The Perfect Couple (39 page)

"What about the man who did this to her?" Jonathan asked Jasmine.

"Can you give me any details about him? Is it Master? Are we on the right track there?"

"I have no idea. I only know that this guy must seem normal or he would've stood out by now, drawn attention. He has a good job. He has a family. Something. He's no one you'd typically suspect."

"How can he have a family and get away with this kind of thing for days, weeks, months?" He knew it happened, but it still surprised him.

"It's easier than you might think. You heard about the man in Austria who kidnapped his own eighteen-year-old daughter and imprisoned her in a cellar for twenty-four years, didn't you?"

"Yes." That was a highly publicized case, one with a very sick twist: That same man had fathered seven children with the daughter.

"His wife had no idea. She believed him when he said their daughter had gone missing."

"That would be much less likely to happen in Rocklin, where we've got new houses built on small lots with no cellars."

"But it would be possible if the perpetrator hid his victims somewhere else," Jasmine suggested.

"Like out in the woods," he said grimly.

Had anyone he'd spoken to during the investigation been out of town recently? No. Except--

Suddenly, Jonathan remembered Colin telling him that Tiffany was at some cabin. She hadn't participated in the search on Saturday because she was gone.

His hand tightened on the phone. What was he thinking? He had to be jumping at shadows. Colin couldn't be Master because he and Tiffany were together whenever they weren't working. And they both had regular jobs that kept them tied to the city, except for a brief weekend getaway here and there. They couldn't keep someone hidden out in the forest. Besides, Colin was at work when Sam went missing.

But then a snippet of conversation he'd had with the deputy about Toby rose to his consciousness:

He wouldn't trust the man who first came upon him, so the guy got his wife, thinking a woman would be less threatening.

Did it help?

Not much. Toby would let her come closer, but dodge away before she could actually touch him, all the while crying for his mother.

Toby was equally frightened of the woman. Was that significant?

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"You don't think it could be a...couple?" he said to Jasmine.

"That wouldn't be unheard of, either," she said. "Remember that husband and wife in Canada who victimized the wife's sister in addition to murdering two other girls?"

The odd circumstances surrounding the way Jonathan had found Zoe in that motel room made the idea seem more feasible. She'd just had dinner with Colin and Tiffany Bell....

But couples like the one in Canada or England's Hindley and Brady, who'd committed the Moors murders, were a rare exception in the criminal world. And if Colin and Tiffany were guilty of harming children, why wouldn't they maintain a lower profile? Why would they invite Zoe into their house? Help organize a search for Sam? Call Zoe on Mother's Day?

Because they thought it would make an effective cover?

Possibly.

Jonathan thanked Jasmine, told her to call if she came up with anything else and disconnected. Colin and Tiffany were a long shot, but he couldn't get them out of his mind. Partly because of Colin's involvement in the case since Sam's disappearance. A lot of criminals tried to insert themselves in the investigation of their own crimes....

He pictured Zoe's neighbor standing in the parking lot at Sierra College talking about how desperately they needed to find Sam. Was it all a charade? "How well do you know Colin and Tiffany Bell?" Jonathan asked Zoe.

"Not well," she said. "Hardly at all, actually, until Sam went missing."

Until Sam went missing. Those four words sent chills down his spine.

"You don't think they could've taken Sam...."

Shoving the hair away from her face, she scowled. "You're kidding, aren't you?"

"No."

She shook her head. "In the nine months we lived next to them, they paid very little attention to her. Colin has always acted more interested in me. And, like you said, he was at work the day Sam disappeared. I can't see Tiffany hurting anyone."

Zoe was probably right. There were other things that didn't add up, either. If Colin and Tiffany had Sam, why would they drug Zoe and remove her clothes only to dump her, unharmed, in a motel room? If the person who'd hurt Toby had another incapacitated victim, he would've taken advantage of it.

"I can't imagine Tiffany going along with the brutality of what happened to Toby," she added.

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"Neither can I." He didn't want Zoe to feel she'd been betrayed by her neighbors if she hadn't. But Sam's kidnapper had to be close. And Colin and Tiffany lived right next door.

