Chapter 12: Mystery. Missing Person. New authors

“What do you mean you haven’t talked to your mother in over a week?”

Ash ruminated, “I think it was a week ago Sunday night to let her know we’d gotten here safe and sound on the train. I had barely seen her that weekend, but she was puttering around the house and she said she had a date that evening. Nothing unusual. After that day when I called all I did was leave messages on the answering machine. When I went home on Friday, there were all my messages unplayed. I stayed alone that night and then went over to Chris’ house on Saturday. When we swung by my house last night to get some clothes there was no sign that mom had been there.”

Chris nodded in confirmation. She added, “Her car wasn’t there either and no one had brought in the mail. The post box was stuffed full.”

I excused myself a little later and went into my office while the girls worked on dinner and I called the Westborough Police, but they had no information relevant to Lisa Caldwell. The Valley Hospital also had no record of anyone under that name and no Jane Does. Well, I thought, that kind of eliminated a couple of potentially bad situations from consideration. I did wonder what was up with Lisa.

The next day at the university, I called Lisa’s work and she was AWOL; no one had heard from her for over a week. This was getting weird.

I stopped by Deb Summer’s office ostensibly to talk about the girls and their next semester’s programs. Towards the end of that discussion, I mentioned that Ashley hadn’t been in touch with her mother for over a week. Deb’s eyebrows waggled a little.

“What do you think that means?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. I called Westborough police and the local hospital, and Lisa’s work, but no one had anything of note to say. I wonder whether she took a trip and just neglected to tell anybody, for instance her daughter.”

“I only met her once,” Deb said. “She was hard to gauge.”

“I’ve met her a couple of times. The last time was right at the start of the summer semester. Lisa showed up uninvited at the house. I thought maybe she wanted to check out the arrangements for Ashley, but that wasn’t the case. She hit on me big time, even showing up naked in my bed late at night after she orchestrated staying over with us. I kicked her out, embarrassing her in front of the girls. I wasn’t too gentle about it. Ashley really lit into her too.”

“But that was several weeks ago,” Deb observed. “Do you think she’s just mad at you all and trying to teach you a lesson, maybe reaching out for attention in a backhanded way?”

I shook my head. “For now, just keep it in mind. I wanted to alert you. We are a harmonious group.”

“Oh, yes, I heard,” Deb teased. “I got a call from Marcia. She said you were getting closer, and that she’d actually stayed over with you a couple of nights.” Her eyes were sparkling with curiosity, and I suspected that Marcia might have said just enough to titillate Deb without giving any real information. I decided to adopt a similar play just in case.

“Well, we have had some lovely talks, prepared some great meals, and I enjoy our get-togethers. One should not drive after drinking, so we’ve made sure that she had a bed instead of risking a DUI.” I gave a slight grin, not enough to confirm or deny my bullshit, but enough to tease back. I added, “Besides, a gentleman never talks about things like what you suggest.”

Deb backed off at that. Our brief exchange also made me size her up as an occasional sex partner for Marcia. I could see a lot of attractiveness there, but also backed away from that discussion thread. I wondered whether Deb was jealous that Marcia was forming a relationship with me. I felt certain that Marcia would never mention doing anything with the teens.

I made a couple of calls during the day to the Caldwell house to see whether Lisa was home, but didn’t leave any message on the machine. That evening Ash again called and ended up leaving another message. Chris verified that her parents had heard nothing from Lisa either.

The rest of the week went as expected. The days were either working with our teams at Robotix or at the university taking or delivering courses. At night, there’d be dinner, some individual time we created so the teens could study, and then some lovemaking.

Gradually, Marcia got more comfortable and at home with all of us, and we with her. I think her worry about being an outsider to our threesome waned if not disappeared. She knew we each liked her a lot, and that we wanted her around for as much time as she could spare.

