Hear No Evil - Chapter 42

Forty minutes later, Jack and Sue were on their way back to the Hoover building after visiting Sophie Morgan’s father. He was also able to confirm that the reason he had taken his daughter out of speech classes was because a boy kept on pestering his daughter. He also said that he had spoken with Ms Casey about it but he didn’t believe anything had been done as his daughter became more and more withdrawn after every lesson. He’d felt like he had no other choice but to move her to another teacher.

“Jack, why would Ms Casey lie to us? She must have known that the reason why the families took Claire and Sophie out of her classes. Why wouldn’t she tell us about it?”

Sue looked to Jack for answers but she knew that he was as much in the dark as she was. Ms Casey had lied to their faces and she didn’t dare think of the possible reasons for that.

“I think she might know more than she is letting on Sue. By not doing anything back then and by not telling us about it now, it almost looks like she is trying to protect whoever it was. But the question is, why still keep it a secret after almost twenty years?”

Sue was about to speak when she saw Jack raise his hand. Pulling his phone out of his pocket he answered.

“Hudson……Hey Bobby……You’re kidding me……okay we shall go there now……thanks Crash.” He turned to Sue. “Rosemary White has just turned up at home.”

oOo

After breaking every speed limit on the way to the White residence, Jack and Sue arrived less than five minutes after Bobby’s call. They knocked on the door and James White answered. He gave them a small smile and stepped aside so that they could enter.

“I expected you to come by. She is in the living room.” James said as he closed the door behind them.
“How is she doing Mr White?” Sue asked.
“She seems okay considering what she has been through. She hasn’t said much, you might have more luck with her. I shall leave you alone. I will be in the kitchen if you need me.

Sue nodded at Mr White and watched as he left. Part of her felt sorry for him. She knew that there was every chance the little girl he believed to be his daughter wasn’t his, his wife might be seeing someone else and now that she’d been returned she wouldn’t talk to him about what she’d been through. Turning when she felt Jack’s hand on her arm, she smiled.

“You want to go first? She knows you.”

Sue nodded and smiled at Jack as she headed into the living room to see Rosemary sitting on the couch with baby Emily in her arms, gently rocking her back and forward. Sue almost gasped at the sight of the friend she had not seen in over twelve months. She used to be a woman who took pride in her appearance, dressed well, always well presented with not a hair out of place. The woman sitting in front of her was wearing ill fitting clothes, her hair was long and straggly and she looked a lot older than her thirty three years. She knew Jack was standing beside her and she could sense that he was looking at her.

“Are you going to be okay with this? I can ask the questions if you prefer?”
“It’s okay Jack. She may feel more comfortable using ASL. I will be okay.”

Sue smiled at Jack and he returned hers with one of his own. He his smile was encouraging but she could tell that he wasn’t convinced she would be okay and he was still worried about how she would cope. If she was honest with herself, she wasn’t sure either. This was a woman that she used to see on a weekly basis. Sue and Jack waited and watched as she laid her daughter down in her bassinette and sat back on the couch. Taking a deep breath, Sue walked around the couch and sat next to Rosemary. She gently touched her arm and the women turned to look at her.

“Sue! Oh my goodness. Thank heavens you came. I have missed you so much.”

Sue was a little taken aback when Rosemary grabbed her and pulled her into a hug. She gently held her and could tell that she was crying as her shoulder shook. After a few minutes she pulled away.

“I hoped that you would somehow be involved with finding me. I knew you were with the FBI and I prayed that you would help me.” She smiled at Sue as she noticed Jack. “Who are you?” she asked cautiously.
“Rosemary, this is my partner Jack Hudson. I know this is going to be hard, but we need to ask you some questions about the person who took you. Do you think you will be okay to answer them?” Sue said as gently as she could.
“Yes, I understand you need to do your job. I want to help you catch this creep.”
Sue smiled at her friend and then turned to Jack who took a seat opposite them on the couch. He glanced towards baby Emily as he heard her whimper and then calm down. Part of him wondered how she coped with a baby when she was on her own. She didn’t appear to have a hearing dog like Sue had Levi. Did her husband work or was he a stay at home dad?

“Rosemary, can you remember anything about the person who took you?” Jack asked her.
“Not really, he kept me blindfolded most of the time. When he did take it off, I was in a darkened room so my vision was limited and I couldn’t make out specific features. All I can tell you is that he was quite tall with longish hair to his shoulders. I think he may have been left handed. The times that I did see him, he seemed to be holding things in his left hand.”
“That’s good Rosemary. Was there anyone else there with you?” Sue asked.
“I know that I wasn’t alone. There was at least two other women there with me, maybe three, I don’t know exactly. It was hard to tell.”

Sue glanced at Jack and the look on his face told her the question he was about to ask. She knew that it was a necessary question and that there was no way it could be avoided.

