“And?” Bible asked.
“And next thing I know, I’m being called out to the farm to arrest her for trespassing and attempted kidnapping.” Stilton shook his head. “She ended up having to do community service, which is damn lucky because she could’ve wound up in prison. They’ve got a restraining order against her. She’s not allowed to attempt to contact or approach her daughter.”
“Shit,” Bible said. “That’s one tough mother.”
“Yeah, shit is right,” Stilton shot back. “As in batshit. You get tangled up with the mom, you’ll find out real quick how her daughter ended up at that place.”
Andrea wasn’t sure that qualified for batshit. If Andrea had gotten caught up in something like the farm, Laura would’ve tried the same thing. Except she would’ve succeeded.
Bible asked, “You ever had any other parents try to get their children out?”
“Not that I’ve heard of, and they’ve made it clear they don’t give a shit about working through me.” Stilton’s anger had given way to self-pity. “Trust me, Wexler’s got a shit ton of lawyers on speed dial. You don’t wanna mess with those people. I sure as hell don’t. They could bankrupt the town.”
Andrea couldn’t listen to his excuses anymore. She turned her attention back to the photos of Alice Poulsen. Alice had a mother, too. What would the woman do when she found out that her daughter had been driven to suicide? Because it was clear to anyone who saw Alice’s body that the girl had found her only means of escape. Each close-up offered insight into the agony that Alice had endured. What kind of motivation did it take to starve yourself like that? Alice had worked on a farm. She had been surrounded by food. The deprivation was almost unbelievable. Andrea couldn’t stop torturing herself with the photos. She swiped to the next one. Then the next.
And then she stopped.
Star hadn’t needed the phone to be unlocked. There were two apps on the iPhone’s lock screen that could be accessed without the password. One was for the flashlight. The other was for the camera.
Andrea zoomed in on the photograph that Star had taken with the phone. The woman had sprinkled white flour onto the black countertop and used her finger to carve out a single word—
Help.