“You’re welcome,” they replied in unison.
Polite men. Someone had taught them well.
“No answer on Elsie Schulung’s cell,” McAdams said. “It goes to voice mail. I gave local police the address and asked them to take a look around. I gave them your phone number and mine as well. They said they’d call me as soon as they checked out the property.”
“Good. What about the phone records?”
“A supervisor told me to scan over the paperwork and she would help expedite the process. Radar said he’ll take care of it.”
“Thanks. Good work. I want to talk to Colette.”
“The blonde wearing the sundress?”
“Yes. She was sitting next to Bertram on the bus. James said they were talking. Let me see what she has to say, and then we’ll interview Elsie Schulung when we find her.”
“We’d better make it quick, boss. We’re needed back in Greenbury.”
“Why’s that?”
“They found a body.”
Decker’s heart sank for a second. Then he said, “‘A body’—meaning it’s not Bertram.”
“Old bones but with some desiccated flesh and clothing on him.”
“It’s a him?”
“That’s what Butterfield called the remains. He thinks it may be related to a cold case that happened around ten years ago.”
“I wasn’t at Greenbury ten years ago, but I did read up on all the local cold cases when I arrived. The only one that sticks out in my head was a camping trip. Three guys went out to the woods and never came back. They were students at the Five Colleges.”
“Right you are. They attended Duxbury. They were sophomores.”
Decker looked upward, trying to jog the memory. “One was Anderson. First name was Zac?”
“Zeke Anderson. I’m impressed.”
“Don’t be. There weren’t that many open files here. I don’t remember the names of the other two students.”
McAdams checked his notes. “Bennett McCrae and Maxwell Velasquez.”
“Do you remember anything about the case? You’ve been at Greenbury longer than me.”
“I came a year before you arrived. But I do remember talk about it—how three people could just disappear. The details were fresher back then. Radar wants us back—ASAP.”
“Right. But as long as we’re here, I do want to talk to Colette. Bertram’s still missing. If the bones have been there for ten years, they’ll keep another hour.”
The door was wide open. Decker peeked inside. Colette’s room was as neat in appearance as the woman herself. There was a desk with a pen, a pencil, blank paper, and a vase holding a single red rose. There was a green-and-pink chair on which a stuffed panda sat. A bookcase held candles, several photographs inside sunflower frames, and a variety of small stuffed animals. She was sitting on a floral comforter on her bed, nestled between mounds of brightly colored pillows, studying her laptop. She had changed from her yellow sundress to a green-and-pink striped long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans. Her feet were bare. She looked up when Decker knocked on a yellow wall. She gave them a wide smile and leaped off the bed. “Come in, come in.”
Decker crossed the threshold. “What a pretty room you have.”
“Thank you.” She beamed. “I did it myself.”
“It’s really lovely!” Decker gave her a thumbs-up. “Can I ask you a few more questions, Colette?”
“Of course.” She was wearing clear lipgloss and had patches of blush on her cheeks. “About Bertram?”
“Yes.”
Removing the stuffed panda from the chair, she said, “Sit down.”
Decker sat on the floral chair; McAdams took the desk chair and brought out his tablet to take notes. Colette sat on the edge of her bed, hands folded in her lap. It was obvious that she took great pride in her excellent manners.
“What’s your last name, Colette?”
“Bailey. B-A-I-L-E-Y.”
“Perfect,” Decker said. “How long have you lived here—at Loving Care?”
“A long time.”
“Five years? Ten years?”
“About ten years.”
“Okay. Then you probably know a lot about things around here.”
Another smile. “I know some things. Not everything! No one knows everything!”
“That is true. Do you remember when Bertram came here?”
“Of course.”
“What do you remember about him?”
She looked down. “I have to think.”
“Take your time.”
About a minute passed. Then she said, “He didn’t want to talk. Even though everyone said hello.”
“He was shy?”
“I guess.”
“But later on he talked to some of you. I know he talked to April. And I know he talked to you.” She nodded gravely and Decker said, “What did you talk about?”
A shrug. “He told me he missed his girlfriend. I thought he wanted me to be his new girlfriend. But I don’t want a boyfriend. We’re just plain friends.”
“It’s good to have friends,” Decker said. “Is that why you sat with him on the bus to the nature field trip? Because you were friends?”
“Yes.”
“What did you two talk about on the ride over?”
“That it was good to go on a trip. That’s what we talked about.”
“Then Bertram was happy to go on the field trip.”
“Well, he didn’t say ‘I’m happy.’ But I think he was. He wasn’t sad.”
“Do you like going on trips?” McAdams asked.
“Yes, I do. I like it here. They are very nice. But I like to see other things sometimes. I like the walks in nature that we do. And I like the museums. I don’t like so much the water parks. They’re hot and I don’t like the sun.”
“Yeah, I’m not much for sun either,” Decker said.
“I like art museums,” Collette said. “I don’t draw. But I like looking at the paintings.”
“I don’t draw either,” McAdams said. “But I really admire those who can do it.”
She nodded. Then she turned grave. “It’s sad that Bertram got lost.”
“It is,” Decker said, “and we’re trying very hard to find him. That’s why we need your help. Did Bertram say anything to you about Nurse Schulung on the bus ride over?”
“I have to think.” Seconds passed. “No.”
“Okay. The only thing you remember is you two talked about how it was good to go on trips.”
She wrinkled her nose. “He talked about video games. He liked video games.”
“Right,” Decker said. “Do you like video games?”
“No. But I didn’t tell him that. I didn’t want to make him feel bad.” Her eyes widened. “Oh. I remember one thing. I bet it’s important.”
“What’s that, Colette?”
“He was following the bus on a map.”
“He had a map?”
“On his phone,” she said. “It showed all the roads and there was an arrow and it moved when the bus moved.”