Milk Carton Murders 28

SETUP: We're leaving last week's scene where Dave's dad is being questioned. I'm leaving a lot of the next part out as it has too many clues to post before it's published (at some point). Let's just say there are other suspects and Dave is determined to help Investigator Pepper Black figure out who those people are. A lot of people worked at the dairy twenty years ago in the milk carton plant, not just Dave's dad. (Remember, Dave and Pepper have a deal, he can tag along for an exclusive for not printing the milk carton photos in the newspaper, and she wants to keep him close anyway, positive he's holding something back.) Below is a conversation between Dave and Pepper. She shows Dave a photo, hoping for a reaction, of what was in the coffin with the one foster girl who stayed at Dave's house when he was about 13. Pepper speaks first.

As always the words in italics is the "other" voice in Dave's head.

"The girl you knew as Melissa Riggs, a.k.a. our victim Samantha Briggs—who by the way, we need to start calling her by her real name—she had a stuffed dog, more teddy bear style construction, made of polyester which is why it survived.”

 Dave didn’t want to look at the photograph, nor did he need to. “Was it yellow?”

“Yes, extremely dirty, but it was yellow—and you knew this how?”

Dave slumped against the jeep, dragged his fingers through his hair, and back again. Please, he thought, no more headaches—focus. “Because I gave it to her; I think I won it at the county fair.”

You think? Oh come on Davy, quit being such a chicken shit, you can remember—or do I have to tell you?

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BLURB:

When three small coffins are unearthed near the Wiscoy Creek during a routine dredging operation, it’s the last thing DAVE ROBERTSON, of the Lamont Weekly Times, expected. Pinned to the skeleton’s clothing are pictures from milk cartons of missing girls.

Dave is stunned to find that one of the girls is Sally―a foster child his parents had cared for through the Friends of Foster Families (FFF) program. Cold case files reveal the girls disappeared over 20 years ago. Knowing his house was the last place he saw Sally alive, he can’t help but suspect his dad.

How can he write the biggest story of his career if his father turns out to be the killer? If the voice in his head would shut up and let him remember, he might figure it out before he loses his mind and his dad is charged with murder.

Full blurb and snippet recap here.