4
Fred and Daphne step out into the cold air and the sunshine is almost blinding. Fred hopes it will melt away the snow and ice, he likes the snow but hates the cold.
They cross the road to the Starbucks, Fred pushes the glass door open and they step into the dimly lit coffee shop. It's warm inside and the air is thick with the intoxicating scent of freshly brewed coffee.
A group of women sit around a table with their small children who scribble on paper with crayons. A young couple sits at a table, flirting with each other. Other than these people, the coffee shop is quite empty.
Typical coffee shop music plays in the background and the baristas stand by the machine waiting for something to do, their faces light up when Fred and Daphne enter the coffee shop.
Daphne orders a black coffee and Fred orders a cappuccino, the barista offers to bring their drinks over to them if they find a table.
Daphne picks a table in the corner. The wall behind it has a quote from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, her encounter with the Mad Hatter. It has nothing to do with the coffee shop, but Daphne pays no attention to it. She looks around and sees quotes from various books painted on the walls.
Fred takes a seat beside her, there are two chairs on the opposite side of the table, 'Do you think she'll come?' He asks. 'Who knows but we're here now.' Daphne replies.
A few minutes pass, the barista brings their drinks to them. Daphne takes a sip of her black coffee, hot and bitter the way she likes it. Fred glances at her, he's known her for twelve years and still can't understand how she can drink black coffee. He hates the taste of it and prefers something with milk or something sweeter.
Daphne flips to a fresh page on her notepad and tries to think of some questions to ask Larissa Shelby.
While she's writing, Fred gazes out of the window. He watches people going about their day. Teenage girls giggle as they hold onto each other, trying not to slip on the icy sidewalk. Everyone is wrapped up warm, even dogs are wearing coats.
The joyful laughter of the toddlers around the table with their mothers takes his attention, their mothers cooing at them as they proudly display their scribbles.
A family with three kids lives on Fred's floor, he sees them every morning in the elevator, provided neither of them is running late. The kids tell him what they had for breakfast and the joke on the back of the cereal box every morning. They're funny, and their parents always apologize to Fred for them disturbing him, but he says they're no trouble.
He's always imagined having kids someday; three of them or maybe four. He imagines having a family with Daphne, sometimes picturing their future together; kids, a dog, and a beautiful house with a white picket fence.
Daphne nudges him, bringing him back to reality. She motions towards a queue formed, 'Do you think she's one of them?'
An elderly couple wrapped in their winter coats, a young girl with long blonde curly hair looks down at her phone, a man and his pregnant wife admire their toddler in the stroller, and a woman who looks to be in her twenties with shoulder-length brown hair.
'Maybe. But she might not be here yet.' Fred replies hoping Daphne doesn't get her hopes up as she glances at her watch, it is 09:55 am.
Daphne looks down at her notepad, all she's written is "Interview with Larissa Shelby". What does she say to someone she's never met who has lost her father?
They both look up as someone approaches their table, it's the young blonde girl, 'Daphne Blake?' She asks.
Her long blonde hair hangs in curls to her elbows. She is tall, maybe Daphne's height, and slim. She wears black jeans with faux leather combat boots. Her unzipped winter jacket shows her black AC/DC t-shirt, and a black bag hanging off her shoulder.
'Yes. Are you Larissa Shelby?' Daphne asks and the girl nods. She sits in one of the vacant chairs opposite them, and Daphne notices she has a nose ring.
'Yes, thank you for meeting me.' Larissa says. 'It's no trouble. This is my partner, Fred Jones.' Daphne says, Fred smiles, and Larissa returns the smile timidly.
'I read your article last year, about the girl whose body was found at the park. I've read all of your articles for years, I think you're amazing.' Larissa speaks earnestly. Daphne feels a sudden weight drop on her shoulders, no one other than Fred has expressed admiration for her work and Larissa is counting on Daphne to find the answers she's been looking for.
'Thank you. I'm sorry to hear about your dad, we looked into his case before we came to meet you. It doesn't sound like there was much of a police investigation.' Daphne responds.
'No I don't believe there was, and most of what has been published in the news isn't my dad. They painted him as a drug dealer who abandoned his kids, but he was trying to turn his life around for me and my siblings. When I read the articles, it almost seems like his killer was doing everyone a favor and it wasn't worth police time and resources.'
'How old were you when he died?' Fred asks.
'Nine, almost ten. I have two sisters and a brother. Lily, Mickey, and Posie, they were all under the age of five, I'm sure they don't remember him much, but I do. And I want to find the person who took him away from me.' Larissa speaks more like an adult rather than a nearly fifteen-year-old. Daphne can see the effect it has on her as Larissa's blue eyes well up and she removes a tissue from her pocket.
Larissa composes herself and continues what she has to say, 'It's true, my dad was an addict. The news says he was likely meeting someone in the park that night he was killed, but I don't believe it's true. Dad was trying his hardest to turn his life around for us.'
Daphne sympathizes with Larissa, she knows what it's like to grow up with a parent who's an addict. She knows what it's like to lose a loved one.
'I brought some of Dad's stuff.' Larissa reaches into her bag and presents a thin rectangular tin, 'It's not a lot, but it's all I have.' She opens the tin and turns it so Fred and Daphne can see.
Larissa removes a photo, 'This is me, Dad, and the kids at the fairground when I was nine, and these are the tickets. This was a little while before he died.'
Daphne studies the photo of the man in the picture. If she compared this photo to the one in the news articles, anyone would think they're different people. She can see similarities, but Steven Shelby is smiling widely, his face looks bright with no dark circles under his eyes. His eldest daughter by his side, another daughter on his shoulders, his son in his arms, and a baby in a stroller, all smiling.
