There's no warning on this chapter. You know what that means. Please don't throw things!

-o-o-o-

Chapter 7: Missing Child

About two weeks ago…

Nancy stared up at the Quito mansion as she stepped out of her car. "This place is a little ostentatious for River Heights," she muttered. She glanced again at the address on her note to make sure she had the right house. "Yup, this is it." She stepped up onto the porch and rang the doorbell. Even the chime sounded full of itself. Nancy grimaced and shook her head. What am I getting into?

A maid in a traditional black uniform with a white apron answered the door. Nancy had to stifle a laugh.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, my name is Nancy Drew. I have an appointment with the Quitos."

"Of course, Miss Drew. Please come in." The maid held the door for her and Nancy entered the lavish front hall. "Please come through here." She led Nancy into a parlor on the left side. "I'll let them know you're here."

A couch and two easy chairs faced each other across a low coffee table, centered on an attractive rug. Nancy took a seat on the couch while she waited. The furniture looked expensive, but the couch had the stiff uncomfortable feel of overpriced but low quality construction. In fact, many of the articles in the room gave Nancy that impression. Vases that were obviously bought because they appeared antique just looked gaudy to her. The rug on the floor had the look of an expensive Persian, but a quick brush with her fingertips told Nancy it was made from a polyester blend.

"Upper-class wannabes," she murmured.

She had to wait several minutes before either of her hosts appeared. August Quito was the first to enter. He was a handsome, well-built man and he swept into the room with the air of someone busy and important.

"Miss Drew, sorry to keep you waiting. My wife will join us in just a moment. Can I offer you anything?"

"No thank you." Nancy took out her notebook and flipped it open. "Is there anything you can tell me about your stepdaughter's disappearance?"

"No, I'm afraid not." August brushed his fingers lightly through his hair and flopped into a chair with one leg dangling over the arm.

Nancy studied him surreptitiously as she made a show of retrieving her pen from her belt pouch. August seemed far too relaxed for someone with a missing child, even if the girl was only a stepchild.

"Can you tell me why you're hiring a private investigator instead of going to the police?"

"Because the police are useless!" Estelle Quito exclaimed. She posed for a moment in the doorway like a tragic heroine and then floated into the room to offer Nancy her hand. "Thank you so much for coming, Miss Drew. I've heard so many wonderful things about you and I know you'll be able to find Jolene."

"I hope I can, Mrs. Quito," Nancy replied. "I take it you already spoke to the police?"

"Of course we did!" Estelle sank into the other easy chair beside her husband. "As soon as we realized she was missing, we called. But they never took my report seriously. They labeled her a runaway and never even tried to find her!"

"Is there any reason why Jolene might run away? Trouble at school or with friends?"

"No, nothing!" Estelle leaned forward. "It's my ex-husband. He took her. I know he did!"

Nancy looked up in surprise. "I thought you said you had sole custody of Jolene, Mrs. Quito."

"I do!" Estelle sat back and smoothed her skirts nervously. "But Thomas had visitation rights, even though I told the judge…" she paused. "Well, I don't need to go into that. Anyway, he wanted to take Jolene to Europe. He said it was just for the summer, but I know better."

"So you denied her permission to go?"

"That's right."

"Did Jolene want to go?"

August laughed. "Of course she did! What girl her age would not want to go to Europe?" He slipped his leg off the chair arm and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. "She was a typical eleven-year-old."

"Jolene's not typical! She's very bright!" Estelle interrupted sharply. "And don't refer to her in the past tense!"

August held up his hands. "Sorry! Sorry! I just meant that she wanted things a normal eleven-year-old girl would want."

"When was the last time you saw your ex-husband, Mrs. Quito?"

"I haven't seen him for years; we've only spoken on the telephone."

"He didn't come here to pick Jolene up for her visits?" Nancy tried to hide her surprise. Her initial impression that the Winters' divorce was ugly was getting strongly reinforced.

"No, he would pick her up from school on Friday and drop her off here on Sunday. When he could be bothered to see her," Estelle added with a sniff. "He only got one weekend a month, but he was terrible about keeping a schedule."

"When did you last talk to him?"

"About a month ago when he called to ask about taking Jolene to Europe. But I know it was just a lie," Estelle hissed. "Thomas couldn't afford to go to Europe. I don't think he's had a job since the school fired him."

"I see." Nancy looked down at her notes as she wrote. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched August Quito drumming his fingers on his knee. He looked bored and restless. The interaction between Estelle and August puzzled her. August didn't seem to care at all about his stepdaughter. Nancy could understand that, but what made less sense was that August didn't seem to care much about his wife's feelings either and Estelle didn't appear to be bothered very much by that. All of her emotion seemed tied up in her hatred for her ex-husband.

"Is anything missing from Jolene's room?" Nancy asked. "Clothes, books, important mementos?"

Estelle frowned. "That's the odd thing. I couldn't find anything missing except for her school uniform and her shoes. But that's why I think Thomas abducted her. He would have snatched her from school and she wouldn't have had anything else with her."

