The ride went quickly. Kim gave Tracy all the details from the time Marsha showed up at his house until the police booked him and put him in jail. When he described the attack by the man with the knife, Tracy was aghast. He even showed her the shallow slice across the top of his hand.
“What did this man look like?” Tracy asked. She shuddered. She couldn’t imagine the horror of being attacked in a dark slaughterhouse.
“It happened so fast,” Kim said. “I wouldn’t be able to describe him very well.”
“Old, young?” Tracy asked. “Tall, short?” For some inexplicable reason she wanted an image of this individual.
“Dark,” Kim said. “Dark skin, dark hair. I think he was Mexican or at least Latin American. Slender but well-muscled. He had a lot of tattoos.”
“Why didn’t you tell all this to Justin?” she asked.
“What good would it have done?” Kim said.
“He could have said something to the judge.” Tracy persisted.
“But it wouldn’t have changed anything,” Kim maintained. “In fact, it might have made things worse. I mean, it sounds so improbable, and I just wanted to get away from there so I could think of what to do.”
“So you believe Marsha Baldwin is still in Higgins and Hancock?” Tracy asked. “Possibly being held against her wishes?”
“That or worse,” Kim said. “If it were human blood I found, she could have been killed.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Tracy admitted.
“Nor do I,” Kim said. “I keep hoping she got out. Maybe I should call my answering machine. Maybe she called.”
Tracy pulled the phone from its car cradle and handed it to Kim. He dialed and listened. After a couple of minutes. he put the phone back.
“Well?” Tracy asked.
Kim shook his head dejectedly. “No luck,” he said. “Just Ginger.”
“Tell me again exactly what you heard when you were talking with her the last time,” Tracy asked.
“I heard the sound of breaking glass,” Kim repeated. “It came right after she said someone was at the door. Then I heard a series of crashes, which I believe were from chairs falling over. I think whoever came through the door chased her out of the room.”
“And you told all this to the police?” Tracy asked.
“Of course,” Kim said. “But a lot of good that did! Yet it’s understandable. They think I’m some kind of nut. When I tried to show them the blood, it had been washed away. When I tried to show them her cell phone, it was gone. Even her car wasn’t in the parking lot where it had been when I got there.”
“Could she have taken the phone?” Tracy asked. “And driven away in the car?”
“I hope to God she did,” Kim said. “I hate to think of any alternative, and I feel so responsible. She’d gone there because of me.”
“You didn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to do,” Tracy said. “In the short time I had with her. I could tell she wasn’t the kind of person people could push around. She definitely had a mind of her own.”
“What I’d like to do is get my hands on the guard.” Kim said. “He had to know Marsha was there, even though he denied it.”
“If he lied to the police, he certainly isn’t going to tell you anything,” Tracy said.
“Well, I’ve got to do something,” Kim said.
“Do you know anything about her?” Tracy asked. “Like where she lives, or where she’s from, or whether she has any family in the area?”
“I know almost nothing about her,” Kim admitted, “Except that she’s twenty-nine, and she went to veterinary school .”
“Too bad,” Tracy commented. “It would be a help if you could establish for sure whether or not she’s missing. If she is, then the police would have to listen to you.”
“You just gave me an idea,” Kim said. He straightened up from his slouch. “What do you think of my going to Kelly Anderson and getting her to help?”
“Now, that’s not a bad idea,” Tracy said. ‘The question is, would she do it?”
“There’s no way of knowing unless I approach her,” Kim said.