Excerpt: Familiar Footsteps

November 16, 1970

It was evening time in the Hartley household. Laura Hartley had just placed the last dish in the dry rack and wiped her hands on a dish towel before folding it up and hanging it over the cupboard door beneath the sink. Then she poured herself a tall glass of iced tea and sat down on the sofa next to her husband, Rick. His favorite cop show had just ended, and the credits were scrolling up the television screen to a funky electric bass that played in the background. Now it was time to watch something they both could enjoy.

“Kevin, can you change it to channel ten, please?” she asked her five-year-old son who had been watching the show with his father and imitating all the exciting car crash scenes with his own miniature cars. Before she could finish the sentence, he was already getting up to turn the dial. It was all part of a routine that took place every weeknight at six o’clock. His mother came in after washing the dinner dishes to sit with his father and watch the evening news, while he picked up his cars and took them to his bedroom to play quietly until bath time. His mother didn’t want him hearing the sort of violent stories that streamed from the television at that time of evening, because she insisted it wasn’t healthy for a such a young, impressionable boy.

After the last commercial on channel ten faded from the television screen, the living room filled with dynamic orchestra music set to an urgent beat that scarcely mimicked a telegraph machine. The camera shot was dominated by a middle-aged man in a suit who sat behind a desk and held a stack of papers in his hands. His hair was perfect, almost plastic, and his face never dared to smile. He wished everyone a good evening, introduced himself, and began telling the news of the day. “Now, the latest on a local story that we’ve been following closely out of the small, quiet community of Dansen. James Billman, arrested and indicted on murder charges after the mysterious disappearance of his wife, Patricia Billman, was found not guilty today of first degree murder.”

“What?!” Rick shouted and stood up from the sofa. “That son of a b*tch! That no good son of a b*tch!”

“Rick!” Laura shouted and placed her hand on his arm to persuade him to sit down again. “Don’t use that language. Kevin will hear you.”

Rick sat down, but he was clearly just as agitated. “How can they let him get away with it? A man kills his wife, and he just walks away like nothing happened. I’m telling you Laura, it’s not right. Our justice system just doesn’t work like it used to.”

“They never found her body,” Laura said.

“Yeah, right. They never found her body. All that means is the b*stard was good at hiding it.” Rick shook his head. “You know, when that little girl of his turns up missing, then maybe they’ll look a little harder for it. You mark my words, it won’t end here.”

“That poor baby,” was all that she could say.

The anchorman had already moved on to other stories, but Rick and Laura had no interest in them. Unlike the others that took place in the big cities and other countries, this one happened in their own back yard. Everyone in Dansen knew who Jim Billman was, even if they didn’t know him very well. Opinions of him differed depending on who was asked, but everyone agreed, his marriage to Patti wasn’t a happy one. It was a shotgun wedding that took place right after the birth of their daughter and about six months before Patti’s eighteenth birthday. He worked on a local farm like his father, which meant he didn’t make enough money for them to move out on their own. They lived with Jim’s parents until they passed away recently. Then in May, Wilson’s farm closed down, selling the land to some developer who wanted to build a health resort for the wealthy city folks. Jim was out of a job, along with many other local farm workers who had depended on that farm for their livelihood. Times were tough for him. What man wouldn’t crack under that kind of pressure?

When Patti disappeared without a trace in June leaving everything behind, including her seven-year-old daughter, Tara, everyone suspected Jim had something to do with it. When the police found evidence of a struggle at the house and learned from Tara that her parents had a huge fight the evening before, they were sure of it. All they needed to do was find her body and the murder weapon to prove it, but neither were found. As far as the jury was concerned, he didn’t do it. There just wasn’t enough evidence to convict him. Meanwhile, the community of Dansen had to live with the possibility that a murderer was living among them as a free man. He may have gotten away with it in court, but the people of Dansen weren’t going to let it go so easily.