Kayli Unknown

Chapter 28 - a Blue Dress

Kat never found Kayli, but she found a blue dress. It was after midnight. Kat had scanned back months. She was moving faster. She knew the families now, where they sat, where each girl sat, where each boy sat. Her chart showed few variations from week to week. These people were serious about attending church. They never missed.

Kat began to feel she could name the kids. The girls she called Betty and Ann, and Carrie and Francine. Something about their appearance. Something about the way they sat or responded to the pastor. She began to feel she could walk up to each of them on the street and start a conversation. And to each she wanted to ask, what happened to Kayli? Why isn't she here, smiling, looking pretty, being looked at by that boy in the fourth row?

Kat went back week after week. Same people in the same seats. Week after week, month after month. She counted back. December, November, October, September. Same people. Fewer coats. Then she saw it. The blue dress. It was on Betty. But it was Kayli's dress. Blue. Kayli's blue. Half sleeves, buttons up the front, a fairly wide collar that came together with wide and decorative lapels. A modest dress. Gathered at the waist, but loose through the bodice. No tailoring to provide a hint at her figure. Skirt below her knees. A church dress for a girl just starting, well, just starting so much new in her life.

Kat had seen Kayli for how long? A fraction of a second as the car dashed into the pool table and Kayli was tossed into the windshield, then again for a few seconds as she fell out of the car, her head smashed on the concrete. But that was long enough to hold an image of her. Kat could recreate every detail. Her shoulders as Kayli's head snapped to one side. Her chest bouncing off the steering wheel. Her neck loose as she slipped to the side and landed face first on the floor. And that dress. The round blue button holding the lapels at her chest. The blue skirt sliding up her leg. The collar with an ornamental flare to it, just a bit of an ornamental arc turning quickly white from the ceiling plaster. Betty was wearing that dress.

Kat magnified the image. She studied the girl. She studied the dress. It was a match. She was certain. It was Kayli's dress. The same design. The same color. Maybe even the same size.

Which meant what? Two dresses. Maybe the same store? Maybe a store in Pembine? Maybe a clerk who would remember a pretty twelve year old – and her mother. Yes, it was a stretch, but after weeks of looking, it felt like Kat had at least made some link. It wasn't the strongest link, but it was a link. It was too late in the day for Kat to dance around her office, but it definitely felt like a time to celebrate.

But work first. Who was Betty? Kat highlighted Betty and the people sitting close to her. Presumably her family. She did a screen capture. One copy to her printer, one copy to her phone. It was well past midnight, but Kat was past the point of being courteous. She texted the image to Dave Kekkonen. "The dress is identical to Kayli's. Who is this girl?"

Dave's shift ended at midnight, but apparently he hadn't gone to bed yet. He phoned Kat immediately.

"Are you sure about the dress?"

"Yes."

"That's a church service, right?"

"Yes."

"The girl is the daughter of Erin and Bryan McKisson. I don't know the girl's name. He works for the highway department. She has some sort of home business. Something on-line."

"Where do they live?"

"Why?"

"I want to talk to her about where she bought that dress."

"Maybe I should do that."

"It's your case, Dave. But maybe a woman talking to a woman will get us some information a deputy won't get."

"About a dress."

"Yes. I just want to know where she bought the dress. Then I ask the store clerk how many other blue dresses she sold to twelve year olds."

"They live just west of Pembine on County OO."

"Thanks, Dave, I'll tell you what I learn."

Fifteen minutes before, Kat had been exhausted, her vision blurred from staring at church services. Now she was too excited to sleep. Progress. Maybe. At least another approach to try. She stared at her computer. Betty looked happy. Sitting with her family. A pretty girl in a blue dress. Kat studied her, and the dress, and finally went to bed. It had been a long day, but a good day.