From Pharaoh's Hand (9 page)

             
“Honey....” John began as he entered the bedroom.  He stopped short when he saw Carolyn on the bed holding the picture. 

             
     “I failed her John.  I failed my daughter.  She needed me and couldn’t come to me when she got in trouble.”

             
“You were ...you
are
a wonderful mother.  You can’t keep beating yourself up over this.  We taught Beth right from wrong.  We took her to church.   We did everything in our power to protect her.  Honey, sometimes bad things happen.  We’re not better than anyone else.  Life’s dealt us a sorry hand, babe.  But we have to trust that God is in control.  I have to trust that God is in control.  I have to.  That’s what gets me through each day.”

             
John tenderly took the photo from her and scooted the album to the middle of the spread.  He sat down beside his wife, took her into his arms, and held her.  And as he held her, he began to quietly pray for sufficient grace and strength for both of them to make it through one more day. 
Just one more day, Lord. 

Chapter 8

Wrongly Accused

“
Why have ye done this thing?”

              The investigators working the case knew that the odds of finding Elizabeth alive after all this time were slim after fishing her backpack from the Tennessee River and finding out that she was pregnant. Their attention turned to Chris as the primary suspect. They began conducting extensive interviews with all of Elizabeth’s school and church friends, asking them about Elizabeth’s relationship with Chris. Most of her girlfriends confirmed that Chris and Elizabeth were dating. None of them confirmed any sexual activity between the two, until they interviewed Crystal, who, went into immediate hysterics when the backpack was found.

             
“Oh no. She’s dead?” Her eyes welled up with tears, her lip trembled and her hands began to shake as well. 

     “
We don’t know that. A body has not been found, despite what the papers released. The reporter was trigger happy.  That reporter wrote up the story in anticipation of a body, and mistakenly sent it across the AP wires. All we actually found was the backpack with the pregnancy test inside.”

     “
Pregnancy test?”

             
“Yes, and since the backpack was waterproof, the test was preserved quite well. It indicated that whoever took the test was pregnant.”

             
Crystal paled. Her eyes widened as she looked away from the investigator’s stare.

     “
Is that news to you, or did you already know?”

             
“No. I...no…I didn’t know.” Crystal leaned over the table and buried her head in her hands, sobbing. “I told her to be careful. She swore after the first time they used protection.”

     “
The first time? Who was she sleeping with Crystal?”

             
“Chris.”

     “
Chris, her boyfriend?”

             
“Yes.”

     “
Is that the only boy she was sleeping with that you know of?”
              “Yes.”

     “
She told you she had been with Chris?”

             
“Yes, after the Homecoming game she came to me and told me they did it in the car out on Bascomb Road.”

             
“She told you this? And the Homecoming game, when was it?”
     “Yes. It was back in November. Right before Thanksgiving. You think Chris had something to do with her being missing? Chris wouldn’t do anything to her.”

             
“Well, uh, let’s just say, we have some questions for him as well. Anything else you can tell us about her relationship with Chris, Crystal?”

             
“She told me she was spending the night at Chris’s the night before she disappeared. I already told you all that. But Chris said he hadn’t seen her since school. Chris thought she was at my house. Believe me, he didn’t know.”

      “
Well, we will talk to Chris about his whereabouts again.  Maybe there are some things Chris hasn’t told us.”

             
“Can I go now?”

      “
Of course, but call us if you think of anything else you can remember. Anything, you understand?”

     “
Yes sir. Please find her. She’s my best friend.”

          “
We hope to find her safe and well. Take care, Crystal.”

             
After Crystal exited, the investigator decided to go to the school and pay a surprise visit to Chris. Interviews went so much better with the suspect if he was caught off guard. He would ask Chris about his sexual relationship with Beth and why he hadn’t told the police about it before. He would also get Chris’s alibi for the night before. The investigator was sure that Chris had something to do with the young girl’s disappearance. He was sure Elizabeth had drowned in the Tennessee River, or been disposed of there.

             
The biggest piece of the puzzle was why she was in Memphis the night she disappeared. Had Chris taken her to Memphis for an abortion, Elizabeth chickened out, and Chris decided to kill her? The last known trail ended with Elizabeth checking into the Wingate. The keys were left in the room. The clerk did not know what time she checked out. He could have killed her that night, transported her to back through Jackson, then on to the Tennessee River and disposed of her. But that was illogical with the Mississippi River so convenient to the Wingate. But then murderers, especially teenage murderers, were never logical. It did not fit with the casino driver’s story that Elizabeth had ridden the bus alone to Memphis. Did Chris follow her? Was she abducted by a stranger in Memphis? How did she end up in the Tennessee River? He would have a slew of questions for Chris to answer this afternoon.

