Hear No Evil - Chapter 37

The next morning, Sue and Jack were up before the Thomas’. They had grabbed a quick breakfast and were now on their way to meet Sue’s former speech teacher, Barbara Casey.

Sue couldn’t deny that she was apprehensive about seeing the woman that she had dubbed the “iron witch” when she was a girl. She had attended lessons four times a week after school and for a couple of hours on a Saturday. She’d hated her mother for making her go. At that age, she didn’t understand why she was being made to do something that she didn’t want to do. All she wanted to do was play with her brothers. Looking back, she now understood that she probably wouldn’t be where she was now if her mother hadn’t pushed her when she was younger.

She came back to reality when the car slowed and she looked up at the building that she had visited so regularly as a child. It hadn’t changed and still looked as dark and foreboding as she remembered. She took a deep breath and stepped out the car, waiting for Jack on the sidewalk. She watched him grab a file off the back seat, knowing that it contained the files on the four missing women.

When he joined her on the sidewalk and they walked up to the building. She smiled when she felt Jack’s hand move to the small of her back. It was a simple touch that he had done so many times, but now had so many other meanings.

As they entered, Sue immediately headed for the elevator and pushed the button for the third floor. Memories of the times she had been there flooded back and she began to feel like that little girl again. She felt Jack take her hand and squeeze it gently, letting her know that he was there and she wasn’t alone.

After a few seconds, the elevator stopped and they stepped out. Sue led Jack the short distance to Barbara Casey’s office and they knocked and waited. She saw Jack nod and he took the door handle and pushed the door open. She walked into the office closely followed by Jack.

As they walked in, Sue saw Ms Casey sat at her desk. Her reading glasses perched on the end of her nose as she flipped through some paperwork. Apart from a few more wrinkles and greying hair, the older woman hadn’t changed much since she’d last seen her. Hearing them come in, she stood and smiled at the both.

“You must be agents Hudson and Thomas. I’m Barbara Casey. What can I do for you?”

Sue and Jack sat in the two chairs that Ms Casey indicated. Looking across at Jack, she saw him nod, indicating for her to take the lead. Sue took a deep breath and spoke.

“Ms Casey, you probably don’t remember me but……”
“Of course I remember you dear, you are Carla and Paul’s little girl. Not so little now I see and working for the FBI. I always thought that out of all my students, you would be the one to make something of your life. I’m glad to see that I wasn’t wrong.”

Sue smiled up and her former teacher and instantly relaxed. She wasn’t as nasty as she remembered. Then again, she was only an eight year old girl back then and anyone who made her do something she didn’t like was nasty.

“What was it you wanted to see me about?” She asked.
“It’s about another of your students, Rosemary Prince. Do you remember her?” Jack said.
“Rosemary? I haven’t heard from her in over a year. She was my student at around the same time as Sue here. We kept in regular contact, used to talk several times a week and then the contact just stopped. Never knew why. I figured she had moved and lost my contact details. When I tried to ring her, the number had been disconnected. Is everything okay with her?” She asked and Jack sensed that her concern for her former student was genuine.
“Actually Ms Casey, she has gone missing. She is the fourth woman to go missing in the last few weeks. All of the women are from Ohio and all of them are oral deaf.” Sue explained.
“Oh my word. Do you have any leads?” She asked them.
“We have nothing at the moment, other than the connections between the women. We need you to look at the files of the other women, see if you knew them, maybe taught them when they were younger.”
“Of course, anything I can do to help.”

Jack smiled at her and handed her the files on the other women. Ms Casey sat back at her desk and opened the file, pushing her glasses further onto her nose. Sue watched as she flicked through the information and then took her glasses off and placed them on the desk, lowering her head into her hands.

“Ms Casey? Is everything okay?” Sue asked her.
“I’m not sure Sue. I knew all of these women. I taught all of them. What’s even stranger is that I taught them all at the same time as Rosemary and you.”

Both Jack and Sue watched as she walked over to her filing cabinet and pulled out five files and handed them to Jack. He read the names out loud.

“Claire Williams, Sophie Morgan, Maria Lopez, Rosemary Prince and Susan Thomas.”
“I taught all five girls at the same time on different days and at different times. I don’t know if any of them actually knew each other.”

Ms Casey looked at Sue who shook her head and turned to Jack.

“I didn’t know the first three girls. I only knew Rosemary from deaf club, not when I was a girl. In all the time I knew her, I never knew she attended the same teacher as I did.” Sue said, still surprised by Ms Casey’s revelation.
“Ms Casey, are there any other students that you taught at the same time as these five women?” Jack asked.
“Agent Hudson, teaching was my only means of income back then. I had many students and most of them were during the two years that I taught Sue and Rosemary. The other three only came to me for a few weeks. For some reason, they stopped coming and their parents found a new teacher. They never did explain why.”
“Okay, thank you for your time Ms Casey. If you think of anything else, please let me know.”

He placed the five files back on her desk and handed her his business card. Ms Casey smiled at him and then turned to Sue as she stood.

“Sue, I am so pleased to see that all those hours you spent with me were worthwhile. Your parents must be so proud of you. I know I am.”
“Thank you Ms Casey.”

With those words, Jack and Sue said their goodbyes and left Mrs Casey’s office. As the waited for the elevator, Jack looked at Sue. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking and was wondering how she felt after the meeting with the woman she hadn’t seen in almost 14 years, especially seeing as she appeared to be a link between all four of the missing woman.

They were back in the car less than five minutes later and Jack had to bite his tongue to stop himself asking her if she was okay for what must have been the hundredth time since they had been given the case. Instead, he just reached across and took her hand. When she looked at him, he smiled and squeezed her hand, accepting the smile she gave him in response as he pulled off into traffic.