The Nowhere Child. Christian White

an unremarkable-looking woman with tangled blonde hair, wiry arms and a fat, protruding belly. She wore black leggings and an old, loose-fitting, pink T-shirt on which Ellis could just make out the words 2% Angel, 98% Naughty.

      ‘I figured someone would be stopping by eventually,’ Ava said, dragging on her cigarette. ‘I’ve been watching your men all going door-to-door. Ours was the only place they didn’t visit.’

      ‘I need to ask you about Sammy Went. Jack and Molly Went’s daughter from down the street – you know ’em?’

      By way of an answer she tossed her cigarette into the yard and lit another one.

      ‘Sammy is missing, Mrs Eckles. Did you see or hear anything unusual this afternoon?’

      She folded her arms across her chest. ‘Only interesting thing I ever see ’round here is on the TV, Sheriff.’

      ‘Did you notice any unusual cars or people you didn’t recognise?’

      She sucked on her cigarette and shook her head.

      ‘And you were home all day?’

      ‘Do I look like the sort of woman who has any place to be?’

      ‘What about your boy, Travis?’

      ‘What about Travis?’

      ‘Did he see or hear anything strange this afternoon?’

      ‘You’d have to ask him.’

      ‘I’d like to,’ Ellis said. ‘Is he home?’

      ‘He’s working.’

      ‘Is he still at Clinical Cleaning?’

      ‘It’s honest work.’

      ‘Won’t get no argument from me.’

      Ava took a step toward him. She was a foot shorter than Ellis but possessed an unpredictable wildness that put him on edge. ‘You sure have a hard-on for this family, don’t you, Sheriff?’

      ‘I—’

      ‘Little girl goes missing and you assume an Eckles has something to do with it. It’s not enough you locked up one of my sons, now you’re looking to lock up the other.’

      ‘We’re asking everyone in the street if they’ve—’

      ‘I think it’s time you called it a night, Sheriff. If you stick ’round I’m likely to say something better left unsaid in polite society.’

      ‘What might that be, Mrs Eckles?’

      She smiled then. Her teeth were small and yellow. ‘Well, as a for instance, I might say I don’t know what disturbs me more: opening my door to find a cop on my front porch, or opening my door to find a nigger.’

      Ellis exhaled sharply. He hadn’t been expecting that. Anger and shame rose within like a geyser, but he supressed it. ‘One more question, Mrs Eckles. That work van your son drives ’round in. Does he keep a ladder in there?’