See No Evil

Stephanie opened the door without a word. Though she didn’t work, she was dressed in tailored slacks, a silk blouse, and simple gold jewelry. Her dark bob was sleek and styled, her makeup simple and elegant.

She led Julia to a formal living room. Above the elaborate fireplace mantel was a framed painting of Jason Ridge in his football jersey-number 10-holding his football in both hands. He’d been a handsome boy with dark windswept hair and vibrant blue eyes. Julia suppressed a stab of guilt that she was dredging up the past with his grieving mother.

Stephanie Ridge didn’t offer coffee. Nor did she offer Julia a seat.

“I know about Shannon Chase,” Julia said.

Stephanie’s face darkened. “You don’t know anything. That girl hurt Jason deeply. She lied.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because I knew her and I knew my son.” Her chin quivered.

“I read the police report she filed,” said Julia. “I saw the medical report. There was a rape. There was DNA evidence.”

Stephanie shook her head. “I don’t care what any report said. Jason was a good son. He wouldn’t hurt anyone. The poor boy was devastated when Shannon killed herself. Doesn’t that tell you something? Doesn’t that tell you that he had forgiven her for her lies?”

“She’s not here for me to ask,” Julia said.

“Nor is my son.”

“I’ve been trying to find Michelle O’Dell. She had been Jason’s ex-girlfriend as well as a friend of Shannon’s. By chance have you kept in touch with her? All I have is her number at Stanford.”

“Michelle?” Stephanie blinked. “I’m surprised you missed her at Garrett Bowen’s party Saturday. She was the one wearing a slutty little red dress.”

“Michelle was in San Diego Saturday night?”

Stephanie frowned. “What is this really about? Why are you asking about a rape- something that didn’t even happen-two years later?”

Julia changed the subject. “How well did you know Dr. Bowen?”

“Garrett? For years, but what-did? Has something happened to him?”

“He was murdered Saturday after the party,” she said. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard. It was on the news last night.”

“I don’t watch the news. I need to call my husband.”

“Dr. Bowen was Jason’s therapist, correct?”

“I’m not going to answer any more questions.”

“Why?”

“This is private family business! How dare you come in here, asking painful questions about our past, throwing out names right and left like you’re on some fishing expedition. Leave now or I’ll call the police.”

At the door, Julia turned and asked one last question. “Was Jason a member of an online community called Wishlist?”

Stephanie slammed the door in her face. But not before Julia saw the surprised recognition in her eyes.

It surprised Julia how close the O’Dells lived to the Ridges, though the two neighborhoods had completely different flavors as well as income levels.

Gina O’Dell answered the door when Julia knocked. “Ms. Chandler, what can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if you have a recent photograph of your daughter.”

The mother blinked rapidly. “Why?”

Julia didn’t want to deceive her, but she needed the photograph. “The District Attorney’s Office is looking into steroid use in high schools and we believe Michelle has information relevant to what happened to Jason Ridge last year.”

“She’s not in trouble, though,” Mrs. O’Dell prompted.

“No, we just need to ask her some questions. She probably doesn’t even know that she has information we need.”

“I gave you her phone number. Why do you need her picture?”

“I haven’t been able to reach her by phone, so a colleague in Palo Alto is going to stop by her apartment. He needs a picture to make a positive ID before he’s allowed to discuss the investigation with her.” The lies were rolling off her tongue easily now. It didn’t make Julia feel good, but she needed to find out if Stephanie Ridge was right and Michelle O’Dell was in San Diego. And why.

“Just a minute.” Mrs. O’Dell didn’t invite Julia in this time. Three minutes later she opened the door and handed her a photograph. “This was taken four months ago, at Christmas, when Michelle came home for break.”

Michelle had grown from a beautiful teenager into a stunning woman. Blond, blue-eyed, with the body of a Playboy model concealed in jeans and midriff top.

“When Michelle visits, does she stay here?”

“Of course,” Mrs. O’Dell snapped. “We’re very close. She tells me everything.”

The kind, sweet mother from the other day was now replaced by the mother bear. Like Stephanie Ridge, Gina O’Dell would never believe ill of her child.

Julia couldn’t blame them. She herself didn’t believe Emily had any part in Victor’s murder. And when she did have a tickle of doubt, she’d made excuse after excuse. The rape. The abuse. Anything to show that Emily wasn’t responsible for her actions.

She hoped Stephanie Ridge was wrong about Michelle being in San Diego. It would break Mrs. O’Dell’s heart if her daughter was in town, and had neither called nor visited.

“Thank you so much for your help,” Julia said, and left.

Part of being a private eye was grunt work. Hell, most of it was, but it occasionally paid well.

Connor knew how to do the job, and missing persons-if there wasn’t foul play involved-was often the easiest. He had friends, contacts, ins to track real estate transactions, bank transfers, credit cards, phone bills.

It appeared that Laura Chase had disappeared off the face of the earth.

While waiting for Emily to be discharged from the hospital, Connor managed to piece together the Chase family history.

Tom and Laura had been married for five years before giving birth to a daughter, Camilla Chase, who died six months later of sudden infant death syndrome. Less than a year later, Shannon was born. Months after Shannon committed suicide, Laura Chase filed for divorce. They sold the house and Tom moved to Maine but was living off his savings and the proceeds of the house sale and his construction business. He had no known job. Will Hooper had the local authorities drive by his Bangor address and everything checked out. As far as they knew, Tom Ridge hadn’t left Maine-at least by airplane-since moving there eighteen months ago.

Laura Chase, on the other hand, seemed to have disappeared after the divorce. She owned no property in California and didn’t appear to have a job in the state. Connor wondered if, like her husband, she had moved out of the area in grief over her second dead daughter. How devastating for the Chases to lose two children.

Connor understood grief. His nephew’s murder eleven years ago had changed every member of the Kincaid family, himself included, but none of their pain came close to what his sister Nell suffered. When the killer wasn’t caught, when the case grew cold and Nell knew it would be given less and less priority by the police, she left. She moved to Idaho to be alone.

Their mother insisted Nell would return home when her grief ran its course. But in the eleven years since, she had not set foot in San Diego. Connor hadn’t even seen Nell since, though his parents visited her on occasion. If Nell didn’t want to be found, Connor had no doubt she, too, could disappear as Laura Chase had done.

The one thing Connor couldn’t access were bank accounts. When Will arrived at the hospital to transport Emily to the courthouse, Connor told him what he’d learned and Will called in for Laura Chase’s financials. Connor hated the waiting game, but he had no choice.

He kept glancing at his watch as Dillon and Will went over the transportation plan for Emily.

“What’s wrong?” Dillon finally asked.

“We’re running late. Julia is supposed to be at the courthouse at noon. After yesterday’s hit-and-run, I’m worried.”