Her Mother’s Grave

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Josie’s cell phone rang shortly after Noah left, breaking her thoughts. Those final moments with him had stirred up so many emotions within her, she was having a hard time keeping them down. She answered without looking at the number. A man’s voice asked, “Is this Chief Quinn? Chief Josie Quinn?”

“Yes,” Josie said. “This is Josie Quinn. Who is this?”

“Chief, this is Andrew Bowen returning your call—”

“Oh, yes. I called for two reasons. One is your mother—”

“Yes, my mother,” he interjected. “She told me you called her and asked her to come in for a more formal interview. You should know that she’s retained me as her attorney.”

Josie suppressed a groan. “Let me guess, you have no intention of producing her for an interview because she’s already told my detectives everything she knows. Does that sound right?”

He laughed. “Yep, that about covers it.”

“And if that didn’t work, you were going to cite her age and status in the community and argue that there is no reason to bring her into the police station like some kind of criminal.”

More laughter. “Want to tell me how I’m going to handle my next trial too? I’d really like to know if I win or not.”

“Sorry, I’m not psychic,” Josie said. “Just used to dealing with criminal defense attorneys. So tell me, Mr. Bowen, if your mother hasn’t done anything criminal and has nothing to hide, then why not bring her over for a cup of coffee to answer a few more questions?”

She heard what sounded like him taking a drink. Then he said, “Okay, Chief, what are you really hoping to get here? You questioned Mrs. Bowen about the murder of a girl she barely knew that happened over thirty years ago.”

“I wouldn’t say they barely knew one another,” Josie said. “Several people we spoke to said they were quite close. Your mother even admitted that she became good friends with Belinda after your father took an interest in her. They felt sorry for her because she was a foster child.”

“So what?” Andrew said. “Sure they were friends, but according to my mother—and this was confirmed when you and your detectives came to visit with her—Belinda Rose went missing in 1984. That was almost a year after my mother left the courthouse to be a full-time mom. What do you think she knows that she isn’t telling you?”

A lot, Josie thought. She didn’t believe for a second that Sophia didn’t remember Lila, but she still couldn’t figure out why she would lie about it. Josie could see her lying about her and her husband’s relationship with Belinda Rose. Perhaps Sophia had found out that they were having an affair. Whether it was before or after they became friends was anyone’s guess, but Sophia had stayed with her husband for decades, raised his children, and played the role of dutiful wife. Admitting that she had knowledge of her husband’s affair with a minor over thirty years ago was probably not something she wanted to do. But why lie about knowing Lila?

“Look,” Andrew was saying, drawing Josie out of her thoughts. “My mother is a good woman. She was a faithful wife and an excellent mother. She is active in her church and does a lot of community service and volunteer work. She’s done a lot of charity work in this county to help local foster children. I just don’t understand why you are dragging her into this investigation when she has nothing to do with it. You’re going to have to help me digest that. Otherwise, I would definitely not recommend that she meet with you or any of your detectives again. Certainly not at the police station. Now, what was the other thing you called about? Is it a different case?”

For the moment, Josie abandoned the topic of the formal interview.

“It was a personal question,” Josie said. “Nothing to do with a case.”

There was a beat of silence. Then he said, “Okay, I guess. Can’t promise I’ll answer, but go for it.”

“When you were growing up, did you ever have… extra teeth?”

“Supernumerary teeth?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. “Exactly.”

“Err. Yeah, I did. My mom took me to have them removed as soon as they grew in. She was always worried I would grow more, but nothing ever came of it. We had to go to a special oral surgeon in Philadelphia. Apparently, it’s pretty rare.”

“I’ve heard that,” Josie said.

“How on earth did you know about that? What’s this about?”

“Wild guess,” Josie said. “I’m sorry, Mr. Bowen. I’ve got to go. It’s an emergency.”