Reggie Stewart's flight from Hunter's Point landed in Portland after midnight, and Betsy's call aroused him from a sound sleep. He had wanted to go back to bed, but Betsy sounded so upset and cryptic on the phone, he was concerned. Stewart smiled when Betsy opened the door, but his smile faded as soon as he saw Betsy's face.
'What's UP, Chief?'
Betsy did not answer Stewart until they were seated in the living room.
She looked like she was barely under control.
'You were right. Samantha Reardon killed the people at the construction site.'
'How do you know that?'
'She told me, this morning. She Betsy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her shoulders started to shake. She put a hand over her eyes.
Betsy did not want to cry. Stewart knelt next to her. He touched her, gently.
'What's happening, Betsy? Tell me. I'm your friend.
If I can help you, I will.'
'She killed Rick,' Betsy sobbed, collapsing into Reggie's arms.
Stewart held her close and let her cry.
'Have you told the police?'
'I can't, Reggie. She has Kathy hidden somewhere.
The police don't know Rick is dead. If they arrest Samantha, she won't tell where she has Kathy hidden and she'll starve to death. That's why I need you. You have to find Kathy.'
'You don't want me, Betsy. You want the cops and the FBI. They're much better equipped to find Kathy than I am. They have computers, manpower 'I believe Samantha when, she says Kathy will die if she learns I went to the police. Reardon has already murdered the four people at the site, Lisa Darius and Rick.'
'How do you know Reardon so well?'
'The day after Darius hired me, a woman calling herself Nora Sloane phoned me. She said she wanted to meet me for lunch to discuss an article she was writing about women defense attorneys. She wanted to use my cases as the centerpiece. I was flattered. When Darius was arrested, she was already my friend. When she asked if she could tag — along while I worked up Martin's case, I agreed.'
'Reardon?'
'Yes.'
'Why did she kill Rick?'
'She said she killed Rick because he left me.'
'If she killed Rick because he hurt you, why hurt you more by kidnapping Kathy?'
Betsy decided not to tell Stewart about Reardon's instructions. She trusted her investigator, but she was afraid Stewart would warn the police if he learned of Reardon's plan to get into the jury room with Darius.
'After I found out Martin killed the women in Hunter's Point, I told him I wouldn't represent him, and I told Reardon I was dropping Martin as a client. She was very upset. I think she wants to be able to control the case. With Kathy as a prisoner, she can force me to do things that will ensure Martin's conviction. If you don't find Kathy, I'll have to do what she says.'
Stewart walked back and forth, thinking. Betsy wiped her eyes. Talking to someone helped.
'What do you know about Reardon?' Stewart asked.
'Have you seen her car? Has she mentioned anything about where she lives? When you met for lunch did she pay with a credit card?'
'I've been trying to think about those things, but I really don't know anything about her. I've never seen her drive, but I'm certain she has a car. She had to transport the bodies to the construction site, my house is out of the way and she's attended all of Darius's court appearances.'
'what about where she's living? Has she mentioned a long ride to town, how beautiful the view is in the country? Do you have her phone number?'
'She's never talked much about herself, now that I think about it. We've always talked about me or Darius or the battered women cases and never about her. I don't think I ever asked her where she lives. The one time I asked for her phone number, she said she would call me, and I didn't press her. I do remember that she paid for the lunch with cash. I don't think I've ever seen a piece of i.d.'
'Okay. Let's hit this from another angle. Darius chose an isolated farmhouse so no one would see him bringing the women there and to cut the chances that anyone would stumble onto the women while he was away.
Sloane doesn't have the problem of a wife and job, she could stay with the women most of the time, but she came to court when Darius had appearances and she met with you a number of times. I'm betting she's living in a rural area that's near enough to Portland so she can come to town, then get back, easily. The house probably has a basement so she can keep her prisoners out of sight.
She'd — also have to have electricity 'I asked if she'd let Kathy phone me. She said she wouldn't because she was worried I might trace her calls.
She must have a phone,' Betsy said.
'Good. That's the way to think. Utilities, a phone, garbage service. And she's a single woman. I have contacts at Portland General Electric and the phone company who can check to see if a Nora Sloane or Samantha Reardon started phone service or electricity around the time Reardon came to Portland. I've got a buddy at the Motor Vehicle Division who can run her names to see if we can get her address off a license application.
'She probably rented the house. I bet she set everything up the first time she was in Portland, so it would be ready when she moved back, but she probably didn't start the services until she came here the second time.
'I'll call Reardon's landlady in Hunter's Point and try to get the exact date she followed Oberhurst and the date she returned to Portland. Then I'll check real estate listings for rural houses with basements for rent in the TRICOUNTY area for the first time she was in Portland. I'll see how many were rented by a single woman 'Why not purchased? It would be safer. She wouldn't have to worry about the owner coming to the house to collect the rent or check on its condition.'
'Yeah. She'd think of that. But I had the impression she didn't have a lot of money. She was renting in Hunter's Point and she had a low-paying job. I'm guessing she's renting. I'll cross-check what we find about the utilities with the rentals.'
'How long will that take?'
The look of excitement on Stewart's face faded.
'That's the problem with using me instead of the police, Betsy. It's going to take a while. We can hire people to do some of the work, like checking the real estate ads, then I can follow up, but this is all very time-consuming and we could miss her altogether. She may have said she was married and her husband was coming later.
She may have found a house in the city that suited her purposes. She may have rented one name and taken the phone and utilities another. Fake i.d. is pretty easy to come by.
'Even if I've doped this out correctly, it's a weekend. I don't know bow many of my contacts I can get through to and when they can get into their offices to do the work.'
Betsy looked defeated. 'We don't have a lot of time.
I don't know bow well she's taking care of Kathy or what Reardon will do to her, if she decides she doesn't need me.
'Maybe you should reconsider. The police and the FBI can be discreet.'
'No,' Betsy said emphatically. 'She said Kathy would die if I told them.
There would be too many people involved. There's no way I could be certain she wouldn't learn about the investigation. Besides, in her twisted way, I think Reardon likes me. As long as she doesn't see me as an enemy, there's always the hope she won't harm Kathy.'
The rest of the day was so bad, Betsy had no idea how she would get through a second one. It was hard to believe that only a few hours had passed since Samantha Reardon's visit. Betsy wandered into Kathy's room and sat on her bed. The Wizard of Oz lay on its side on Kathy's bookshelf They had four more chapters to read.
Was it possible that Kathy would never learn about Dorothy's safe return home? Betsy curled up on the bed, her cheek on Kathy's pillow, and hugged herself She could smell Kathy's freshness on the pillow, she remembered the softness of her skin. Kathy, who was so precious, so good, was now in a place as distant as Oz where Betsy
