Trask the detective

  Trask glanced at Grandpa, who gave a nod. "I spent the last couple of days in Monmouth, Illinois. "

  "Where the letter was addressed," Seth recalled.

  "Kept an eye on the post office box. Spent some time at the local college, got to know the town and the outlying areas. Nice place. So far, we have nothing. I left a man watching the post office. "

  "I'm glad you guys followed up on the letter," Seth said.

  "We're nowhere near done," Trask promised. "I want to hear firsthand about any oddities you noted regarding your sister's behavior. "

  Seth recounted how Kendra had acted at breakfast, how she had come home early from the day care, how she had overreacted when she found him in her room, and the final tragic confrontation with Warren.

  "All of this happened on the same day," Trask confirmed.

  "Yep. Except the scary part with Warren was technically early the next day. "

  "No strange behavior the day before. "

  "Well, she kept to herself more than usual the evening before. Stayed shut up in her room. "

  "After she got home from the day care," Trask said.

  "Right," Seth said. "She seemed very much herself the day before. "

  Trask turned his head toward Grandpa. "Everything points to the day care. Elise checked in the windows multiple times while Kendra was there. Nothing appeared amiss. I interviewed Ronda Redmond, a woman who works overlapping hours with Kendra. I presented myself as a private investigator. She claimed that the only time Kendra was out of her sight on the day in question was when Rex brought Kendra into his office for a minute or two to respond to a call from a parent. We've kept Ronda under heavy surveillance and have dug deep into her past. Whatever transpired, she seems to be an oblivious bystander. "

Chapter 5