Harm's Reach

9

Ingrid Prince followed Ren’s gaze down to her belly. She looked up at her.

‘I know... can you believe it?’ she said. ‘Laura finds out she’s pregnant and, two months later, I do.’

‘So, you’re four months along?’ said Ren.

Ingrid nodded. She welled up. ‘This is not right. Poor Laura... the baby... and... I get to...’ She shook her head. ‘I’m still here. My baby’s here. It’s too much.’

‘I’m going to make a call to our victim advocate,’ said Janine. ‘She can come stay with you until... are you expecting your husband back tonight?’

Ingrid nodded. ‘He’ll come back now.’

‘OK,’ said Janine. ‘We’ll have someone wait with you, if you think that’s something you’d like?’

‘Thank you,’ said Ingrid. ‘Yes.’

Ren waited until Janine had made the call.

‘Was this a robbery?’ said Ingrid. ‘Was anything taken from the car?’

‘Her purse was there, her suitcase...’ said Ren. ‘We don’t know what else she may have had with her.’

‘And she was just found, alone, in her car...’ said Ingrid.

‘Yes,’ said Ren.

‘What a horrible way to... I just didn’t think this was going to be... the news I would hear. I was worried about her when she didn’t return, but I was worried because she was pregnant, you know, that she might have taken ill. I thought maybe she had been admitted into hospital. Apart from that, I thought maybe she had met up with the father of her baby... I know the relationship didn’t end well.’

‘Do you know his name?’ said Ren.

‘I’m sorry, I don’t,’ said Ingrid. ‘Laura mentioned an old boyfriend called Johnny once or twice, but she never gave the name of the baby’s father. She said that she didn’t want anything to do with him. She just said that he was bad news. And, sorry — he’s Irish... that’s the only other thing I know.’

‘Did she say where he lived?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Ingrid.

‘But you thought she had met up with him in Chicago?’ said Janine.

‘No, no — I thought that maybe he could have known her friend, or followed Laura... or waited with the friend if he had heard Laura was going to visit. I’ve had all day to think these things... but nothing came close to the reality.’

‘Does the father of the baby know that she’s pregnant?’ said Janine.

‘I don’t know,’ said Ingrid.

‘When did Laura tell you she was pregnant?’ said Ren.

‘About six weeks ago,’ said Ingrid.

‘And did she plan to continue to work for you?’ said Janine.

‘Absolutely,’ said Ingrid. ‘Obviously she would be taking some time off, but...’ Her voice cracked and she began to cry again. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘I just can’t believe this is happening. The baby, everything, it’s just so sad. Laura’s had a tough time, she was a strong person to come through that, and this is what happens? It’s so wrong.’

‘I know,’ said Ren. ‘So, Laura’s baby was due in September...’

‘Yes,’ said Ingrid.

‘And what was the plan in terms of work?’ said Ren.

‘Well — we summer in the Hamptons,’ said Ingrid.

Summer is not a verb.

‘We were happy to hire staff there,’ said Ingrid, ‘and Laura would be back to work when she was ready. This might not sound orthodox, but, as I said, we’re like family.’

‘And, speaking of family,’ said Janine, ‘do you have details of Laura’s?’

‘That’s another tragic story,’ said Ingrid. ‘Her parents both passed away in Ireland within a few years of each other. Laura was still in college at the time. Laura’s sister, Saoirse, had already moved to New York and Laura followed her over. Within months of Laura arriving, her sister died.’

‘How?’ said Ren.

‘She was out... partying,’ said Ingrid. ‘It was Laura’s twenty-first. Saoirse fell down some stairs at a bar. She’d been drinking. It was just a freak thing.’

‘That’s a lot for Laura to have gone through for such a young woman,’ said Ren. ‘What kind of support did she have?’

‘Well, me,’ said Ingrid. ‘And some friends, but not many. She was a sweet, shy kind of girl.’

‘And where did she hang out in New York?’ said Ren.

‘Different Irish bars,’ said Ingrid. ‘I don’t know which ones. You might find out more on Facebook... I presume you’ll be checking that? But she really hadn’t gone out much in the past few months. She said she just didn’t feel like it. We’d stay in and watch TV, watch movies — if Robert was working late or traveling or out at a function that I wasn’t attending.’

‘Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to harm Laura?’

‘No... but do you not think this was random?’ said Ingrid.

‘We don’t know yet,’ said Ren.

‘Mrs Prince,’ said Janine, ‘Laura had a return ticket from Denver to Chicago, but she chose to drive a rental car back.’

‘What?’ said Ingrid. ‘I have no idea why she would do that. That’s a long drive... especially if you’re pregnant.’

‘Did you speak with her over the weekend?’ said Janine.

‘She just called me on Thursday night from Chicago to say that she had arrived safely,’ said Ingrid. ‘And she said she’d see me Sunday. Last night...’

‘Were you to pick her up at the airport?’ said Ren.

‘No,’ said Ingrid. ‘She was going to get a cab home.’

‘What time was she due back?’ said Ren.

‘I was expecting her around ten,’ said Ingrid. ‘But I had gone to bed. I was exhausted. I didn’t notice she hadn’t returned until this morning.’

‘And where was your husband?’ said Ren.

