Free Key Lime Pie by Josi S. Kilpack

worry,” Layla cut in.
    “That’s good,” Mathews said as though to appease Layla. Sadie wondered how well he knew Eric’s ex-wife, and she wished she could ask him some questions about her.
    The sergeant pulled a notebook out of the front drawer of his desk and wrote something down. He paused, then looked up at both women. Sadie liked that he seemed to be giving her as much consideration as he was giving Layla.
    “I would postpone this if I could, but I have a meeting at the courthouse in half an hour and I wanted to pass on the information as soon as possible.” He cleared his throat. “We have the first of the medical examiner’s reports,” he explained. Though there was still a great deal of neutrality in his tone, Sadie could hear an undercurrent that seemed . . . relieved. And it relieved her as well. As much as she liked being a part of things, she didn’t like to hear bad news. Which, she realized, was likely why Sergeant Mathews had let her come in the first place—because he wasn’t going to drop a bombshell. She suspected that he also wasn’t sure Layla would understand everything going on and he wanted another witness to the event. Whatever the reason, she was simply glad to be part of the in-crowd on this one and hoped she’d be able to help in some way.
    Sadie still held her breath in anticipation of what he was about to say. Layla was looking at a spot on the floor just in front of her chair, her hands clasped together and back straight.
    “It’s not Megan,” Sergeant Mathews said.
    The room seemed to lose pressure instantly. They all paused for a moment and Layla lifted her head, her expression still causal. “Can I have the bracelet back now?”
    What bracelet? Sadie wondered, taken aback by Layla’s response. No tears of relief? No questions about who the body might be?
    “I’m afraid it’s still evidence,” Mathews said regretfully. His eyes flickered to Sadie before returning to Layla. “There’s something else.”
    Both women looked at him.
    “We found a purse not far from the body. It’s in pretty bad shape, but our forensic team has been going through it, taking X-rays and specialized photographs of the contents.” He opened the folder on his desk and pulled out a single piece of paper. He slid the paper toward Layla, and Sadie leaned forward to get a peek.
    The image on the paper reminded Sadie of a carbon copy, though one where the carbon had been bent and wrinkled, transferring smudges onto places it didn’t belong. “Is this a driver’s license?” Sadie asked. The image was enlarged, of course, and the fact that the details were all shades of the same color of inky blue made it hard to distinguish specifics.
    Without saying anything, Sergeant Mathews leaned forward and tapped the photo. Sadie followed his silent instruction and squinted at the picture on the right-hand side. It was really hard to make out many features. She leaned in closer. It looked a little like . . .
    “Megan?” Layla asked, also leaning forward. She jabbed her finger at the photo and looked up at Mathews, her eyes wider than usual and her expression animated for the first time. “Is that Megan?”
    Once again, Mathews didn’t answer. Instead he moved his finger from the photo to the date the license was issued. “We’ve requested an actual copy from the Department of Motor Vehicles in Texas—the state that issued this license—to verify the information, but it looks like this license was issued three weeks after your daughter disappeared.”

Chapter 12

    Sadie began scanning the image with more detail. She’d seen only one photograph of Megan so she had very little to compare this picture to. The name printed on the license was Lucile Anne Powell. “Are you sure this is her?” Sadie asked, looking back at the image once more.
    “No,” Mathews said, shaking his head. “The copy is too poor of quality for us to do much with it, but seeing as the bracelet was found with the body . .