Chapter 10 - The Man Margaret Said Was Never ThereVictor Hale was seventy-four and living outside Rockford, Illinois.
Detective Ruiz found him in less than a day.
Getting him to talk was harder.
The moment she mentioned Ava Carter, he hung up.
That reaction was enough.
Rachel sat in the restaurant office while Daniel sorted old records.
Lily had begun sleeping better, though she still refused to go near suitcases.
Rachel had thrown away every large suitcase in their home.
Daniel looked at the payroll ledger.
“Victor wasn’t security exactly.”
“What was he?”
“Dad called him a handyman.”
“Margaret called him security.”
“He did both.”
“Close to Margaret?”
Daniel frowned.
“I don’t remember.”
June did.
They called her.
“Victor?”
Her voice sharpened.
“That bastard.”
Rachel glanced at Daniel.
“Why?”
“He worshipped Margaret.”
“Romantically?”
June hesitated.
“I always thought so.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“My mother?”
“Frank suspected something once.”
“What?”
“Nothing happened as far as I know. But Victor would do anything Margaret asked.”
Rachel thought of the bus.
“You saw Margaret leave with the suitcase.”
“Yes.”
“Did Victor leave too?”
June became quiet.
“I don’t remember.”
“Please think.”
“I was working.”
A pause.
“Wait.”
Rachel held her breath.
“Victor’s truck.”
“What about it?”
“It was parked behind the restaurant earlier that night.”
“And later?”
“I don’t know.”
June suddenly inhaled.
“No.”
“What?”
“I remember Frank asking where the truck was.”
Daniel sat forward.
“When?”
“After they realized Ava was missing.”
“What did Margaret say?”
“That Victor took it home.”
Rachel asked, “Why would Frank care?”
“Because Frank wanted to drive around searching, and his car was blocked by a delivery van. He asked for Victor’s keys.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“So Victor was gone.”
“Maybe.”
Rachel felt another piece lock into place.
Margaret leaves with suitcase.
Victor’s truck disappears.
Bus ticket inside Ava’s luggage.
Perhaps Margaret didn’t ride the bus.
Perhaps someone drove her and Ava to the station.
Ruiz visited Victor in person.
This time he opened the door.
He denied remembering much.
Then Ruiz showed him the photograph of the suitcase.
He sat down.
Rachel and Daniel weren’t there, but Ruiz later described his reaction.
“He recognized it.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing at first.”
“And then?”
Ruiz opened her notebook.
“He asked whether Margaret still had it.”
Rachel felt sick.
“Why would that matter?”
“Because according to Victor, Margaret told him she destroyed it.”
Daniel whispered, “Why?”
Ruiz continued.
Victor admitted driving Margaret and Ava to Chicago’s Greyhound station.
The story hit like a physical blow.
“He says Ava wasn’t inside the suitcase when he drove them.”
Rachel exhaled slightly.
“What happened before?”
“He claims he doesn’t know.”
Daniel asked, “Why did he drive them?”
“Margaret told him Ava was being sent to relatives because Frank had become violent.”
“Did he believe that?”
“At the time, supposedly.”
Rachel scoffed.
“And the suitcase?”
“Victor carried it into the terminal.”
“With Ava’s things?”
“He says yes.”
“Did Margaret board the bus?”
“Yes.”
Daniel gripped the table.
“To Milwaukee?”
“Yes.”
“Did he know she planned to abandon Ava?”
“He denies it.”
Rachel asked the obvious question.
“Why didn’t he tell police?”
Ruiz looked at her notes.
“Margaret called him that night after returning.”
“What did she say?”
“She told him Ava had run away from the station.”
Daniel stood.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“No.”
“If Ava ran from the station, why tell everyone she ran from the restaurant?”
“Exactly.”
Victor said he confronted Margaret.
She threatened him.
Not with violence.
With exposure.
Victor had been stealing food and cash from the restaurant for months.
Margaret knew.
She promised not to tell Frank if Victor kept quiet.
“So Ava never stole the money,” Rachel said.
Ruiz shook her head.
“Victor did.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Margaret had used Victor’s theft to create Ava’s motive.
“Did Victor see Ava in Milwaukee?”
“No. He only drove them to the Chicago station.”
“Why Milwaukee?”
“He doesn’t know.”
“Did Margaret return by bus?”
“Yes.”
Rachel looked at Daniel.
The ticket hidden inside the suitcase may have been Ava’s.
Margaret likely bought two.
One remained.
Ruiz continued.
“Victor remembers one more thing.”
Rachel felt dread.
“What?”
“When he picked Margaret up after midnight, she didn’t have the suitcase.”
Daniel looked toward the basement.
“Where did she leave it?”
“She told Victor Ava took it.”
Rachel shook her head.
“But it ended up back here.”
“Yes.”
“Meaning Margaret recovered it later.”
“Or someone returned it.”
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
He looked at Rachel.
The text contained a photograph.
A woman.
Late thirties.
Brown hair.
Hazel eyes.
Standing outside a school.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Beneath it:
Stop looking for me.
Rachel stared.
“Is that Ava?”
Daniel’s eyes filled.
“She looks like Dad.”
Another message arrived.
I survived Margaret once. I will not let her pull me back into that family.
Daniel immediately typed:
Ava?
No reply.
He called.
Disconnected.
Rachel looked at Ruiz.
“She knows we’re looking.”
Ruiz nodded.
Daniel stared at the photograph.
His sister was alive.
Not a theory.
Not a shelter file.
Alive.
But she was still afraid of Margaret.
May you like
Twenty-eight years later.
And she wanted nothing to do with the Carter family.
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