             
Chris was sitting in trigonometry class trying to concentrate on the teacher’s lecture. His mind was on Beth and the findings in the river. He could not believe what his dad had read in the paper this morning -- that a body had been found and DNA tests were going to be done. Was it Beth? It was useless to try and concentrate with this latest news on his mind. She had been his girlfriend. And now something bad had happened to her. And they thought she was pregnant. Pregnant. How could that be?  He was still thinking about that first time when the principal stuck his head into the classroom.

             
“We need to speak to Chris Daily, please for a few moments.” Chris got out of his seat slowly and met the principal and the officer in the hallway.

     “
Chris, this is Officer Wayne Scott with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. He wants to ask you a few questions in my office.”

            “
Okay.”

They walked silently to the office, and once inside, the TBI officer closed the door and motioned for Chris to be seated. The officer remained standing and moved directly in front of Chris, overshadowing him, assuming the posture of the aggressor.

              “Now, Chris, we just want to ask you a few questions about your whereabouts the night before Beth disappeared.”

     “
But I told you guys months ago about it. I was home all night studying for an exam.”

             
“Yes, you told us. But your parents say that you went to your room after supper. And they did not see you again until you called them from Beth’s house Saturday morning. Where were you all that time?”

     “
At home, studying. I went to my room around 7 p.m. I flunked the last trig exam. I couldn’t afford to flunk another one and stay on the team.”

             
“You studied on a Friday night?”

      “
Well, yes. I knew Beth and I could spend Saturday together. Sometimes she and Crystal do stuff on Friday nights anyway, like girl stuff.”

             
“So, what time did you go to bed?”

     “
Around 11:00.”

             
“You studied for four hours?”

      “
No. I studied until 9:00, and then I played video games until 11:00.”

             
“You didn’t call Elizabeth before going to bed?”

     “
My dad was on the computer. Free dial up.  He’s so cheap.  He hates to be interrupted.”

             
“Ok. What about your cell phone?”

     “
It was run down from being off the charger at school all day.”

             
“And you didn’t call her that morning before you went over to her house. Why not?”

     “
I never had to call first. I hang out there all the time. Her parents are cool.”

             
“Well, they aren’t very happy with you now, are they?”

     “
No. I guess not. I swear I didn’t know she was pregnant.”

             
“Is the baby yours?”

     “
Yeah, I mean...I guess so.”

             
“What do you mean, you guess?”

             
“Well, I was her first, and I don’t think she was sleeping around.”

             
     “You don’t think. But you don’t know for sure?”
              “I’m pretty sure. She told me she loved me.”

             
     “And you love her? That’s why you told your buddies the night you had sex for the first time that she took the bait just like all the rest.”

             
Chris’ face turned pale.

     “
I did say that. But she really was becoming special to me. I wouldn’t hurt her. Even if I had known.   I didn’t do anything to her. Honest.”

             
“Is there anyone that can back up your story about studying all night? Maybe you called a friend? Maybe your mom came and told you goodnight?”
     “No. I was alone all night.”

             
“Chris, we are going to have to ask you to come to the station with us. We have some more questions for you to answer.”

     “
But what about class? What about my parents? Don’t I need a lawyer?”

             
“You’re not under arrest yet, Chris. You can call your parents from the station, and they can bring whatever legal counsel you need with them. We need you to drive your car. Forensics will want to process it, even after all this time.”

             
“Ok,” Chris said, his voice barely audible. Tears were streaking his boyish face as he and the investigator left the building amidst the stares and whispers of Chris’s peers and teachers. By this time, a reporter from WBBJ had pulled up to the curb in the station van. He trotted toward Chris with a camera. The investigator stood in front of Chris and assured the reporter that this was not the time or place for a story. As Chris covered his head with his jacket and ran to his car, the investigator strongly suggested to the reporter that he go elsewhere for his evening story until there was more news.

             
“Is Christopher Daily under arrest in the disappearance of Elizabeth Merriweather?”

             
     “No comment at this time.”

             
“Where is he going at this moment?”

             
     “No comment.”

             
“We heard that Elizabeth was suspected to be pregnant, is that true?”

             
     “No comment. Now if you please, I have work to do,” the officer replied brusquely.