Vanishing Acts (6 page)

“Your dad sure made Miss Bauer look ridiculous,” Jake said.

“Dad may have more trouble with this witness,” Madison answered, her voice heavy with concern.

As Officer Jensen walked up to take the stand, the old lady with blue hair shushed them again.

“Who are all these people?” Jake asked, lowering his voice and looking around the packed room.

“Most of them are ‘court watchers,' retired people who watch court cases for entertainment. See those three women over there?” Madison pointed discreetly behind her to a group of elderly women. “They show up every time Dad has a case. They're his fan club. And the younger people with notepads are reporters.”

Madison was about to turn back toward the front of the courtroom when she noticed a slender woman with curly blond hair who was sitting in the farthest corner of the spectator benches. Her hair reminded Madison of Ann, but it was the fact that the woman wasn't taking notes like the reporters and was too young to be retired that kept Madison looking her way.

Officer Jensen began telling the judge what he had found when he arrived at the Shelbys' house in response to the 911 call. Madison returned her attention to the front of the courtroom.

“Once you found the crime scene . . . ?” the DA started to ask.

“Objection!” Hamilton said, rising to his feet. “The prosecution has yet to establish that a crime has been committed.”

“Your Honor,” the DA said, “there was blood all over the kitchen, including on the blade of a large knife, and Mrs. Shelby is missing.”

“If a crime occurred every time blood was found on a kitchen knife, the police would be at my house every time I tried to cut a bagel.”

A few of the court watchers chuckled. Judge Young was not amused. She slammed down her gavel and glared at the spectators, but she upheld Hamilton's objection.

“What did you do after you found the knife and blood?” the DA continued.

“I put out an all-points bulletin for Mark Shelby's car. When he showed up a few days later, I arrested him.”

“What did Mr. Shelby say when you told him his wife was missing?”

“He acted surprised,” replied Officer Jensen.

“Did he have an explanation for why she might be missing?”

“No.”

“Did he have an explanation for the way the kitchen looked?” the DA asked.

“Yes, he admitted that he'd had an argument with his wife because he had planned to play golf with his friends and he'd forgotten their anniversary. He said that Mrs. Shelby threw the coffee pot at him and he left in a huff. He said he put his golf clubs in the car, not a body. He also had no idea how Mrs. Shelby's blood got on the knife, the refrigerator door, or the floor of the kitchen.”

“Now, Mr. Kincaid and I have stipulated that if they were here in court, the defendant's friends would testify that they played golf with him at a resort in southern Oregon and that it takes about four and a half to five hours to drive there from the defendant's house. Did I tell you about that stipulation a few days ago?” the DA asked.

“Yes.”

“Attached to that stipulation is a map showing the route the defendant claims to have taken when he drove to the golf course. Have you seen it?”

“I have,” Officer Jensen said.

“After I told you about the stipulation, did I ask you to do something?”

“Yes.”

“What did I ask you to do?”

“You wanted me to drive from the defendant's house to the resort and see if there was any place along the way where someone could get rid of a body.”

“Did you drive the route?”

“I did.”

“Tell the judge the places along the way where the defendant could have gotten rid of his wife's corpse.”

Officer Jensen looked at the DA uncertainly. “That's going to take a while, Mr. Payne. There were an awful lot of them.”

“Instead of listing each one, why don't you summarize what you found?”

Officer Jensen turned to the judge. “I drove through mountains with turnoffs for logging roads and campgrounds. There were farmers' fields and the road goes along the coast, so you could toss a body off a cliff or hide it in a cave.” Jensen shrugged. “If I wanted to ditch a corpse so no one would find it, there were plenty of places along the defendant's route I could have done it and still made my tee time.”

“Your witness, Mr. Kincaid,” the DA said.

Jake looked worried, but Madison knew her dad could handle anything.

“Thank you,” Madison's father said, rising. “Officer Jensen, did Mr. Shelby appear to know why you were at his home?”

“No, sir. He acted surprised.”

“How did he react when you told him his wife was missing?”

“He did seem shocked.”

“Did you search Mr. Shelby's car?”

“Yes.”

“What did you find in the trunk?”

“His golf clubs, a pair of golf shoes, other golf paraphernalia, and a suitcase.”

“Was the trunk tested for blood?”

“None was found.”

“Now, did Mr. Shelby tell you that Mrs. Shelby also had a car?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Was it in the garage?”

“No, sir. A tan 2004 Camry registered to Mrs. Shelby is also missing.”

“When you searched the house, did you find that anything else belonging to Mrs. Shelby was missing?”

“Mr. Shelby pointed out that some of Mrs. Shelby's clothes were missing from the closet in the master bedroom.”

