connection."
"Did you ever suspect your daughter of using drugs?"
"Oh, no, she was adamantly against them," Dottie answered. "She didn't even drink caffeine, and just recently she cut out all sugar."
"For her weight?"
"For her health, she said. She wanted to make her body pure."
" 'Pure,'" Lena repeated. "Did that have something to do with the church, do you think?"
"She had stopped going by then," Dottie reminded her. "I don't know why she did it. We were driving home from school one day, and she just said it: 'I don't want to eat anything with sugar in it anymore. I want my body to be pure.'"
"This didn't strike you as odd?"
"At the time, no," Dottie said. "I mean, maybe it did, but she had been acting so strange lately. Not strange like you would notice, but strange like she stopped drinking Co-Colas when she got home from school, and she started concentrating more on her homework. It was like she was trying to do better. She was more like her old self."
"Her old self before she started hanging out with the Patterson children?"
"Yes, I guess you could say that." Dottie pursed her lips. "It was very strange, because Lacey was a cheerleader, and very popular, and from the day Jenny walked through the school doors Lacey tortured her."
Sara asked, "Tortured her how?"
"Just mean," Dottie answered. "Teasing her about her weight. And this was back when she was just a little chubby. Not like she's been lately."
"You don't think Lacey or Mark ever hit her?"
Dottie seemed surprised. "Heavens no. I would have called the police." She patted her eyes with the tissue. "They just teased her is all. Nothing physical. Like I said, they became friends."
Lena said, "Why did that change?"
"I don't really know. Maybe when they all went from the middle school to the senior high. It's a big adjustment. I think Lacey didn't make the cheerleading team, and she kind of dropped in the pecking order. You know how kids are. They want to belong. Now that I think about it, the sugar thing was probably Lacey's idea."
"Lacey's?" Lena asked.
"Oh, yes. She was always coming up with things for them to do. What kind of clothes they would wear to school, where they would go for the weekend. They spent hours on the telephone talking about it."
Lena smiled. "My sister and I used to do the same thing," she said. Then, "Was it some kind of religious thing, you think?"
"What's that?" Dottie asked, caught off guard.
"The sugar. The caffeine. It sounds kind of religious."
"You don't think…?" Dottie stopped herself. "No, I don't think it's religious. She was very happy with the church. I think it must have been those Patterson children. Mark has some kind of criminal record for stealing things." She shook her head in a slow arc. "I didn't know what to do. Should I have told her she couldn't see him? That would have made her want to spend even more time with him."
"That's generally the case with young girls," Lena agreed. "You still go to church, right?"
"Oh, of course," Dottie answered, nodding her head. "It's a great consolation to me."
"Have you made arrangements yet? I guess they'll do the service?"
Dottie sighed. "I don't know. I just…" She stopped, blowing her nose on a tissue. "I think she liked Preacher Fine. He came by the house to talk to her. So did Brad Stephens. He's the youth minister at the church."
"That so?" Lena asked.
"Oh, yes, Brad is very active in the community."
"Did Pastor Fine come by after Jenny stopped going to church?"
"Yes," she nodded, and she seemed glad to be able to remember something that might be important. "He came by after she had missed a couple of Sundays."
"Did you hear what she said to him?"
"No," Dottie answered. "They were in the den, and I wanted to give them some privacy." She seemed to remember something. "He did call back a week later on the telephone, but she told me to say she wasn't in. That must have been a Saturday, because I was home during the daytime. And I remember that she got a
"Did you ever suspect your daughter of using drugs?"
"Oh, no, she was adamantly against them," Dottie answered. "She didn't even drink caffeine, and just recently she cut out all sugar."
"For her weight?"
"For her health, she said. She wanted to make her body pure."
" 'Pure,'" Lena repeated. "Did that have something to do with the church, do you think?"
"She had stopped going by then," Dottie reminded her. "I don't know why she did it. We were driving home from school one day, and she just said it: 'I don't want to eat anything with sugar in it anymore. I want my body to be pure.'"
"This didn't strike you as odd?"
"At the time, no," Dottie said. "I mean, maybe it did, but she had been acting so strange lately. Not strange like you would notice, but strange like she stopped drinking Co-Colas when she got home from school, and she started concentrating more on her homework. It was like she was trying to do better. She was more like her old self."
"Her old self before she started hanging out with the Patterson children?"
"Yes, I guess you could say that." Dottie pursed her lips. "It was very strange, because Lacey was a cheerleader, and very popular, and from the day Jenny walked through the school doors Lacey tortured her."
Sara asked, "Tortured her how?"
"Just mean," Dottie answered. "Teasing her about her weight. And this was back when she was just a little chubby. Not like she's been lately."
"You don't think Lacey or Mark ever hit her?"
Dottie seemed surprised. "Heavens no. I would have called the police." She patted her eyes with the tissue. "They just teased her is all. Nothing physical. Like I said, they became friends."
Lena said, "Why did that change?"
"I don't really know. Maybe when they all went from the middle school to the senior high. It's a big adjustment. I think Lacey didn't make the cheerleading team, and she kind of dropped in the pecking order. You know how kids are. They want to belong. Now that I think about it, the sugar thing was probably Lacey's idea."
"Lacey's?" Lena asked.
"Oh, yes. She was always coming up with things for them to do. What kind of clothes they would wear to school, where they would go for the weekend. They spent hours on the telephone talking about it."
Lena smiled. "My sister and I used to do the same thing," she said. Then, "Was it some kind of religious thing, you think?"
"What's that?" Dottie asked, caught off guard.
"The sugar. The caffeine. It sounds kind of religious."
"You don't think…?" Dottie stopped herself. "No, I don't think it's religious. She was very happy with the church. I think it must have been those Patterson children. Mark has some kind of criminal record for stealing things." She shook her head in a slow arc. "I didn't know what to do. Should I have told her she couldn't see him? That would have made her want to spend even more time with him."
"That's generally the case with young girls," Lena agreed. "You still go to church, right?"
"Oh, of course," Dottie answered, nodding her head. "It's a great consolation to me."
"Have you made arrangements yet? I guess they'll do the service?"
Dottie sighed. "I don't know. I just…" She stopped, blowing her nose on a tissue. "I think she liked Preacher Fine. He came by the house to talk to her. So did Brad Stephens. He's the youth minister at the church."
"That so?" Lena asked.
"Oh, yes, Brad is very active in the community."
"Did Pastor Fine come by after Jenny stopped going to church?"
"Yes," she nodded, and she seemed glad to be able to remember something that might be important. "He came by after she had missed a couple of Sundays."
"Did you hear what she said to him?"
"No," Dottie answered. "They were in the den, and I wanted to give them some privacy." She seemed to remember something. "He did call back a week later on the telephone, but she told me to say she wasn't in. That must have been a Saturday, because I was home during the daytime. And I remember that she got a
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