257

The receptionist at Scovil, Potter & Clay was on the phone when Jonathan arrived, but she gave him a broad smile and held up a finger to indicate she'd be with him in a moment.

"You bet I'll tell him," she said into the phone. "Yes, sir, I always do.

Why...thank you. Maybe I'll let you hire me away." She laughed. "Okay, you, too."

Her smile lingered as she made a quick note on the telephone pad.

Then she removed her headset and glanced up. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I--"

"Wait! I recognize you!" She managed to get out of her chair, but for someone her age--twenty-six or twenty-seven--it shouldn't have required so much effort. Those extra hundred pounds obviously weren't easy to lug around. "You were at the search on Saturday. For a minute, anyway. I have a good memory for faces. Not that a girl would be likely to forget yours," she added with a nervous chuckle.

He grinned, hoping to put her at ease. "I'm a private investigator. I--"

"I thought maybe you were a detective. With the police, I mean."

"No, I've been retained by The Last Stand, a victims' charity here in town, to find Samantha Duncan."

She sighed. "That is such a sad situation. I've been hoping and praying she'd be found safe. Have there been any breaks in the case?"

"None."

"Phooey!" She smoothed her hair, self-consciously fighting the static electricity caused by the headset. "So...you're here to see Colin?"

"Yes. Is he in?"

She nearly knocked a small stuffed dog off the file cabinet with her elbow but caught it before it could fall. "I'm afraid not."

"His car's in the underground parking," Jonathan pointed out.

"Oh, right." With obvious chagrin, she checked the hallway leading to the offices, then lowered her voice. "Actually he's here. It's just that he's in a meeting with the senior partner, and I've been told to hold all calls."

"I see. Must be an important meeting."

"It is. I think he might be in trouble." She winced, even friendlier now that she felt the need to make up for lying to him.

He lowered his voice to match hers. "Has he done something wrong?"

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"Not wrong, exactly. It's just that--" She caught herself. "Listen to me.

I'm so bad." The giddy edge to her laugh would've made it clear, even if she hadn't already told him, that she thought he was handsome. "I shouldn't be telling you this."

"Why not?" He raised two fingers in the traditional Scout's honor salute. "I won't tell a soul. I promise."

She mouthed the next words. "He might be getting fired."

"Really?"

Her eyes widened innocently. "His productivity has fallen way off.

And they don't put up with a lot around here. Each attorney has to perform, or that's it."

He took one of her cards from a holder on the desk. "Any idea why Colin's productivity might've fallen?"

"None."

"Problems at home?"

She nibbled on her bottom lip. "I doubt it. He and Tiffany seem happy together. She came to the company Christmas party in this low-cut slinky dress that showed his name tattooed on...well..." She blushed. "Tattooed on her chest, if you know what I mean. Before the night was over, they were both smashed, and he had her prancing around like a show pony."

"If it's not his marriage, maybe he hasn't been feeling well." Jonathan doubted Colin had health issues, but it was an easy way to keep the receptionist talking.

"He's not sick." She leaned toward him. "Actually, Mr. Scovil thinks he might not be mentally capable of handling the job."

"Why does he think that?"

She turned and gave the hall another cautious glance. "You'll never hear Colin talk about it, of course. All he says is Georgetown this and Georgetown that. But he didn't start at Georgetown. He started at a third-tier law school in Maryland. It's all in his employment file."

"But he graduated from Georgetown?"

She shrugged. "Somehow he managed to get the grades he needed to transfer."

Colin was plenty smart. Jonathan was sure that wasn't the problem. "I see. So...you don't like him?"

A guilty expression appeared on her round, soft features. "I like him, I guess. I like everybody. But...I don't know. He has a mean streak."

Jonathan refused to draw any conclusions from that statement. For all he knew, a few cross words could be interpreted as "mean" to this Pollyanna.

"What's he done to make you believe he's mean?"

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Her mouth twisted as if she was fighting tears.

