? ? ?
I confess I chortled all the way to the office, cheered by the idea that Edna and Joseph would finally be held to account. I’d barely sat down at my desk when the phone rang. I picked up, hoping it was Henry so I could share the good news.
It was Dietz. He skipped right over the greetings and the chitchat. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
I felt like someone had thrown a bucket of water in my face. “You obviously know more than I do, so you tell me.”
“I can tell you who Susan Telford is. Everybody in this part of the state knows who she is. She’s a fourteen-year-old white female who disappeared two years ago in March. It must not have made the papers in California, but it was all over the news here: headlines, television coverage, radio appeals, reward offered.”
I felt myself go still. “What happened to her?”
“She vanished. She might as well have gone up in smoke. She was last seen the morning of the twenty-eighth, walking on Paseo Verde Parkway in Henderson, the supposition being she was on her way to the park. Her mother reported her missing that evening when she didn’t come home. The cops talked to everyone—family, her friends, teachers, the park maintenance crew, people who lived in the area surrounding the park. They rounded up registered sex offenders, vagrants.”
“Nobody saw anything?”
“Eventually her best friend spoke up. At first, she was too damn scared, but she finally broke down and told her mom. Not that it made a difference. Her information was too vague to be of help.”
“Told her mom what?”
“Her story was some guy approached Susan in the mall a couple of days before. He was there snapping Polaroids. He said he worked for a fashion magazine and asked if she’d be interested in some freelance modeling. According to him, this was all preliminary. He’d be coming back with a crew to do the shoot in a few days, but he was scouting the area, looking for locations, and while he was at it, had his eye out for new and fresh talent.”
“Dietz.”
“That was all crap, of course. The guy was obviously cruising for young girls, and she was gullible enough to—”
I cut in again. “I’ve heard this story, only in the version I was told, her name was Janet Macy and she lived in Tucson. She was approached by a photographer with much the same kind of line. I talked to her mother on the phone a week ago. She last saw her daughter in 1986, but she thinks Janet went off to New York to launch her modeling career. Some photographer claimed he worked in the fashion industry and thought she showed promise. He was going to help her put together a portfolio. Not even sixteen years old and she went off with him like a damn fool.”
“Shit.”
“Her mother did file a missing-persons report, but the officer didn’t think she had anything to worry about. He took down all the information and told her to get in touch if she heard from Janet, but forget about that. All this time she’s been telling herself stories about where the girl was and why she didn’t write. This is Ned Lowe. I know it is. He works in outside sales, but photography has been his passion since he was in high school.
“The reason I mentioned him in the first place was because both Susan’s name and Janet’s were on the list Pete put together. One of the six women was his first wife, who died back in 1961. One divorced him and the other one is currently married to him. The fourth was involved in a so-called love relationship that she broke off.”
“Where is he now?”
“Well, he lives in Cottonwood, but he was scheduled to leave on one of his annual photographic jaunts, which begin to sound like hunting trips. His wife said she’d call after he left, but I haven’t heard from her, so maybe he’s getting a late start.”
“I’ll have the detectives in Henderson talk to Tucson. At least they can compare notes and establish the link if there is one. Why don’t you talk to Cheney and tell him what’s come up. Maybe there’s a way to corral the guy. You know where he’s headed?”
“Not a clue, and his wife doesn’t know, either.”
Dietz said, “Never mind. I’ll call Santa Teresa PD myself. I know more of Susan Telford’s story than you do, and it’ll save them some time.”