She's Not There by Marla Madison

What’s the bad news?” Treats were usually brought in as a solace when one of them was having a bad day.
    “One of my limited-sleep nights, I’m afraid. Too much going on.”
    Shannon sat down in a chair across from Lisa’s desk. “That’s too bad. What’s on your mind?”
    “Well, everything really, but we have to do something for Helen Mueller even if that isn’t a part of what we set out to accomplish. I thought about calling someone I know at Social Services, but I’m afraid a home visit could make her situation worse.”
    “You’re right. If the creepy son-in-law goes on the alert, she may be at risk.”
    Lisa cringed. “That’s what I was thinking and I thought it was just me being paranoid for her.”
    Shannon took another bite of her cruller. “Nope, and I wasn’t even there.”
    “I drove by her house on my way in this morning. Fischer’s car wasn’t there. I called the Oconomowoc Police Department and asked to talk to the detective who had been in charge of her daughter’s disappearance. They didn’t say who it was, but that he would get back to me. I’m hoping it’s someone I’ve worked with. It’d be nice if we didn’t have to hide behind the writing-a-book excuse, but then we’d be tipping off the police about what we’re doing.”
    “Do you think it matters? I mean since they aren’t investigating it?”
    “TJ seems to think it’s best for now. She’s going to use her contacts in the department to get information for us, so I don’t see how we can keep it quiet for long.”
    The door opened admitting a tall woman wearing a short, gray tweed blazer over a black turtleneck sweater and perfectly tailored black slacks.
    “Hi.” Lisa smiled and shook the woman’s hand. “Shannon, this is Detective Maggie Petersen from the Oconomowoc Police Department. We worked together when I was a full-time counselor at the center.”
    “This is fast service, Maggie,” Lisa said, “I called about thirty minutes ago.”
    “I stopped over on my way to the station.”
    Shannon offered her bakery, poured coffee, and the three of them went into the conference room. Lisa noticed silver stud earrings and a silver watch were Maggie’s only jewelry, and her shiny, black hair was pulled into a simple braid that trailed down her back. She’d always envied women who could look put together so simply; for her it always felt like a chore.
    Lisa told Maggie their story, omitting that they were gathering evidence to force a police investigation. She told the detective that they were checking out disappearances of abused women for a book she was working on and believed some of the disappearances to be suspicious. Then she related what they’d observed at Helen Mueller’s home.
    Maggie Petersen listened without interrupting. The detective took a deep breath. “What I’m going to tell you is off the record, but under the circumstances I believe it’s necessary to tell you about Emma Fischer, Helen’s daughter. My partner and I interviewed Helen and the daughter’s husband many times after Emma disappeared. There was no solid evidence that the husband had anything to do with her disappearance, but David and I were certain that he did.
    “We thought the financial thing was suspect and tried to trace it to him. If  he made it look like she took all her assets with her, he did a good job. She had an insurance policy, but it wasn’t big enough to be a concern. I think you’re right about the mother. We suspected that, like us, she believed he was somehow responsible for her daughter’s disappearance, but she didn’t think her suspicions could help us convict him.”
    Lisa asked, “What should we do? We’re worried about Helen and feel responsible for stirring things up.”
    “I understand. I’ll talk to David, but I’m afraid we’re going to be in the same spot we were then. We need more. Helen has to be open with us and I’m thinking you may be the one that can get her to do