Surprised by this sudden show of emotion, Jonathan reached out to touch her elbow. "Are you okay?"

"It hurts to think about it."

"About what?"

"Several months ago someone left me a nasty note." She adjusted her purple, clingy blouse to get it to hang more smoothly over the bulge of her middle.

"What'd it say?"

"'I'd love to...'" Her face beamed scarlet. "Never mind. I shouldn't have mentioned it."

Jonathan caught her eye. "Tell me."

"No, you two might be...friends, or whatever."

"I'm just the P.I. investigating Samantha Duncan's disappearance. I know Colin only in relation to my work during the past week."

"So why are you here?" she asked.

"This is just a courtesy visit to let him know I'm doing a background check on him and several other neighbors. I wanted to get permission to talk to his boss and some of the other lawyers and people who work here."

Actually, Jonathan was more interested in his reaction than his permission, but that didn't sound as benign.

"You don't think he had anything to do with the girl's disappearance, do you?"

"Would that surprise you?"

"Yeah! I mean, he can be a jerk, but he'd never kidnap a child."

"This is just a precautionary measure."

Coupled with the devilish gleam in her eye, her smile made her appear almost childlike herself. "I bet it's gonna make Colin mad. He doesn't like people snooping around. He screamed at me once for being in his office when he came to work, and I was only delivering his messages."

"Doesn't take much to get him riled up, huh?"

"For me, breathing is enough."

"So...what happened with that note you referred to a minute ago?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's the one who left it. He did it because he didn't have some copies he needed for a meeting and he had to go in unprepared. But it wasn't my fault."

"What'd the note say?" Jonathan asked.

"It said--" she cleared her throat "--'I'd love to make you squeal.'"

She'd muttered the last part in a voice so low he could barely make it out. "That kind of talk has other connotations," he said. "Are you sure 260

whoever wrote it meant it in a bad way?"

"It had a picture of a pig and was stuck to my seat with a pair of scissors."

Jonathan shoved his hands in his pockets. "I see how that might concern you. When was this?"

"Just after Colin came on last summer."

"Was it handwritten?"

"No, typed. In a really big font."

"It couldn't have been someone else?"

"No one else would do such a thing. I've worked with the rest of these attorneys for years. They all treat me great."

"Except Colin."

She seemed to wrestle with her answer. "He treats me okay part of the time. But his jokes can be...insensitive. You know, a snicker here or there about my weight. Or a subtle comment in the break room about leaving enough food for everybody else. A plastic padlock on the fridge." Her expression grew contemplative. "And there's something missing in his eyes.

There are times when he looks at me as if he hates me. Just because I'm fat, I guess, since I've never done anything to hurt him. That day he asked me to make those copies?"

"Yeah?"

"I was in meetings all morning. How could I make copies if I wasn't even here? When he saw I was gone he should've made them himself instead of leaving me a message."

Okay, so Colin wasn't the kindest boss. But was he capable of nearly beating a boy to death? "I take it you won't be sorry if he gets handed his walking papers," Jonathan said.

"I can't say I'd miss him." She adjusted her blouse again. "You won't tell him I said that, though, will you?"

"Of course not."

A door opened down the hall, and a gentleman in his mid-fifties stepped out. Colin exited immediately afterward, looking so angry Jonathan suspected the meeting hadn't gone well for him.

"Misty, has FedEx come by this morning?" the older man asked.

"That's the boss," Misty whispered, pointing a finger she shielded from the man's sight with her body. "Not yet, Mr. Scovil," she replied, her smile bright and professional once she turned to face him. "Are you expecting a package?"

"I am. And I need it right away."

"I'll make sure you get it as soon as it arrives."

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"Thanks." The man nodded in Jonathan's direction. "You waiting for me?"

"Actually, I was hoping for a word with Colin."

Mr. Scovil waved one hand in a manner that suggested he'd rather not even hear the name. "There you go," he grumbled and went back into his office. The bang of his door made Misty jump, but Colin seemed to ignore it.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was hoping to speak with you," Jonathan said.