Seth stared at the picture of the woman her uncle had named Hope and smiled. “Every time I look at this picture, I’m struck by how beautiful she was.”
Callie nodded. “Yes, and I can see some resemblance to my mother in the shape of her mouth, though I think Uncle Dan may have exaggerated their similar features. Probably the locket with the little boy’s picture in it is what touched his heart.”
“I think you’re right.”
Callie stared at the picture a moment before she looked up at Seth. “Where is the necklace now?”
“It’s part of the evidence and is in the box containing everything about this cold case.”
“Was there anything unusual about it that would enable you to trace where it might have been made or sold?”
Seth shook his head. “No. It’s just an inexpensive gold locket, the kind you see in stores all the time. Dan searched the internet for a long time, trying to find a source for similar ones, but it was no use. He finally decided that would never lead to anything.”
“I see.” Callie reached across and pulled the notebook in front of her. “There’s something in the back I want to show you.” She flipped through the pages until she found the sheet with the list of names on it. “Have you ever seen this before?”
Seth nodded as he scanned the page. “I saw it some time ago. This is a list of people who the police use as informants. Dan thought one of them might have heard something on the street that would help him. The last time I talked to him about it, though, it hadn’t led to anything.”
Callie pursed her lips and pointed to the name she had first noticed when she looked at the page. “What about Melvin Harris? Did Uncle Dan ever say anything about him? His name has a check mark beside it.”
Seth frowned and stared at the name. “I told Dan that Melvin is an informant I’ve used for years ever since I started on the force. I remember when he wrote the name down, but I have no idea why he would have put a check beside it.”
“Can you call him and ask him if he talked to Uncle Dan?”
Seth smiled and shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way, Callie. I can’t just call up an informant. He has to be very careful about making contact with me. It could mean his life if the wrong people thought he talked to the police about them.”
Callie’s eyebrows arched. “I never thought about that. How do you contact him?”
“Melvin lives on the south side of town. I drive through his neighborhood, and if he’s on the street, he’ll give me a signal to meet him. Then I wait for him at the spot where we usually meet.”
Callie looked back at the check mark next to Melvin’s name. “Uncle Dan must have had some reason for making that mark. Maybe we need to talk to Melvin and see if they’d met recently.”
Seth scooted his chair back from the table and shook his head. “Wait a minute! After what happened today, what makes you think I’d agree to take you with me to talk to a police informant? I’m not letting you put yourself in danger again.”
She stood up and braced her hands on the table before she leaned toward him. “With all that’s happened to me since I’ve been in Memphis, I think I have the right to help uncover what’s going on. We need to find out who these people are before they come back and finish what they started out to do—kill Uncle Dan and me. Please don’t leave me out of finding them.”