"What about her school books?"

"Oh, those are missing too."

Nancy tapped the pen thoughtfully against her lips. "Who normally takes Jolene to school?"

"I do," August said. "The maid usually picks her up, but sometimes I will pick her up instead if the maid is out."

"And you dropped her off as usual the day she disappeared?"

"Yes. I usually drop her off on the corner to avoid the traffic."

"How far is that from the front of the school?"

"Not far. Maybe half a block."

Nancy fell silent as she digested this. Even half a block was far enough if someone had been waiting for her. "Did Jolene seem normal the night before? Was she unusually excited or withdrawn?"

"To be honest, I didn't really talk to her," Estelle said uncomfortably. "I was at the day spa all day and didn't see her until after dinner. She was in her room doing homework and we only said goodnight."

"Would the maid have spoken to her? If she picked Jolene up, perhaps she noticed something."

"I doubt it," Estelle huffed. "She probably snuck out for the day since she knew I wouldn't be here. But the police did talk to her."

"Do you mind if I ask her a few questions?"

"I suppose not."

August popped out of his chair. "I'll get her." Estelle frowned at his back as he left.

Nancy noticed the look. "How long has this maid been with you?"

"Several years." Estelle smoothed her expression as she turned back to Nancy. "August hired her right after we bought this house."

"Is she a good maid?"

"Oh yes, she's quite efficient." Estelle's eyes narrowed. "August isn't having an affair with her, if that's what you're thinking. She just gets a little uppity sometimes, that's all."

Nancy quickly looked down to cover her smile. She could imagine how offended Estelle would get if the maid didn't play into her act as the fine Southern lady. "I'd like to speak to her alone, if that's all right."

"If you insist."

August returned with the maid trailing along behind him, her hands clasped in front of her waist. Nancy stood up.

"This is Maria," August said.

"How do you do, Maria?" Nancy said. "Why don't we step across the hall for a minute?" She led the way out of the parlor to the far side of the entry hall. She stopped there and turned to face Maria so the young woman's head would block the Quitos' view of her face. "Maria, were you home the day before Jolene disappeared?" Nancy asked in a low voice.

Maria answered in an equally soft voice. "No, Miss Drew. Mr. Quito said I could take the day off since Mrs. Quito was going to the day spa."

"Was that unusual?"

"No. Mr. Quito often gives me the day off when Mrs. Quito is out."

"Do you always leave the house when that happens?"

Maria nodded. "I go to see my mother. She lives on the other side of River Heights."

Nancy paused for a moment. "Did Jolene and her mother get along?"

"Mostly," Maria said. "But Mrs. Quito is very involved in her own interests and didn't always make time for Jolene. Jolene didn't seem to mind though. She spent a lot of time in the kitchen with me."

"So you know her pretty well."

"I guess so."

"What about her father, Thomas Winters? Did Jolene get along with him?"

Maria smiled as she nodded. "Jolene was very fond of her father. I think she missed him quite a lot." She glanced quickly over her shoulder and lowered her voice. "To be honest, about the only time Mrs. Quito really paid attention to Jolene was right before her father's visitation weekends. Then she'd always come up with something for Jolene to do so she couldn't see him. I thought it was kind of mean."

"I see. Do you think Jolene ran away?"

Maria frowned for a moment and then shook her head. "Jolene loves school. She wouldn't run away from that. And besides, there was nothing really bad about her life here. She was a little neglected, but she had friends. I don't think she was unhappy."

"Did you tell the police that?"

"Yes."

Nancy thought for a minute. "Did you pick Jolene up from school the day before she disappeared? When Mrs. Quito was at the day spa?"

"No, she was already home when I got back from my mother's house. I think Mr. Quito picked her up, because he was home too."

"Did she seem all right to you?"

Maria shrugged and nodded. "We didn't really get a chance to talk. Since I was out, I had a lot of chores to catch up and then I had to start dinner. She seemed ok through."

"You said Mr. Quito was home too. Might anything have happened between the two of them? You know…"

Maria quickly shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Mr. Quito hardly pays any attention to Jolene at all. I think I would have noticed if something like that was going on."

Nancy nodded and quickly finished making notes. She flipped the notebook closed. "Thanks, Maria, you've been a big help. One other thing: do the Quitos ever fight?"

"Not really. They hardly even talk to each other. Sometimes I wonder why they got married." Maria paused. "Although they did have one big argument a couple of weeks ago. I don't know what it was about, but Mr. Quito went out afterward and stayed out all night."

Nancy re-opened her notebook to jot the additional information down. "I think that's all I need, thanks."

Maria bobbed her head. "You're welcome." She hurried off through a door at the back of the entry hall.

Nancy tucked her notebook and pen back into her belt pouch and returned to the door of the parlor. "That's all the questions I have right now, Mrs. Quito. I'll be speaking to the police to find out if they learned anything. Do you have a number or address for your ex-husband?"

"No, I don't," Estelle sniffed. "He always calls me."

"Ok, then I'll be going."

