Baby Be Mine by Diane Fanning Read Free Book Online

overcame the natural reticence in Skidmore to speak about one of their own to anyone from outside of the community.
    As reporters picked up each fresh scent, they lobbed ceaseless questions at Sheriff Ben Espey every time he stepped outside. Initially, he told them, “We’re going to work this case as a homicide right now. We’re not going to tell you that it is. We’re not going to tell you that it isn’t.”
    A lead regarding two men, a woman and a black-market baby-selling ring led Espey to announce that they were looking for these three persons of interest. At the same time, he informed the media that they wanted to locate a 1980s or 1990s red two-door hatchback—possibly a Honda.
    Whoever committed this act knew what to do, he told them, and “most likely had some medical knowledge.” He said that everything they now knew indicated that “Somebody was wanting a baby awful bad.”
    Law enforcement had checked up on every documented deviant in the county by the time Espey called a major news conference late Friday morning. Now that the authoritiesexplored a more promising lead, the sheriff was more forthcoming.
    He stepped to the microphone in a fresh, smooth khaki uniform that belied his sleepless night on the job. Atop his head sat a Nodaway County Sheriff’s Department baseball cap. The brim shaded the exhaustion and anxiety in his eyes. His tall, square-shouldered, stoic image spoke of a man a whole county could trust. He appeared in control of himself, in control of the situation and even in control of fate itself. That image concealed an internal swamp of rising desperation and doubt.
    He explained that an autopsy was now under way in Jackson County. “More than likely, our victim was strangled and probably deceased when the baby was removed from her womb. The mother was eight months pregnant, so we’re looking at a one-month-premature baby that was removed with the umbilical cord cut.
    â€œAnd for now it looks like to us that the evidence shows that the baby was probably wrapped up and taken out of the home. That puts us to looking for a red car that had been sitting in the driveway from two-thirty to three, which we’re going to rule was the time when all this took place.”
    In response to their questions, he told them that neither the investigators nor the family knew of any suspects. “This was a nice lady—everybody said this was a nice lady. She didn’t have any enemies. They just couldn’t understand how anyone could do this.”
    A reporter asked, “Is this baby-selling—is that still a theory?”
    â€œThat is still a theory.”
    The reporter continued. “This is something I’ve never heard of—black-market sale of children. I mean, you’ve been doing this a long time .. .”
    â€œI’ve never heard of it,” Espey said. He added that one child abduction specialist never heard of one working in the United States, either, but the FBI now had six agents searching on the Internet and calling states to find out ifone had developed in recent months. “That lead,” he added, “is possibly going up in smoke. The third party has misled us.”
    And, as in every other crime whose inexplicable horror stirs up primitive fears, a reporter raised the question of a Satanic ritual. “Not here,” Espey insisted. “I’ve been in law enforcement here for twenty years and we have not dealt with any cults in Nodaway County.”
    â€œSir, where does the investigation go from here?” another reporter shouted out.
    Espey sighed. He opened and shut his mouth, struggling to find the right answer.
    â€œForward,” an unidentified voice rang out.
    Espey grinned in appreciation. “Forward,” he said. The crowd chuckled in response. “It follows whatever leads we get.”
    It seemed to Espey that every time investigators got a new lead, the press was just a