“So it is possible that Mrs. Shelby, after getting into an argument with her husband, just packed up and left?”

“Yes, sir, that's possible.”

“No further questions.”

“Any more questions, Mr. Payne?” the judge asked.

“Yes, Your Honor. Officer, did you do anything to try to find out if Mrs. Shelby went on a vacation?”

“We checked airlines, cruise ships, buses, etc. There's no record of Mrs. Shelby traveling. We also checked the local hospitals.”

“This case has been all over the news,” the DA went on. “To your knowledge, has Ruth Shelby called anyone to let them know she's okay?”

“No, sir.”

“Did she show up at her job? Call for a substitute?”

“No.”

“So, Mr. Shelby could have taken his wife's clothing to make it look like she was on a trip in order to hide the fact that he'd murdered her?”

“Objection!” Hamilton said, springing to his feet.

“Sustained.”

The DA smiled. His point had been made. “No further questions. The State rests.”

All this talk about a missing woman made Madison start thinking about Ann again. Maybe she should just call the police so an officer like Officer Jensen could investigate.

After the morning recess, Hamilton presented his witnesses, who testified to Mr. Shelby's good character. Just before lunch, the judge decided to grant bail. Her decision rested on the inability of the prosecution to produce a body.

Madison knew that the police and her father's investigator were trying to find Mrs. Shelby or her corpse because the side that succeeded would win the case. Madison was torn between being worried about her former teacher and her dad's chances of winning the case.

“Your dad is tougher than any of the lawyers in Max Stone's books!” Jake said under his breath.

Madison was about to answer when she saw the woman who had been sitting in the back slip out of the courtroom. Madison thought that she looked worried. Just then the judge adjourned court.

“Are you going to say hi to your dad?” Jake asked.

“He doesn't like me to bother him when he's with a client. Let's leave so we don't distract him. He'll probably be busy arranging to have bail posted as quickly as possible so Mr. Shelby can get out of jail. I'll tell him tonight that we were in court.”

Jake wanted to eat lunch and Madison suggested the food court at the Pioneer Square Mall in the center of downtown Portland, a few blocks north of the courthouse. On the way over, Jake chatted excitedly about the bail hearing, but Madison only half listened. Something about the woman with the curly blond hair bothered her, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

Just before they sat down to eat, Madison figured it out. She was certain that the woman was not Mrs. Shelby, but she looked enough like her to be her sister.

Chapter 9
The Getaway

B
eep.

Groggily, Madison looked at the clock.

Beep.

Eleven a.m. Wow, she'd slept late! She reached over and grabbed her cell phone.

Beep.

“Becca” appeared on the caller ID. Madison sat up, pushing her hair out of her face. She clicked the Talk button.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Madison, it's Becca! You sound sleepy. Are you still in bed?”

“No, I—I was about to get up anyway. What's up?”

“Well, Lacey, Jessi, and I are meeting in the mall food court at noon. I thought I'd find out if you wanted to come.”

Madison thought quickly. She did have homework to do, and she wanted to think about the Shelby case. And look for Ann. But maybe it would be fun to go to the mall like all the other junior high girls did. Plus, it was really nice of Becca to invite her. Ann was always the one the other girls invited to go to the mall, and Ann usually passed the invite to Madison. It felt good to get the invite directly from Becca.

“Sure!” Madison answered, swinging her legs out of bed.

At seven that morning, the sound of the front door closing had woken Madison up. Even though it was Saturday, her dad was at the office.

“My dad's at work, so would I be able to get a ride with you?”

“We'll pick you up in forty minutes.”

“Awesome. . . . Thanks, Becca! See you soon!”

Madison dialed her dad's office, but the call went straight to voice mail. She sighed.

“Hey, Dad,” she said, “I'm going to the mall with Becca, Jessi, and Lacey today. I'll have my cell if you need me. I love you.”

Snapping her cell shut, she went to the bathroom to shower.

The girls bought smoothies in the food court, then walked toward Nordstrom to look at shoes.

“So what's Jake doing this weekend?” Becca asked with a coy smile.

Madison blushed. “I have no idea,” she said, stepping onto the up escalator.

“You should keep better track of your boyfriend.” Becca giggled.

Madison's blush deepened. “He's not my boyfriend. He's just a friend.”

“You hang out all the time; he always talks to you at lunch. He's either your boyfriend or he wants to be,” Becca argued.

Madison wondered if Becca was right. Of all the girls Madison knew, Becca was the authority on boys. She had “gone out” with three boys since the fifth grade and even kissed Jason Tompkins after the sixth-grade graduation dance. Suddenly all thoughts of Jake and boys vanished.