August followed Nancy to the door and opened it for her. "We really are quite concerned about Jolene, Miss Drew," August said unconvincingly. "But since we're pretty sure she's with her father, we know she's not in any danger."

"Hopefully, that's the case," Nancy replied. August watched from the open door as Nancy climbed into her car and drove away. "Those are very odd people," she muttered as she turned out into the street. "Maybe the maid is right and Jolene wouldn't run away, but a few days with even an unemployed father might look pretty appealing with parents like that."

-o-o-o-

Nancy entered the River Heights main police precinct station to a chorus of greetings.

"Hey Nancy! How's it going?"

"What's up, Nancy?"

"Solve any good cases lately?"

Nancy waved good-naturedly to the room in general. "Hello, everybody! Keeping the crime rate down?"

"You betcha!"

Nancy stopped and leaned on one officer's desk. "Hey Jimbo, who's handling missing children these days?"

"It's usually Ken Washimura, but if you're asking about the Winters-Quito case, the Chief's handling that one."

"Damn!" Nancy exclaimed softly. "Why'd he take it?"

"August Quito's an important local businessman," Jimbo replied with a grin, "of course the Chief took an interest."

"So what's the skinny?"

Jimbo shrugged. "The kid's a runaway, I hear. Bitter divorce; inattentive mother; you know the drill."

"Hmm…" Nancy glanced at the closed door of Chief Jones' office. "Think he'd talk to me for a minute?"

"Why? The Quitos hire you?"

"Yeah. They don't think Jolene ran away."

Jimbo stood up. "I'll go ask him, but don't be surprised if he blows you off."

Nancy chuckled wryly. "I'm used to that." She watched as Jimbo rapped on the door and stuck his head in. He spoke for a moment, then looked over his shoulder and beckoned to Nancy. When she stepped through the door, Chief Jones was seated behind his desk wearing his "being patient" expression. Nancy had to suppress the urge to grimace.

"So you're looking into the Winters girl's disappearance?" Chief Jones said.

Nancy was impressed that he managed to make "looking into" sound like "meddling in". "That's right, Chief. The Quitos are pretty adamant that Thomas Winters abducted his daughter."

Chief Jones waved a hand dismissively. "Not possible. Thomas Winters hasn't been in River Heights for the past six months. In fact, there are indications he left the country."

"Oh really?"

"Yes." Chief Jones' stiff smile was artificially friendly. "I'm positive the girl just ran away to punish her mother for not letting her go to Europe. She'll turn up in a few weeks acting like nothing happened."

"Did you speak to any of Jolene's friends?"

"Of course!" His smile slipped a little bit. "That's why I know she was upset about not getting to go to Europe."

"I see." Nancy glanced at Jimbo, who offered her a slight shrug. She returned her attention to the Chief. "So you don't think it's possible she's with her dad?"

"I'm quite sure." He managed a condescending smile.

"Well, thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Chief."

"No problem." He managed to make that sound like he had just endured the biggest inconvenience of the day.

Once the door closed behind them, Jimbo began to chuckle. "You don't believe a word of it, do you?"

"No," Nancy shook her head. "I guess I'm going to have to locate the father on my own."

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

Nancy drove home grumbling to herself. As soon as she arrived, she went straight to her room and began typing up her notes. "Chief Jones is an idiot!" she muttered to herself as she typed. "How can he say Thomas Winters hasn't been in River Heights in six months if he called Estelle Quito a month ago?" She stopped typing and sat back. "Sure, he could have been calling long distance, but still. If he had monthly visitation, why would he move away if he really loved his daughter?" She resumed typing, chewing on her lip. "What was that Estelle said? He was fired from his job at the high school? I should check on that."

She finished typing and saved the file using her standard encryption key. Then she fired up her browser and began searching for information on Thomas Winters. She found only one article in the River Heights Daily Press archives.

"He wasn't fired. He quit!" Nancy stared at the article. There wasn't much information. An editorial in the River Heights High School newspaper, The Clarion, had caused an uproar when it implicated an unnamed teacher in a homosexual affair with a male student. Thomas Winters, the journalism advisor at the time, had quit over the furor. Neither the teacher nor the student was ever named. "Wow! And the Winters' got divorced right after that." Nancy's mind raced as she mulled over these facts. "I wonder if Thomas was the unnamed teacher. That would certainly explain why Estelle divorced him and why she's so bitter about it."

Nancy turned around and gazed across the room. Then her eyes fell on the little ring box sitting on her nightstand. She reached across and picked it up. She smiled as she looked at the ring inside.

"You sweetie, Ned! You must have been saving for years to afford a diamond this big." She slipped it on her finger. "It really is pretty." She held her hand out and watched the gem sparkle as she moved her fingers. "I should have just told him yes. It's not like I want or expect a better offer." She glanced at her bed and grinned. "And he's so cute when we make love. You'd think it was the first time every time we do it."

Then she sighed, took the ring off and put it away. "Back to work!" She turned back to the computer screen and started another search. "Let's see what Google has to say about August Quito. There's something about that man I just don't trust."