“Rosemary, I know that this is difficult for you but we need to know if he did anything to you?”

Whilst Sue couldn’t hear his voice, she could tell by the look in his eyes and the softness of his handsome features that he’d been as gentle as he could when asking the question. Forcing herself to look back at her friend and not at her partner, she sighed.

“No, he was quite kind considering. We had food and water and he never laid a finger on us, at least he didn’t lay one on me anyway, I can’t say about the others.”

Sue glanced over at Jack again, knowing that they had to mention that two of the women have been found dead and she wasn’t looking forward to her reaction.

“Do you have any idea why he released you and not the other girls?” Sue said.
“I honestly don’t know. One minute I was begging him to let me go and the next thing I knew, I was standing in an empty parking lot.” Rosemary said before she turned to Sue. “Wait a minute; he did release the other girls didn’t he? When I left there was only one other girl there.” She looked between Jack and Sue. “What’s happened? What aren’t you telling me?”

Reaching out, Sue took her friends hand, feeling the tears welling behind her lashes but forcing them to stay where they were.

“Rosemary, we found the bodies of Claire Williams and Sophie Morgan earlier today. We believe that they were also taken by the same person who took you. If this is the case, we need to try and find out why you were released and two of the other girls weren’t.”

Sue watched as Rosemary took in the information, her expression remaining passive. Sue almost thought that she hadn’t understood what she’d said.

“Did you say Claire Williams and Sophie Morgan?” Sue nodded. “I know those names from somewhere.”

Sue looked at Jack and then back at Rosemary who appeared to be thinking hard about the two women.

“Rosemary it appears that you and the other three women all attended speech classes with Barbara Casey when you were girls.” Jack told her.
“So did I.” Sue said with a smile, “We were all there at the same time but on different days. I don’t recall meeting the other girls. Do you remember meeting them at all?”
“Not directly but I remember Ms Casey talking about them. It was towards the end of my classes and I had picked up the lip reading quite well. I couldn’t read everything that she was saying but I remember her mentioning their names along with another name, a boy’s name.”

Sue’s eyes widened as she saw Jack lean in closer to Rosemary, his eyes fixed on her.

“Can you remember the boys name?” he asked her.
“Mark. It was Mark. I remember it because it was the name of a guy I was seeing at the time.”

Sue looked at Jack, her eyes telling him exactly what she wanted to say. He nodded and took over the conversation.

“Can you remember anything about this Mark?” He asked
“No not really, we saw each other for about four months towards the end of my lessons. He was a few years older than me. Nice guy but he couldn’t cope with the fact that I was deaf and that it wasn’t something that would miraculously vanish overnight. He just stopped showing up and I haven’t seen him in years.” Rosemary explained.

Sue nodded her understanding as Rosemary spoke. She had met guys before who loved the idea of going out with a woman who was deaf. She found that it made them feel superior and like they were needed. When it came down to it, they weren’t prepared to alter their life to fit in with hers so they had always left.

“Rosemary, I have one last question for you? On the night you were taken, your husband told us that you were had gone to deaf club. Now, we know that isn’t true. Can you tell us where you were that night?” Jack asked her.

Sue picked up on Rosemary’s hesitancy as she looked away from Jack and down at her hands that she held in her lap. Reaching out Sue touched her arm, smiling when the other woman looked up at her.

“I figured someone would work it out sooner or later. I went to see Chris. He is an old friend of mine. I was seeing him before James and we have remained friends. There is nothing more between us other than friends but if my husband found out he would go mad. He doesn’t like me having anything to do with him anymore so I tell James that I’m going to deaf club.” She explained.
“Is that the only reason that you go and see him Rosemary? Just friends?”

Again, Rosemary hesitated with her response. Sue watched as she looked between her and Jack before she sighed deeply.

“You know don’t you? Emily is not James’ daughter, she is Chris’. James knows about it and took Emily on as his own. This is why he doesn’t want me going to see him. He feels that my keeping in touch I am somehow betraying him. I only go round to pass him photos of Emily. He has agreed to stay out of her life and lets James and I bring her up as our own but I still think he should get to see her, even if it is not in the flesh.”

Taking her cue from Jack, Sue stood.

“Thanks for your time Rosemary. You have been a great help. If we need anything else we shall be in touch.”

Rosemary nodded at Jack and picked up baby Emily, who was beginning to get a bit restless. They moved towards the front door and were stopped by Mr White.

“Did she say anything helpful? She won’t talk to me about what happened.” James said.
“She gave us some information that we can follow up on. Just give her some time Mr White. I am sure she will open up to you eventually. She has been through an ordeal, sometimes it is hard to discuss things like that with those that you love.” Sue explained.

Mr White nodded and opened the door for Jack and Sue to leave. As soon as they were out of the door, Jack was on his phone to Bobby.