Free Dead By Dawn by Juliet Dillon Clark

“Is your client related to Charles Davenport?”
     
    “Yes, Jeremy Davenport is Charles’ grandson.” She let that sink in for a moment and then asked him another question. “Is the friend Martin Van Buren?”
     
    “Yes, that was his name,” Fred answered. “Both families were powerful families when we lived in San Luis.”
     
    “So, you think that one of those men was Janell’s father?”
     
    “Yes, my parents thought that. My sister was getting money to take care of the baby from someone,” he said.
     
    “Did your parents ever approach either family?” she asked.
     
    “I don’t know. Charles father was a powerhouse in the community and Van Buren’s father was a judge. I think they would have been afraid to do anything with people like that. My parents were nice, simple folks,” he said.
     
    “How did you know that your sister was getting money from someone to take care of the baby?” she asked.
     
    “My dad mentioned once that an envelope full of cash would arrive in the mail every month, addressed to my sister. He got curious one time and opened it.”
     
    “Did anyone report your sister’s disappearance?” Lindsay asked.
     
    “Yes, my parents did. Letty lived with them,” he said.
     
    “Did the police look for her?”
     
    “Hardly.” He snorted. “When my parents mentioned that she ran with Van Buren and Davenport, they backed off.”
     
    “They told you that?” she asked.
     
    “No, my parents just said that the sheriff wasn’t putting much effort into it.”
     
    “Do you think those men were involved in her disappearance?”
     
    “Only that the money stopped coming,” he said.
     
    “The cash every month?” she asked.
     
    “Yes, there was never another payment after she disappeared,” he said.
     
    “In retrospect, it looks like someone knew she was dead,” Lindsay stated.
     
    “Yes, you could say that, now that we know she was dead,” Fred acknowledged.
     
    “Did you know either of the men?” Lindsay asked.
     
    “I knew them from high school. Both of them were a couple of spoiled pricks,” he said. “Davenport was always a bully and Van Buren was his side kick. They were arrogant and pushed people around.”
     
    “Either of them get into trouble with the law?” she asked.
     
    Fred paused and thought for a minute. “Not directly.”
     
    “What do you mean?”
     
    “I seem to remember something about some trouble they got into in high school. Someone got hurt. The word was that one of the Davenport’s ranch hands was involved. I think he took the fall for something the boys did,” he answered.
     
    “Do you know any details?” she asked.
     
    “I can’t remember anything,” he said.
     
    “Do you know his name?” she said.
     
    “No, I don’t,” he said. Then, his face lit up. “I do remember that the guy’s boy was in our class and he worked at the ranch too.”
     
    “I might be able to track him down,” she said. “That must have been hard on your parents with your sister having a child out of wedlock.”
     
    “It was. Things like that just didn’t happen back in the fifties. My parents were embarrassed.”
     
    “Why didn’t they do more to find out who the father was?” she asked.
     
    “I think they knew it was one of those boys. At the time, they were both married,” he said.
     
    “But your sister was underage when she had the baby.”
     
    “You just didn’t go around making accusations like that without proof. Letty wasn’t talking,” he said.
     
    “Do you have an old yearbook?” Lindsay asked.
     
    “I might have one in the study,” he said and smiled. “It would be an antique.”
     
    Lindsay laughed at his joke. “Do you think you could point out the kid you think may be the ranch hand’s kid?”
     
    “Sure, let me grab it,” he said. He got up from the chair and went to another room in the house. Several minutes later, he came back with the San Luis yearbook from 1950. He scanned through