Ann's mother was passing Madison on the down escalator.

At least Madison thought it was Ann's mom. It looked like the woman Madison had seen at every soccer practice and game since she was five, cheering on the sidelines—but something was different. Ann's mom usually wore professional suits or tailored clothes even on weekends, and had her hair up in a tight bun or French twist. This woman had Ann's mom's face but was dressed in a long, flowing gypsy skirt, and her long hair hung down in unbrushed waves.

“Mrs. Beck!” Madison yelled.

The woman turned, and her eyes locked with Madison's. For a second the woman looked startled. Then she flashed a forced smile and gave a tight wave.

Madison's escalator reached the top, and she ran around to the other side of the floor to catch the down escalator, ignoring the other girls' puzzled calls. She ran down the escalator, pushing past shoppers. When she reached the bottom, she scanned the floor for the woman. Radio Shack, Body Shop, Kay Jewelers . . . but she'd lost her.

When Madison got back to the top of the escalator, the girls were laughing.

Jessi was bent over, hysterical. “OMG, you ran off like a crazy lady!” she said.

“That was Ann's mom. I can't believe she ran away!” Madison said, embarrassed and confused.

“She didn't run away,” Lacey said, giggling. “I saw her wave at you. She probably didn't know you were chasing her.”

“No way. She had to have seen me run down the escalator. I bet she was trying to get away so she wouldn't have to answer questions about Ann.”

“I'm sure she wasn't avoiding you,” Becca said, rolling her eyes. “She may not have been Ann's mom anyway. I've never seen Ann's mom in an outfit like that.”

“It looked like Mrs. Beck's hippie twin sister or something,” Jessi said.

“That makes me even more nervous.” Madison sighed. “Maybe she was in disguise so we wouldn't recognize her.”

“I'm sure Ann's fine,” Jessi said, annoyed by Madison's never-ending dramatics. “I'm sure everything is fine. Let's go look at shoes.”

“Yeah, a little retail therapy will make you feel better,” Becca added, giggling.

Madison gave a halfhearted smile, but she couldn't shake the worry. What could have happened to Ann?

Chapter 10
Madison Finds a Clue

W
hen Madison walked out of the locker room after Monday's soccer practice, Jake was standing with a group of guys from the boys' team. He saw her and waved. Madison remembered what Becca had said about Jake being her boyfriend. Was he waiting for her outside the locker rooms or was it just a coincidence that they were there at the same time? Jake said something to his friends, then walked over to her.

“Hi,” Madison said. For the first time she found herself nervous around Jake. Why had Becca ever said anything?

“What are you doing?” Jake asked.

“I'm going to my dad's office to do homework.” She felt impulsive. “Do you wanna come along? We can work on our science homework.”

“Sure, I've never been to a law office before.” Jake pulled out his cell phone. “Just let me call my mom and tell her I'll be late.”

While Jake made the call, Madison thought about what she'd done. Had she asked Jake out on a date? No, they were just going to study, so this would be another educational experience, like going to court together to learn about bail hearings. Studying together would definitely
not
be a date, Madison decided.

“Hey, Peggy,” Madison said as she and Jake walked into Kincaid and Kirk. “This is my friend Jake.”

“Nice to meet you,” Peggy responded, her blue eyes crinkling in a friendly manner.

“We're going to do our science homework in my office.”

“You have an office?” Jake asked, impressed.

“Sort of. You'll see.”

They walked through the file room, and Madison showed Jake where she did her work.

“It's like the Bat Cave,” Jake said.

“It's not that great,” Madison answered with a shrug. But she was secretly pleased that Jake was impressed.

“Hey, I just have a desk in my room at home!” he said. He looked thoughtful. Then he held his hands in front of him as if he were framing a painting.

“Maybe I'll make you the star of my first graphic novel. You'll be a junior high soccer star by day and a crime-fighting superhero by night. This will be your secret lair.”

Madison laughed and punched Jake's arm.

“Ouch.” He faked pain. “You definitely have super strength.” Then he said, “So what's the room with all the cabinets we just came though?”

“Oh, that's the file room. Lawyers use tons of files for their cases. Dad has files for evidence, police reports, testimony. The files in this room are for current or recently completed cases, but Dad also has files from old cases in storage.”

“Is the file for the case where we saw the bail hearing out there?”

“Yeah.”

Madison had planned on working on the case, but she'd been sidetracked by her investigation into Ann's disappearance. An idea came to her. She knew she wasn't supposed to look in her father's files because the information in them was confidential, but how could she help her dad solve the Shelby case if she didn't know all of the facts?

