hand and she narrowly missed slicing her thumb. “What? That’s terrible!”
Ian described the photo found in a local shop, and Kate thought of the poor girl’s parents getting the news. She rinsed the cutting board, the red smears from the tomatoes suddenly making her queasy. “Are the police even sure this photo is real?”
“They’re not saying much, but since it’s not the first time this has happened, everybody seems to think it’s real.”
“What do you mean it’s not the first time?”
Ian put down his wine and pulled a copy of the Wickfield Gazette from his briefcase. “Here, you can read about it yourself. Copies were distributed at the emergency meeting I got called to with the university president and provost, as well as another meeting with legal office representatives and public relations folk.”
Kate read the story of the discovery of the photograph, but her eyes were drawn over and over again to the haunting photo. A young woman dressed in a flowing white gown reclined on a chaise lounge. It was a beautiful picture, the figure seeming to float within the clusters of delicate flowers arranged about her body. Her eyes were closed, she might have been sleeping.
A recap of the details surrounding Lily Slocum’s disappearance was included in the article, along with a smaller headshot. She was a pretty girl with a sweet, very pale face and long, straight blond hair. She wore too much eye makeup, which made her look even younger than her twenty-one years. She looked like a child, a little ghost child, and Kate realized with a start that she was only six years older than Grace.
“She’s so young,” Kate said out loud.
Ian took a long swallow of wine and rubbed his forehead. “Yes, she was.”
His use of the past tense jumped out at her. “You believe she’s dead then?”
“I don’t know. If she isn’t, why hasn’t anyone heard from her?”
Kate followed the story to the inside pages of the paper, and was surprised to find three more photos of smiling, attractive young women.
Police won’t speculate whether the disappearance of Lily Slocum is in any way connected with the disappearance eight years ago of Ann Henke or the disappearance of Lisa Myers and Barbara Lutz the year before, though similar photos of all three young women were found in Wickfield after their disappearance. The bodies of Ann Henke and Lisa Myers were recovered in 2000. Barbara Lutz has never been found.
Kate folded the paper, surprised that her hands trembled. “So much for the safe community.”
Ian sighed. “This is exactly what the university is afraid of. It is safe. Think how many more homicides are committed in New York every year. It just gets more publicity here because it’s a small town.”
“Tell that to the Slocum family.” Kate handed the salad and dressing over to Ian to toss so she could take the chicken out of the oven.
“Fortunately, I don’t have to. Today’s meeting was bad enough. There’s a lot of finger-pointing about campus security, which makes no sense to me since she wasn’t on campus when she was abducted.”
It made perfect sense to Kate. People needed to feel as if something could have been done to prevent Lily Slocum’s disappearance, so they blamed things like lax security.
“Grace, come set the table!” she called, adding the paper to the recycling bin and then moving it under some other papers so their daughter wouldn’t see it. Even as she did it, she realized the futility of the gesture. Grace wasn’t much younger than these other girls and she’d probably already heard the news the way that kids seemed to hear and know everything.
Ian took plates from the cupboard and handed them to Kate. “I’ve got to work late a few evenings this week because the meeting I had scheduled on the Performing Arts Center got bumped by today’s emergency meetings.”
“We’ll be here alone?” For some reason Kate had a sudden image of Terrence Simnic next door in
Ian described the photo found in a local shop, and Kate thought of the poor girl’s parents getting the news. She rinsed the cutting board, the red smears from the tomatoes suddenly making her queasy. “Are the police even sure this photo is real?”
“They’re not saying much, but since it’s not the first time this has happened, everybody seems to think it’s real.”
“What do you mean it’s not the first time?”
Ian put down his wine and pulled a copy of the Wickfield Gazette from his briefcase. “Here, you can read about it yourself. Copies were distributed at the emergency meeting I got called to with the university president and provost, as well as another meeting with legal office representatives and public relations folk.”
Kate read the story of the discovery of the photograph, but her eyes were drawn over and over again to the haunting photo. A young woman dressed in a flowing white gown reclined on a chaise lounge. It was a beautiful picture, the figure seeming to float within the clusters of delicate flowers arranged about her body. Her eyes were closed, she might have been sleeping.
A recap of the details surrounding Lily Slocum’s disappearance was included in the article, along with a smaller headshot. She was a pretty girl with a sweet, very pale face and long, straight blond hair. She wore too much eye makeup, which made her look even younger than her twenty-one years. She looked like a child, a little ghost child, and Kate realized with a start that she was only six years older than Grace.
“She’s so young,” Kate said out loud.
Ian took a long swallow of wine and rubbed his forehead. “Yes, she was.”
His use of the past tense jumped out at her. “You believe she’s dead then?”
“I don’t know. If she isn’t, why hasn’t anyone heard from her?”
Kate followed the story to the inside pages of the paper, and was surprised to find three more photos of smiling, attractive young women.
Police won’t speculate whether the disappearance of Lily Slocum is in any way connected with the disappearance eight years ago of Ann Henke or the disappearance of Lisa Myers and Barbara Lutz the year before, though similar photos of all three young women were found in Wickfield after their disappearance. The bodies of Ann Henke and Lisa Myers were recovered in 2000. Barbara Lutz has never been found.
Kate folded the paper, surprised that her hands trembled. “So much for the safe community.”
Ian sighed. “This is exactly what the university is afraid of. It is safe. Think how many more homicides are committed in New York every year. It just gets more publicity here because it’s a small town.”
“Tell that to the Slocum family.” Kate handed the salad and dressing over to Ian to toss so she could take the chicken out of the oven.
“Fortunately, I don’t have to. Today’s meeting was bad enough. There’s a lot of finger-pointing about campus security, which makes no sense to me since she wasn’t on campus when she was abducted.”
It made perfect sense to Kate. People needed to feel as if something could have been done to prevent Lily Slocum’s disappearance, so they blamed things like lax security.
“Grace, come set the table!” she called, adding the paper to the recycling bin and then moving it under some other papers so their daughter wouldn’t see it. Even as she did it, she realized the futility of the gesture. Grace wasn’t much younger than these other girls and she’d probably already heard the news the way that kids seemed to hear and know everything.
Ian took plates from the cupboard and handed them to Kate. “I’ve got to work late a few evenings this week because the meeting I had scheduled on the Performing Arts Center got bumped by today’s emergency meetings.”
“We’ll be here alone?” For some reason Kate had a sudden image of Terrence Simnic next door in
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