“JAMES WHITE?” Sue signed as the man nodded. “I AM SUE THOMAS AND THIS IS JACK HUDSON. WE ARE WITH THE FBI. CAN WE ASK YOU SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR WIFE’S DISAPPEARANCE?”
They watched as he nodded his head and walked into the living area. Sue noted that the man understood ASL and wondered if he was deaf or had learnt ASL because of his wife. Sue followed him through to the living room as Jack closed the front door and joined them. They both sat on the couch when he indicated they could sit. He placed the tiny infant in her crib and came to sit opposite them.
“HOW COME THE FBI ARE INVOLVED IN MY WIFE’S DISAPPEARANCE?” James signed.
“WE BELIEVE THAT YOU WIFE’S DISAPPEARANCE IS CONNECTED THE THREE OTHER WOMEN WHO HAVE GONE MISSING OVER THE LAST TWO WEEKS.”
Sue signed and spoke so that Jack understood what she was saying. Even though Jack’s ASL was improving, he still wasn’t to the level where he could understand everything she had said. She saw the surprised look on the husband’s face as he leaned forward.
“You can speak too? Rosemary could speak as well you know.” James said, his voice tinged with sadness.
“We know Mr White, so could all the other women who have gone missing. This is why we think your wife is connected to these women somehow.” Sue told him.
“Mr White, when was the last time that you saw your wife” Jack asked.
“It was Sunday lunchtime. She always insists on having a big family dinner on a Sunday. It was something that her parents did throughout her childhood, a family tradition that she liked to keep. We finished a little after 3pm and she said that she was going to see a friend and then on to deaf club. She should have been back a little after eight but she never came back.”
Sue glanced across at Jack as she saw James’ words and he shook his head slightly. She knew what Jack was telling her. They knew that Rosemary hadn’t attended deaf club on Sunday, but it was clear her husband thought she had. The shake of his head told her that he didn’t want her husband knowing this just yet.
“Do you know the name of the friend that she was going to see?” Jack asked.
“No, she never told me. She liked to keep her friends to herself. I think it was a friend from back home. I know she kept in touch with quite a few people from Ohio. I can give you list of the friends that I know of if you think that would help?”
“Yes it would, thank you Mr White.” Sue said as she smiled.
Sue watched as the older man nodded and stood, checking on the little girl that lay in her crib. When he was out of earshot, Sue turned to Jack.
“If he thought she was at deaf club and we know that she wasn’t, then where was she going each Sunday night?” Sue asked him.
“I don’t know Sue, there could be any number of explanations for why she would lie to her husband but I think I may know what the most likely one is. I think...” Jack started, but was stopped when James returned.
“Here you go.” He handed the paper to Jack before turning to pick up the little girl, “Emily is a little unsettled, I think she is missing her mother.” James said as he carefully placed her on his shoulder and began to rock her side to side.
“How long have you and Rosemary been together Mr White.”
Sue watched as the man smiled, sitting on the chair opposite them as he held his daughter close.
“It was a bit of a whirlwind. We met just over a year ago and got married within the month. Rosie fell pregnant with Emily almost immediately. It’s our first anniversary next week.”
Jack nodded his understanding and watched as the man tended to his daughter. Images of children that he and Sue could have flooded his mind. He fought a smile as he thought about what Sue would look like carrying their children. He had no doubt that she would be an excellent mother. He jumped when the little girl started to cry and stood. Almost immediately, Sue copied his movement.
“I think that is all we need to now Mr White. Thank you for your time.” Jack said as he placed his hand on the small of Sue’s back and steered her towards the door.
After letting themselves out, Sue and Jack sat in the car outside the White residence. Sue could tell by the way Jack was acting that he had picked up on something that she had missed and she was curious about what it was.
“What is it Jack?”
“I don’t know, but something doesn’t lie right with me Sue. Firstly, why would she lie to her husband about attending deaf club?” He asked.
“Because she didn’t want to tell him where she was really going?” She answered.
“And why do people usually lie about their whereabouts to the person they profess to love?”
As Sue looked at him, the realised that there were any number of reasons why a woman would lie to her husband about her whereabouts, but there was only one that she could think of.
“You don’t think? Rosemary wouldn’t do that Jack. I know her.”
“You used to know her Sue. You said it yourself; you haven’t heard anything from her in over a year. People change. I think that Rosemary may have been seeing someone else. I also think that baby Emily may not be James’ biological daughter.”
oOo
As they drove back to the Hoover building, Sue read Jack as he explained his reasons for thinking that Rosemary was being unfaithful. No matter how much she didn’t want to believe it, she had to admit that it was the most logical reason why a woman would lie to her husband about her whereabouts.
As Jack had explained, Sue shook her head. She had never been able to understand how anyone could betray the vows they made on their wedding day. As far as she was concerned, getting married was for life. In sickness and in health, till death do us part. She knew that in some cases, there were extenuating circumstances which sometimes forced people apart, but betraying vows in order to see someone else was something that she had never been able to fathom.
She knew that, when she took those vows, she would be committing herself to that one person for the rest of her life. She knew that the person who would be standing opposite her on that day would be Jack. There was no way it was going to be anyone else. He was her friend, her soul mate, the one she was meant to be with. She would never love anyone the way she loved Jack and it was a love that filled her entire being. Life without him just didn’t bear thinking about.
Forcing herself back to the present, she read him as he also explained that the timeline with regards to the baby didn’t quite fit. James had said that he and Rosemary met a little over a year ago and they married within the month, and that Rosemary had fallen pregnant almost immediately. That would mean that they had been together 13 months. Their little girl was six months old and the gestation period in humans is nine months. Doing the maths, Rosemary would have been almost two months pregnant when she met and married James. The only question they had to answer was did Rosemary know she was pregnant when she married James and did James know that Emily wasn’t his biological daughter?
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