“If she’s the Judy Sams with an address of 29316 County Line Road, she did,” he said and then added, “I’m sorry to say.”
“When was this?”
“The fifth of July. It looks like she came for one introductory visit, and that was it.”
Jen and Will glanced at one another. Judy Sams had visited BodyFit a little over a month before she was killed. Jen felt a surge of excitement as she realized they might have found the connection.
“What about the other employees that are here this evening?” Jen said. “Mind if we talk to them to see if they know anything?”
Stu looked troubled.
“I don’t suppose I have a choice, do I? Can you do it here in the office? I’d rather our members didn’t know what was going on.”
Jen and Will waited while Stu sent the other employees back one at a time. Three women and two men were working, and another male employee was working out on his off-time. None could tell them any more than Stu already had.
“That’s the last one that’s here tonight.” Stu stepped back into the office after they’d finished talking to the redhead who had been on the front desk when they got there. “I suppose you’ll want the names and addresses of the day shift people and the others who work evenings? I spoke to my bosses while you were talking to the others, and they told me to give you whatever help I can.”
When Stu handed Jen the paper on which he’d written the names, phone numbers, and addresses of all his employees, he also handed them each a card entitling them to a two-week introductory membership.
“You’re quite the salesman,” Will said, chuckling. “We come in here looking for a murderer, and the next thing we know, you’re trying to take our money.”
Stu grinned.
“An opportunity not taken is an opportunity lost. Besides, I don’t think you’ll find a murderer here.”
“I hope we don’t,” Jen said.
As they stepped back into the lobby, her eyes were drawn to the men she could see through the glass on both sides of the lobby. They all looked so normal, their bodies glistening from their exertion. Normal, she thought. Who knows when someone is normal? All we can see is the outside, like looking at a juicy red apple, then biting into it and finding a worm inside. She wondered if the killer was like that, beautiful and healthy and “normal” on the outside, but with a brain destroyed by maggots of evil and madness. A chill passed over her as she realized it could even be someone she knew.
CHAPTER 13
The music was loud and the lights dazzling as Jen and Will shouldered their way through the crowd. She was surprised that The Factory was so crowded on a Tuesday and wondered how these young people managed to report to work the morning after a night spent here.
The operable word is young, she thought, remembering that there had been a time in college when she could party hearty all night long and still make it to her early classes on time. Feeling old, she followed Will as he maneuvered his way to the end of the bar.
“What’ll it be?” A balding forty-plus bartender in a white shirt and black pants leaned over the bar, the better to hear their order.
“A couple of coffees and some information.” Jen flashed her I.D.
“I got the coffee. I don’t know about the rest.”
The man poured two cups from the pot on the back bar and slapped a couple of packs of sugar and a container of cream on each saucer. Jen passed him the pictures of Judy Sams and Carla Edwards.
“Either one of these ladies been in here before?”
The bartender held the pictures at arm’s length and looked at them carefully before shaking his head.
“I’m not sure. I think this one looks familiar.” He pointed to the photo of Judy Sams. Turning to the other bartender, a red-haired freckled man in his twenties, he held out the photographs. “Hey, Rick, come here. You know either one of these women?”
“Sure, I do.” He pointed to the picture of Judy Sams. “You do, too, Jack. Remember? That’s the girl that was murdered that used to come in here all the time. Her name was Judy something, I think?”
He looked to Will and Jen for confirmation, and they nodded. Interesting, Jen thought. When Judy Sams’s friends and relatives had been questioned, they’d claimed she never frequented any establishment that sold liquor.
“You say she came here a lot?”
“Yeah, probably at least three times a week, sometimes more. She was a regular.”
“Was she usually with someone?”
“Not when she got here.” Rick laughed. “When she left…well, that’s another story.”
“She picked up men, is that what you’re saying?”
“Let’s just say the lady was the friendly type, if you know what I mean.”
A light bulb seemed to go off over Jack’s head.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I remember her now. Didn’t she come on to you once?”
Rick nodded and looked embarrassed.
“She was pretty drunk that night,” he said to Jen and Will. “It was almost closing time, and I guess the pickings were getting slim. She made it pretty clear I could have just about anything I wanted.”
“Did you take her up on it?” Will said.
“No way. I’ve got a girlfriend I don’t care to lose. Even if I didn’t, I don’t like to live that dangerously. Who knows what somebody like her might have?”
“Do you remember anybody in particular that she took home?” Jen said.
“Not really.” Rick shrugged.
“It’s usually pretty busy in here”—Jack waved his arm to encompass the room—“as you can see. We don’t have time to keep track of everybody’s sex life.”
“What about a woman named Victoria Kaufmann?” Jen held out a photograph of Vicki. “She’d have been with another woman.”
“Names don’t ring a bell.” Jack looked at the photo, shook his head, and handed the picture to Rick.
“Yeah, I remember her. She was with a
