Bingham's First Case

"My failure to find that little girl will haunt me to the grave." Bingham looked at the speaker and gave his old friend a sympathetic smile. Neither spoke but each shared the same thought. What had happened to Natalie Beddoes? Little girls deserved better than to disappear at the age of six, never to be heard of again; a flash of anger appeared in Bingham's eyes. Thinking about her and remembering the photograph that had dominated the front page of every newspaper in the country for weeks, and thereafter occasionally for years, as the fruitless search took place, Bingham felt guilty at his own good fortune.