The girls did their Saturday at the zoo and Marcia got to meet Margaret and Lenz Czerny – Chris’ parents when she drove to Westborough to pick up the girls. The explanation that she was my girlfriend passed muster with the parents, and they accepted that the three girls just wanted a Girls’ Day Out together without me.

I worked at home on Saturday, comfortable that only good things could happen as a result of their time together. I still worried about Lisa Caldwell who had been gone starting three weeks by then as far as we knew.

Ashley called her mother’s old places of work on Monday while at the Robotix and found that she hadn’t contacted them, but that wasn’t unexpected. The next day after morning classes, I drove Ash out to Westborough and after checking the house we went to the police station and filed a Missing Persons Report on her mother. We put down that I was the adult contact person, and I wisely also listed Provost Deb Summer on the report form as a contact. The connection with the university seemed to have a calming effect on the police sergeant working the front desk. Ash had brought an up to date picture of her mother taken only a month or so earlier. She surprised me by knowing the make, model, and license plate number of her car too.

The next evening Ash and I got a call from Detective Sam Satori. He wanted to let us know that their quick pass search of other police blotters near Westborough and hospitals had turned up nothing. He assured us that he’d work on the case until we had some resolution on her whereabouts. He made some requests that we said we’d check on.

Thursday, Marcia met Ashley, Chris, and me at Ash’s mother’s home. The mailbox was again full of untouched mail. Based on some questions from the detective, we went through the house, mostly guiding Marcia.

Marcia helped Ash determine that a suitcase was missing along with some cosmetics and a collection of clothing. Various pieces of jewelry were also gone, but not everything. I noticed that the air conditioning had been nudged to a higher temperature to save money; a move a frugal mother would make.

I went through the mail and culled aside a few bills: mortgage, electric, water, and telephone. I noted there was also an invoice for a cellphone, and I called the number on the account but got no answer. I left a message.

I took the bills with us when we left, figuring that I’d pay them to preserve the stasis of their home life. Lisa could eventually pay me back if she was able otherwise I’d just forget it in the interest of preserving my relationship with Ash.

In the ensuing discussion about bills with Ash, I learned that neither Ash nor Chris had a smart phone. The expense had been too great for both sets of parents. Neither of Chris’ parents even had a cellphone, and Ash said her mother’s cell had been one of the old flip phones that she could get for free with her minimalist account. Ash’s cellphone was the same cheap model and a free add-on to the account. They’d finagled the same deal for Chris. I resolved to fix that, and we stopped at a Verizon Wireless store on the way home and I added Ash and Chris to my account and got them both smart phones. They were ecstatic with the gifts and spent the rest of the afternoon playing with their new electronic toys.

We talked with Detective Satori late that afternoon and told him our findings and gave him the new contact information for Ashley. He said we’d given him a number of new leads and he’d get back to us.

I got a call from him on Friday afternoon. “Mr. Clark, I have a few things to report, but most of them look like dead ends. We found Lisa Caldwell’s car in an off-airport long-term parking lot. No one remembered her. I took the liberty of impounding it. The crime lab and I went through it, but there was nothing extraordinary about it to report. We’ll hold it in our lot; at least the recovery fee will be much less than the daily parking fee. It does suggest that she went to the airport for a flight.

“We are checking the passenger manifests from two to three weeks ago, emphasizing the night she disappeared and the next day. Nothing has turned up. If she did some kind of a fake, and took the train, there is no way we could know.

“We tried to trace her cellphone, but so far that seems to be off the air. We also tried to trace her credit cards but they haven’t been used since the Saturday before her daughter last saw her. We did get bank records, and she withdrew all but a couple of hundred dollars from her account the Saturday before she disappeared. It wasn’t much, about $500, but it maybe shows some intent to want to coast for some period of time without using credit cards.”

I commented that I had just paid a number of her bills including her Visa bill. He seemed to make note of that and thanked me for looking out for Caldwell’s daughter.

