be singing Elton John songs in the shower.

  Chapter 5

  Monday, December 23, 2013

  I CAN’T believe it took two days to get someone from the college to let us into the girl’s room,” Dustin said. “For all we know, we’re going to find her dead body.” He was standing outside Shannon and Tessa’s second-floor dorm room and watching the chief read code numbers off a yellow sticky note and enter them into a keypad. He was a little surprised that the chief was actively participating in the investigation; he usually just gave advice and kept an eye on things from his office.

  “No, we won’t,” the chief said. “You said Masterson Public Safety did a wellness check at her room on Saturday night after her parents reported her missing.”

  Dustin shrugged. “They said they did. So, why’d it take so long for us to get access?”

  “Apparently, the college policy was unclear and the Dean of Students is out of town for the holidays. The college doesn’t allow law enforcement access to dorm rooms without a search warrant or the consent of the students. Nobody wanted to be the one to go against the policy.”

  “Do they want us to find this girl or not?” It sure felt like the answer was not.

  “The Dawsons finally got someone to see reason on this, but I had to agree we won’t touch the roommate’s stuff. I’m surprised they didn’t send another dean with us.”

  “Probably all busy with the holi
days. It seems overboard to be worrying about the roommate’s privacy when there’s a girl missing.”

  “Tell me about it. I think it’s shorthand for ‘Don’t prosecute the roommate if you find drugs.’” There was a click and the chief pushed the door open. “We need to take photos as we go, in case this turns into a criminal investigation.”

  “Of course. I’ll do it.” Dustin took a camera out of its case. He snapped a photo of the blank whiteboard on the outside of the door before following the chief inside.

  “And keep an inventory of everything we find that belongs to Shannon.”

  The room felt small for the amount of stuff that was crammed inside. There were two twin beds, two dressers, and two desks, all of which appeared to be standard issue. It was obvious which side belonged to Shannon––there were several framed and autographed photographs of figure skaters over her bed. The embroidered pillow with the name “Tessa” on the other bed was also a giveaway. Dustin moved around the room taking photos.

  Tessa’s side of the room was orderly. Her bed was crisply made. Her books were stacked neatly on her desk. Her closet had only summer clothing hanging.

  Shannon’s side wasn’t messy, but it wasn’t as organized as Tessa’s. Her bed looked like the covers had been pulled up quickly. Her desk was still littered with papers and what appeared to be an open biology textbook. Inside her doorless closet were an insulated parka and a pair of fleece-lined boots.

  “If she took off, she was going somewhere warm,” the chief said.

  “This doesn’t look good,” Dustin said.

  “You look through her dresser. I’ll take the desk.”

  “Looks like it’s just clothes here,” Dustin said. “And there’s a rolling suitcase in the back of the closet.”

  “That’s not good either.”

  “Nope.”

  “Here’s something we’re going to want to log into evidence.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Looks to me like a very expensive Macbook,” the chief said and opened the laptop.

  “I can’t imagine she’d just leave it behind.”

  “Me neither,” the chief said.

  “Hopefully, we can can figure out how to get into it. It’s probably password protected.”

  “If the parents don’t know the password, we can send it up to the tech guys in Burlington.”