“Let's take a look at the evidence in the Shelby case before we start on our science homework,” she said.

“Okay.”

Madison walked into the file room and Jake followed her. It didn't take her long to find the Shelby file, which was actually many files, filling up a whole drawer. Madison started pulling out files marked
Witnesses
and
Police Reports
while Jake watched.

“Oh, look at this,” Madison whispered, showing Jake a page in the
Witnesses
file. “It's Thelma Bauer's address!”

“I bet she could give us information about the case that didn't come out at the hearing,” Jake said.

Madison ran back into her little office, grabbed her
Shelby
legal pad and quickly wrote the address down before she returned the file to the cabinet.

“This will definitely help me solve this case,” she said. “Let's split up these files and look for clues!”

Jake started on the police reports. “Hey, look at this,” he said, pulling Madison away from a list of potential witnesses. “This police report says that a blood-covered onion was found in the trash, as well as ham, eggs, and a green bell pepper. Isn't that weird?”

“I'll write that down. It could be important,” she said, proud of their detective skills.

Madison started looking through a file titled
Photographs
. The police had taken pictures of every little detail in the house. Flipping through shots of the kitchen, bedroom, and living room, she stopped suddenly when she came across a photograph of the fireplace mantel in the living room. She could see several items on the mantel, including a picture of two women in a silver frame. One of the women in the framed picture was definitely Mrs. Shelby, her second-grade teacher from Lewis and Clark Elementary.

Madison hadn't thought about second grade in a long time, but a flood of memories came back to her. The day her father forgot to pack her lunch and Mrs. Shelby comforted her and gave her some of her own lunch. The colors and decorations in Mrs. Shelby's room. I
really
hope nothing's happened to her,
Madison thought.

She put her nose up to the picture. The other person resembled Mrs. Shelby and the woman who had been sitting in the last row during the bail hearing, but the photo was too small for Madison to be certain. Madison kept a magnifying glass in her drawer. It was one of the tools of the detective trade. She was about to get it when her father walked into the file room. He stopped in his tracks.

“Madison, who is this?” he said, pointing at Jake, “and what are you doing?”

“Um, Dad, this is my friend Jake,” Madison answered, trying to keep her cool. “We were, um, we were just doing our homework. Jake's in my science class.”

Jake forced a smile, since he was too scared to speak, and gave a little “hello” wave.

“Madison Elizabeth Kincaid, I am not stupid. The answers to your science homework are not in my files.”

“Yes, well, Jake came with me to see the Shelby bail hearing. He had never been to a court case before and . . .”

“Yes?” Hamilton was getting impatient.

“So, uh, I was showing him how you have files in cases like the Shelby case, which he saw.”

“You know you're not allowed to look in my files. You know lawyer's files are confidential. You know better than to read them.”

Madison decided to come clean. “Dad, I thought I could help you solve the mystery of where Mrs. Shelby went.”

When Hamilton spoke he sounded exasperated. “We've talked about this before. Murder cases are serious. They are not fun and games. Twelve-year-olds do not have the experience to solve a murder case. You need to stop snooping. Now put those files away and do your homework.”

Hamilton shook his head and walked off.

“Wow. I thought we were done for.” Jake let out his breath.

Madison looked away, too embarrassed to meet Jake's eyes. “I'm sorry about that,” she mumbled. “But I was wrong. I know I'm not supposed to look through his files.” She sighed. “I just wanted to help.”

“Hey, don't feel bad. It was my fault. I should have known better than to ask about your dad's private files.”

“No, you shouldn't. Your folks aren't lawyers, so you'd have no way to know they're confidential. I knew I shouldn't look, but . . .”

Madison's hands curled into fists and she gritted her teeth. “I just wish Dad would let me help him. He still treats me like I'm two years old. And I
can
help. I'm smart and I'm going to be a lawyer someday. I wish he'd trust me more.”

“Parents are like that. They always think you're just this little kid, no matter what you do.”

Suddenly, he brightened. “I bet he'd think about you differently if you solved the Shelby case.”

“How am I going to do that when he won't let me see his files?” Madison asked, her frustration showing in her voice. Then she felt her face light up. “Hey, Jake, I have a thought.”

“About the Shelby case?”

“No, about Ann. I bet that The Grove has files just like my dad's, but instead of being about cases they'd be on kids. Ann must have a file at school. Maybe if we can get into that file it will tell us why she isn't coming to school.”

“That's a great idea,” Jake agreed. “Now we have to figure out how to see the files without getting sent to detention or suspended.”

Jake smiled. There was danger involved in hanging out with Madison Kincaid, but he'd definitely never had this much fun in school in Georgia.