"Think about it…" Claire was saying, but Stella had only heard part of it. They were walking through a small park that was partially surrounded in old stone buildings connected by mid-air walkways and small underground passages.
"I'm sorry, Claire." Stella looked at her friend. "I didn't hear a word you just said.
"Didn't think so. Doesn't matter, I was talking the case out. Mac taught me that a while ago. It seems to bring everything into focus."
"Yeah, but it doesn't help if the second party present doesn't answer now, does it?" Stella paused while she opened a door leading to a large dining hall. Several of the orphans were sitting at a table. Waiting silently. "What am I thinking about?"
Claire shrugged. "I forgot." She sat at the table with the girls.
Stella sat next to her with a photo sketch of their possible suspect.
Claire began. "Okay, you girls were rumored to have seen a strange man the afternoon the Sister Manten disappeared."
"Miss Manten." One of the younger girls mumbled.
"I'm sorry?" Claire leaned closer, but the child didn't say anything else.
Stella put her hand on the little girl's arm, but she spoke to Claire. "Beverly Manten was an odd one. She preferred to be called 'Miss Manten' as opposed to Sister Manten or Sister Beverly. She was once married and when her husband left her, she dedicated her life to God and the orphaned girls of Manhattan. When she took over as administrator of Saint Basil's, the priest that founded it pronounced her holy in the sight of God. So she likes to enunciate the Miss to make a point. There's no man for her short of God."
The little girl nodded as if to back up every word. She smiled at Stella, four front teeth missing. "How did you know?"
"I grew up here, too." She smiled back.
Claire sighed, jotting some of the story down in her notebook. "That could help. It wouldn't be her ex after her, would it?"
Stella shook her head. "He passed away shortly after she moved here."
"Rules out him. This couldn't have been random though. It has to be a man she knew if in any capacity." Claire laid the picture out in front of the girls. "Familiar?"
They all shook their heads.
The little one spoke up again. "He talked to me."
Stella looked at her. "So, if I showed you a bunch of pictures, you could point him out?"
"Probably. He smiled a lot, had a mustache. And he had a gun. He showed it to me and told me they let him carry it for safety. He even had a license with his picture."
Claire looked at Stella. "He wants us to find him. She might not have the time others did."
Looking at the girls, Stella thanked them and than turned back to the young child. "What's your name?"
"Calista." She answered quietly.
Stella stood and held her arms out and Calista jumped eagerly to her. She picked her up and followed Claire out the door.
They cleared Calista to come with them to the station to look at photos and told Sister Brooke they'd call if they had to keep her any later than dark.
Miss Manten sat up ever so slowly. She was hurting on every part of her body. A tingle in her stomach told her it'd been far too long since her last meal. It was still dark and she crawled to the wall. Feeling her way around the room, trying to judge the size, her hand brushed something soft. Soft and damp. She touched it again. It was a body. She clasped her hand to her mouth, feeling the stickiness of blood brush her lips.
The door swung open. "Time's up." The voice was menacing, causing Miss Manten to stumble back against the concrete wall. "Look's like the cops missed their opportunity yet again."
She felt him grasp her arm as he yanked her to her feet and out the door.
The light coming through the windows blinded her, but she looked anyway. She needed to know where she was. Out the window she could see Lady Liberty, straight ahead. She was near the water's edge and at least 10 stories up. They were overlooking Battery Park, which was to her left, and Ellis Island, to her right. They had to be at the very corner of Battery Place and Little West Street, if not further toward the Park.
His hold tightened on her as he threw her against the bed. "Time to play."
