Drake exchanged a glance with Cassie. She gave him an almost imperceptible nod.
“What?” William’s gaze darted from Cassie to Drake.
“The maternity dress the victim wore was made by Alice Carter and had little pink and yellow flowers on it.”
Amy’s eyes widened.
William countered, “I’m sure this Alice Carter woman made more dresses with that fabric than just the one she made for Beth.”
His wife sat beside him shaking her head. “It was the only one. She swore.” Amy’s eyes filled again. “You found Beth.”
Cassie staredat the road ahead, her mind too drained to make conversation. An hour and a half passed before she turned to Drake.
“I thought learning the victim’s name would make me feel better.” She shook her head. “Seeing the fresh shock and overwhelming sorrow in Amy and William Anderson’s faces broke my heart. No one should outlive their child.”
“I agree,” Drake said. “You could tell they wanted to believe she was still alive.”
“I told them they could ask for a DNA test to prove she’s their daughter.”
“Do you have any doubts?” Drake asked
Cassie shook her head. “It has to be Beth. It can’t be a coincidence that she was wearing a one-of-a-kind maternity dress with that specific pattern.”
“I’m glad they didn’t see her the way I found her,” Drake said.
Cassie touched his arm. “It makes it all too real, seeing her photographs when she was alive and listening to her parents talk about her. They loved her so much.”
Drake glanced toward her. “Did you forward the snapshot you took of Beth wearing the dress to the state crime lab?”
Cassie nodded. “I got a response from Preston Todd. The patterns matched. They’ll be in touch with the Andersons so they can make arrangements to transfer Beth’s body to Idaho Falls, where she’ll be buried among family.”
Drake nodded. “She’ll finally get to go home.”
“And her parents will have the closure they needed.” Cassie prayed she wouldn’t have to wait twenty years to find Penny. “This case isn’t over yet,” Cassie said. “We have to find out who murdered Beth and sealed her in the wall.”
“The Andersons said the father of Beth’s child was in construction.” Drake glanced toward Cassie.
Cassie nodded. “It can’t be a coincidence that she found her way to Eagle Rock and ended up sealed into a wall during a construction project. One of the men working for Greenway Construction had to have done it. Or someone who had access to the construction site.”
“It had to be someone at Greenway,” Drake said. “Why else kill Earl? Earl might’ve known who else was hanging drywall beside himself.”
“You and the sheriff interviewed all the workers who still live nearby.” Cassie frowned. “Nothing?”
“I can’t vouch for the men Sheriff Barron spoke with. I didn’t get any guilty vibes from the ones I contacted, but then, one of them might be a really good liar.”
“He convinced Beth he was sincere,” Cassie pointed out.
Drake nodded.
The road heading into the Crazy Mountains narrowed on each side and curved between sheer bluffs.
Drake’s hands tightened on the steering wheel as he navigated the switchbacks.
“You might want to slow down even more,” Cassie cautioned. “These roads can be just as treacherous even during good driving conditions.”
“We don’t have curves like this in Texas,” Drake said. “Nor do we have mountains this high or steep. Does this road ever get cut off in the winter?”
Cassie nodded. “There have been occasions when avalanches claim sections of the highway. Other roads lead in and out of the mountains, but this highway is the more direct route to Bozeman. Avalanche control units will set off charges to trigger smaller avalanches to keep the big ones from happening. In the winter, you might hear the explosions after a heavy snowfall.”