He added, “I also talked to Mrs. Deborah Summer, the Provost at the university. She explained the unique situation with Ashley – and her best friend Christine. I guess you are at present the de facto guardian of Ashley Caldwell. If Lisa Caldwell is not located in the next few weeks though, we’re going to have to let Child Protective Services know the situation. I’ll give you a heads up ahead of time, but let’s give it a month at least. Mrs. Summer vouched for your trustworthiness and we also contacted another personal reference she gave us who has seen your home situation, Miss Marcia Calassio who runs the Harbor Gallery in Boston. She also vouched that you have a nice home situation for Ashley, a room she shares with her best friend and cohort, and are looking out for her best interests.”

I said, “She is an unusual student and good ward to have around. I shall continue unchanged until I hear from you. Please keep us informed.”

On the way home from Robotix that afternoon, I told Ashley about my call with Detective Satori. She listened quietly but didn’t say anything.

At home, we had a colossal surprise. In my regular mail, there was a Priority Mail envelope sent from Gary, Indiana. Inside was one sheet of paper, that I unfolded, and then avoided touching so the police could analyze it.

The short letter in scrawled pencil said, “Ashley – I love you and miss you. Fearing for my life. Can’t be near you right now. Stay with the professor and you’ll be safe, too; he’s good for you and I approve. More later. I have to move on. I love you. Mom.”

Ashley cried for a couple of hours. We’d put Chris on the train so she could go home to her parent’s house, but Ash had opted to stay the weekend with Marcia and me.

I caught Detective Satori just as he was leaving for the day. He came by the house to get the letter. We’d left it right where I’d opened the special envelope. He put it and the envelope in an evidence bag and bid us all a good weekend.

Marcia arrived about seven o’clock. I’d called and talked to her, telling her about the situation and what we knew about Ash’s mother. This had now escalated to a full-scale mystery and we were in the midst of it – or rather Ashley was. After dinner that evening I also called Deb Summer at home and gave her an update on the situation; she thanked me but had nothing further to add.

Marcia calmed Ashley, even cuddling the small shapely teen in her lap for a while. They speculated about why her mother might have felt unsafe but there were no easy answers there. The talk and hugs seemed to help Ash.

That night, given the mood of the day, I just held the two women to me and we all slept.

In the morning, I awoke to the wondrous aroma of bacon permeating the house. Ash woke up with me. Marcia was not in bed, so I assumed she was doing great things in the kitchen. I slipped on a robe, and Ash put on one of my t-shirts over her sweet naked body. I got a large grin as we walked down the hall to the kitchen.

Marcia stood at the stove wearing an apron – only an apron. I again noted how nice her ass looked because that was the most obvious part available for ogling. We got a beautiful smile from her as we slid into seats at the table. There were fresh cups of coffee for each of us already poured.

Marcia said, “This is a day we could sit around and worry about a lot of things, or a day we can celebrate the sunshine and the fact that someone’s mother has taken steps to protect herself from some threat. I think we have every reason to be upbeat.”

Ash smiled, “I agree and there’s some irony in the whole situation.”

“How’s that?” Marcia asked as she started to whip up some scrambled eggs.

“Well, my mother and I aren’t emotionally close, but she is my mom. I didn’t have a dad, so she had to play both roles. Based on reading about child and adolescent development, she did the minimum to get by. Fortunately, she allowed me free rein over my life and tried to support me where it made her life easier and less restrictive. I learned at a young age how to sell an idea to her. This is why I’m here now. She bought into me not being around all the time, and even when I was at home I only saw her for a few minutes here or there. That’s been the case for the past five or more years. I’m self-raised at age fifteen.”

“What about filial love?” Marcia asked.

“Oh, I feel dutiful to her, but I’m not sure I have a lot of respect for her. It’s no secret I’m smarter than she is by a large margin, at least I think I am; but I still respect a lot of people regardless of their smarts, and that’s because they don’t do dumb things. My mom did a lot of dumb things. I suspect she’s done one now, and is in trouble somehow with someone. Lord knows. Maybe we’ll find out when she surfaces.