Chapter 14

Monday morning, Francine and Edwards made their first stop at the home of the family of victim number three, a young woman named Emma Fenalli. "Mrs. Fenalli, we know this must be a difficult time for you and your family but we need to ask a few questions that could help in our investigation," Francine stated softly.

The older woman nodded and opened the door for them to enter. "I'm sorry about the mess. I just haven't been myself since Emma…" her voice trailed off.

"We understand," Edwards stated. He looked around the small kitchen. He noticed a cup of tea on the table and held out the chair for her to sit.

Mrs. Fenalli thanked him. "It's nice to see some young men still have manners. That boy Emma was with never had any," she said before she lifted her tea to her lips. "Would you like some? The kettle's still hot," she offered.

Tom held up one hand and shook his head. Francine lifted a mug out of the drying rack on the counter, "That would be nice. I can get it." She removed a teabag from the open box and poured the steaming water. "My grandmother used to say tea could cure everything," she laughed lightly.

"Not everything, but it does help," Mrs. Fenalli corrected her.

Francine sat at the table across from the woman and waited until Tom pulled out the pamphlets from his pocket. "Mrs. Fenalli, do any of these look familiar to you?" he asked. He pushed them toward her across the chipped tile-topped table.

"Yes," she replied.

"Yes?" Francine raised her eyebrows.

"Yes," Mrs. Fenalli stated again.

Tom tapped his finger on the edge of one of the pamphlets, "Which one do you recognize?"

"All of them. Emma looked into all her options before she decided she was going to give her baby up," Mrs. Fenalli explained.

"Oh," Francine gasped. "Well, do you know which one she decided to go with?"

Mrs. Fenalli lifted one of the pamphlets and handed it to Francine, "This one, The Happy Family. She met with the counselors and the lawyers there. She was convinced they would find the right home for the baby."

Tom quickly jotted down the information. "Mrs. Fenalli, do you remember the names of the people she met with," he asked.

Mrs. Fenalli shook her head, "No, I'm sorry. I just remember she came home from the meeting and told me she knew she was making the right decision. She was still so young and she knew we weren't in a position to help her. She felt this was the best choice for her baby. But, now, we'll never know." She sniffed several times, fighting back her tears.

"We'll find who did this to her," Francine assured her.

Mrs. Fenalli brushed her tears away and stated, "That's exactly what that detective said to us. And I hope you do."

Francine quickly drank the rest of her tea, placed the mug in the sink, and pushed her chair in at the table. "If we have any more questions, would you mind if we came to see you again?" she asked softly.

"Please do. I want to find who did this to her and I only pray that whoever it was, they didn't hurt the baby," Mrs. Fenalli sighed.

Edwards stood and followed Francine's lead by pushing his chair in as well. "Ms. Desmond, we should get going. We have a few other stops to make," he reminded Francine.

Francine nodded, "If we get any information, Mrs. Fanelli, we will be sure to keep you informed. I promise."

Mrs. Fenalli pushed herself to a standing position, "I'll see you out." She walked to the front door and opened it slowly, "Thank you for continuing to investigate Emma's murder. She didn't deserve this."

Francine stepped outside and turned back to face her, "If you think of anything else, please call the number on that card."

Tom walked to the car and held the door open for Francine. When they were both seated inside, he turned to her and commented, "You think we can really find out who's behind all this?"

Francine shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know but I'm going to keep trying. Let's see what we can find out from any of the other families."

They drove to the home of the next victim and after a strained conversation with her sister, they discovered she had chosen a different adoption agency. They continued interviewing family members until they reached almost all of the remaining victim's families.

"So, we have three different adoption agencies the women chose," Tom stated as they headed back to the Agency. He flipped the pages on his notepad and commented, "I guess that's the next place we start?"

"Amanda did a pretty thorough job on their background information so I guess now we head in to talk to them, face to face," Francine pressed her lips together.

Tom shook his head, "I don't know. Places like this might be pretty tightlipped. I mean, isn't it all about privacy?"

"I think you're right…" Francine sighed. She slumped in her seat for a moment then quickly straightened up and added, "But maybe…I have an idea. Let's call it a day today and I'll see what I can do in the meantime."

Tom looked over at her, confused. "Are you going to tell me or do I get to play twenty questions?"

Francine quickly pulled into a parking spot and climbed out of the car. "Let me make a few phone calls first, then I'll let you know. I'll see you tomorrow." She ran into the building without adding anything more, leaving Tom standing beside the car.

"I wonder what is going through her head?" he questioned softly before he closed the car door and walked over to his own car parked a few rows away.

Inside the Agency, Francine wove her way through the halls until she reached her desk in the bullpen. She checked the time and quickly dialed Lee and Amanda's home number. Dotty answered the phone on the second ring. "Hello, Mrs. West. This is Francine… is Amanda home yet?" she asked sweetly.

"She just walked in the door, Francine. I think she's in the little girls' room at the moment," Dotty informed her as she bounced Charlie on her hip to quiet him.

"I hate to bother her if she just got home but could you ask her to call me at the office when she has a minute?" Francine asked. She twirled her finger around the phone cord as she waited for Dotty's reply.

Dotty crooned at Charlie, "All right, we'll get off the phone in a second." She turned her attention back to Francine and assured her, "As soon as she has a minute, I'll give her the message."

"Thank you so much," Francine drawled. Before she could hang up she heard Dotty calling her name.

"Francine, I need to chat with you about Amanda's baby shower. Now, I already told Amanda I thought it would be fun to have it here, at the house and I think we should invite, you know, some of Lee's friends as well," Dotty rushed out.

Francine cringed slightly at the idea Dotty wanted her to help plan a baby shower, "Dotty, I'm not so sure I'm the right person to plan this with you. What about Billy's wife, Jeannie? I'm sure she would love to go over all the details."

Dotty shook her head, "Absolutely not. You are her best friend, Francine. She trusts you, which means I trust you and in a situation like this you need to know you are trusting the person that is helping you plan such an important event."

Exhaling loudly, Francine agreed, "All right. I'll stop by one night this week and we can talk about it."

Dotty beamed happily, "I'll have Lee take her out for dinner that night so we can talk privately. Not that she doesn't know she's having a shower but I would like a little bit of it to be a surprise, don't you think?"

"We know how much Amanda loves her surprises," Francine teased. She looked up to see Billy waving in her direction. "Dotty, I'm sorry, someone is trying to get my attention so if you could just ask Amanda to call me back, I'd greatly appreciate it."

"Will do!" Dotty chirped before Francine hung up the phone and headed toward Billy's door.