‘Robert’s been in New York for the past five days,’ said Ingrid. ‘He travels back and forth. I spoke with him last night, he asked about Laura. I said... she was late, but I was sure she was fine...’ Her eyes filled with tears. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘No need to apologize,’ said Janine. ‘Mrs Prince, can you tell us how long you’ve been staying in Golden?’

‘Since November,’ said Ingrid. ‘We were kind of using it as a base for ski season. Loveland is the closest resort to Denver, Golden’s halfway between the two...’

‘And now it’s May,’ said Ren. ‘You decided to stay on...’

Ingrid nodded. ‘I love it here, so does Laura... did Laura. Robert is getting busier and busier...’

‘Mrs Prince, was there anything unusual in Laura’s behavior recently?’ said Ren.

Ingrid took a while to answer. ‘No... I’m trying really hard to think. No. She was a little upset about her friend’s mother...’

‘What friend?’

‘The friend she went to visit in Chicago. Nessa Lally. She was from the same town in Waterford. You might find her on Laura’s Facebook... The trip was last minute. Nessa’s mother died back in Ireland, but Nessa’s illegal, so she couldn’t risk flying back for the funeral. Laura said she was devastated. Oh God, you’re not going to report the girl to immigration or anything, are you?’

‘No,’ said Ren. ‘We just need to speak with her, find out some more about their trip and why Laura didn’t fly back to Denver. Were there any problems at work, Mrs Prince — anything you can think of that might have made Laura reluctant to come back?’

‘To us? No, not at all,’ said Ingrid, ‘like I said, we were like family. We were very close, and Robert was like a father to her.’

‘The trip and the shooting might not be connected,’ said Janine. ‘We just need to get a sense of Laura, what might have been going on in her life.’

‘So on the day before she left,’ said Ren, ‘did anything happen out of the ordinary?’

‘No,’ said Ingrid. ‘Not that I can think of. She was quiet, but she had just heard about Nessa’s mother that morning — Wednesday. We were just watching TV that night, hanging out... and now... now she’s gone.’

Ren sat forward. ‘Mrs Prince, have you ever heard Laura mention a place called Evergreen Abbey?’

‘No,’ said Ingrid. ‘Abbey? Like, nuns?’

‘There used to be nuns,’ said Ren. ‘Now, it’s a community of women who do a lot of work for charity. But it’s also, effectively, a shelter for women...’

‘Shelter?’ said Ingrid, ‘but Laura would have no reason to go to a shelter.’ She paused. ‘We... we were her shelter... Robert and I.’

The hurt in her voice was heart-wrenching. ‘I understand,’ said Ren. ‘Do you think Laura might have had a friend who went there? Did she mention anyone who was in trouble or worried about something or trying to get away from a bad situation? Could she have been going there to visit someone?’

‘Not that I know of,’ said Ingrid. ‘She talked a little about her friends, but she was quite private. I knew about the Chicago girl only recently. It was like Laura mentioned friends when it was a big event, an engagement, a wedding, a baby, a funeral. But, you know, if a friend was in trouble and was running away from something, I don’t think Laura was the type to betray a confidence. I can’t see her telling me that.’

‘Mrs Prince,’ said Janine, ‘it looks like Laura may have had some information on a cold case from here in Jefferson County. Bearing in mind she is from Ireland, she lives in New York, she is young, she has a small circle of friends, it is quite extraordinary that she could have information. Is this something she was interested in? Cold cases? Websleuthing?’

‘Not that I’m aware of,’ said Ingrid. ‘She read crime novels, but so do I. Websleuthing — she had access to our computer — I’m sure you can find that out.’

‘Can we take a look at the computer?’ said Ren.

‘Of course,’ said Ingrid. ‘You can take that away with you.’ She reached over to a side table and handed a laptop to Ren.

‘Did Laura ever mention a place called The Flying G Ranch?’ said Janine.

‘No,’ said Ingrid. ‘Where is that?’

‘It adjoins Evergreen Abbey,’ said Janine. ‘Although The Flying G is now The Darned Heart Ranch for troubled teens.’

Ingrid shook her head.

‘Has Laura ever mentioned the name Margaret or Peggy Beck?’ said Janine.

‘No. Who are they?’ said Ingrid.

‘She’s a young girl who was murdered there in the early Sixties. Peggy was her nickname.’

‘What has that got to do with Laura?’ said Ingrid.

‘We’re just trying to connect some dots,’ said Ren.

As opposed to showing our hand.

‘Well, she hasn’t mentioned either of those places to me.’

‘OK,’ said Ren. She stood up. ‘Well that’s all for now, Mrs Prince. We are so sorry for your loss. If there’s anything else you can think of, please call either myself or Detective Hooks.’

They handed her their cards.

‘The more information we have the better, obviously,’ said Janine.

‘Of course,’ said Ingrid.

‘How can we reach your husband?’ said Ren.

‘I know he has meetings in New York all day today,’ said Ingrid. ‘I’m sure he’ll fly here as soon as I can get hold of him. I’ll get him to call you right away.’

Janine’s cell phone buzzed, and the doorbell rang within seconds. ‘That’s the victim advocate,’ she said, ‘let me go get her.’

Ingrid started weeping. ‘Victim advocate...’ she said. ‘I can’t believe I need a victim advocate...’