A person using Adrian Locke’s identification had rented the car.
That fact did not prove he took the photograph.
It did show that somebody connected to the investigation had traveled close enough to my house to collect information about my family.
Detective Ward helped me work with a victim-services specialist on a safety plan.
I wanted immediate certainty.
She gave me practical steps and the promise that the team would treat the threat seriously.
“I know you want a name,” she said.
“I want your daughter safe more than I want a quick answer.”
I had to accept that those goals were not always achieved in the same hour.
Claire and I decided Tess would stay with her for the next two weeks while we reviewed the situation.
Tess was furious.
“I didn’t do anything,” she said.
“No,” I agreed.
“You didn’t.”
“Then why do they get to change my life?”
I could not give her a satisfying answer.
Instead I told her that the change was temporary, and that she had a right to be angry about it.
She hugged me for a long time before leaving.
I stood in the doorway after the car disappeared, looking at the unlit windows of Gloria’s house.
I wondered how many families had been pushed into making frightened decisions by people who profited from the fear.
Mina arranged for a court to consider protective conditions related to the threats while the criminal investigation continued.
I provided the photograph, the earlier porch recording, and a detailed statement about how the accusation affected my work and family.
A judge issued specific temporary directions concerning contact by identified parties based on the evidence presented.
The order did not magically prevent anyone from approaching my home.
It created a clearer basis for responding if someone violated its terms.
My attorney cautioned me against treating it as an ending.
I understood.
The problem had grown beyond a feud between neighbors.
It involved people who knew how to turn a frightened person’s love into a source of money and leverage.
I was no longer willing to assume they would stop because someone told them to be reasonable.
Derek’s wife, Alicia, contacted Detective Ward on a rainy afternoon in June.
Until then she had remained almost invisible in the story people told about Molly’s disappearance.
She had moved out of Derek’s house after their separation and was living with her sister in another county.
She had not spoken publicly because she feared creating problems for Molly and because she did not trust the neighborhood’s appetite for rumors.