'And this was a letter he wrote, he gave it to us on our last visit when we went to the fairground.' Larissa gives Daphne the letter. Daphne takes it carefully and she and Fred read it.
My darling children,
I've made some mistakes in my lifetime, there's no doubt about that. I'm sorry for everything that's happened, it's all my fault but I promise to do better, and from now on I am going to be the best dad for you, starting with these supervised visits that I am so grateful to have.
I am so grateful for all of you, you give me a purpose to keep going and trying. I'm looking forward to our next visit, maybe we can go to the park next time?
Love Always
Daddy x
Based on the letter, Daphne believes that Steven Shelby was trying to turn his life around. His words in the letter conveyed so much truth, love, and hurt for his children, and he's taken accountability for his addiction.
'Why do you think someone wanted to kill him?' Fred asks. Larissa shrugs, 'I don't know, but I don't believe it was any relation to drugs. The police found his wallet, surely it would have been stolen if it was a drug crime?'
'There was no mention of a wallet in any of the articles I read.' Daphne says. 'They returned it to my mom when they finished the investigation, but they found no prints on it.' Larissa explains.
'What about his phone?' Fred asks. 'No mention of it.' Daphne responds. 'I'm not aware of it. But I know he had one, I used to text him on it.' Larissa adds.
'Who was overseeing the police investigation?' Daphne asks. 'Lieutenant Brown. I read it earlier.' Fred replies.
'You're not going to the police, are you? They'll be no help!' Larissa implores. 'We need to see what information they're willing to provide us, it can help with the case.' Daphne explains. Larissa seems skeptical.
Back at the office, Kramer and Green are sitting at their desks, Green spinning in his chair while Kramer reads over their notes.
'I just can't get my head around it,' Kramer speaks, 'We've come up with three possible theories as to who the Whistleblower could be, but none make sense.'
'We've gone over this how many times now?' Green asks.
'What if…'
'Cam, we've gone over this.'
'What if he's a missing person?' Kramer suggests and he has Green's attention, 'We haven't thought about that.'
'No, we haven't.' Kramer says as he opens the laptop, and searches missing people in Google, 'Where do we even start with this?' He asks.
'Click on that link, ' Green points at the first link, it's the police official missing persons list.
They see pictures of missing men, women, and children with a brief description of their appearance, their last known location, what they were last seen to be wearing, and any known sightings.
They scroll through the photographs and check the descriptions of each missing person, comparing their descriptions to what they know of the mystery man.
'Geez, there's a lotta people.' Green comments.
Kramer leaves Green to search the website. He opens his laptop and logs into Facebook and searches for Danbury Police Department's page, there is a brief description of the drug bust on Winter's Road and they are asking people to come forward with information regarding the people who lived in the house and the whistleblower who had contacted them.
Kramer reads through the comments. Some comments read "typical Danbury" whereas others say they knew the people who lived in the home and aren't surprised by the news.
Kramer sees a comment about the whistleblower, someone saw a man dressed in dark clothing and a baseball cap standing outside the house or walking up and down the street.
One woman's comment says she lives on Winter's Road and a few days ago when she was walking to work she walked past a man wearing the clothes the whistleblower is described to have been wearing and a navy blue Portland Mavericks baseball cap.
'He was spotted wearing a Portland Mavericks baseball cap.' Kramer informs Green.
Kramer types a message to the woman who left the comment about the baseball cap asking if she could provide any other information.
'I think I found someone.' Green informs showing Kramer his laptop.
'Ricky Harris.' Kramer reads, 'Missing from Corvallis, Oregon, last seen wearing dark blue jeans, a dark blue hoodie, and a navy blue Portland Mavericks baseball cap.'
'Corvallis, Oregon? What the hell is he doing over here?' Green asks, 'He's a long way from home that's for sure.'
They study Ricky Harris' picture on the missing person's website. He is pictured with neatly combed blonde hair and green eyes. The description says that he is 6"2. He has a scar on his left knee but no skin pigmentations or tattoos.
'Why would he come here though? Why travel from Oregon to Washington D.C. to, what tattle on a drug dealer?' Green asks in disbelief.
'Even more so, he has a wife and three children.' Kramer says. 'His wife reported him missing in the morning of March ninth when he didn't come home from a night out and when she rang his friends they said he never showed.' Kramer continues, 'A cab driver picked him up from Corvallis and dropped him in Salem and he was captured at the bus station and bought a Greyhound bus ticket. Security cameras didn't capture him boarding the bus or leaving the Salem bus station and that's the only known sighting of him.'
'I'm gonna call Danbury police station, maybe someone can talk to us about the case and we can find out more about what this guy has to do with the drug dealers.' Green says.
Kramer searches for Ricky Harris on Facebook and finds a page called Find Ricky Harris.
He reads the pinned post on the page;
My name is Erin Harris and my husband Ricky disappeared on March 8th. He left home on the evening of March 8th for his colleague's leaving party. The following morning, when I realized he wasn't home, I called his friend who I knew would be at the party and I was told that Ricky hadn't attended the party. A taxi driver says he picked him up from Corvallis and he was last spotted on security footage at Salem. Please contact the police incident number if you think you have seen Ricky or if you know where he could be. Thank you, Erin.
Kramer wonders why a father would leave his family without an explanation as to where he was going or why and have no contact with them.
'Do you think he was having financial trouble?' Kramer asks. 'It's possible. We can message his wife and find out.' Green suggests as he begins to type a message to Erin Harris.
'I don't know if that's a good idea. We don't know if our guy is Ricky Harris. Besides, what are you gonna tell her? That we think her husband has been snooping on a drug ring, that's why he hasn't been putting the kids to bed at night.' Kramer replies.
'Something along those lines. Done.' Green replies and he taps the enter key, sending the message.
