“Were any of you friends with the girls?”
They looked warily at Vera before the natural blonde, who seemed to be the de facto leader, spoke up again. “Not really, no.”
Noticing the direction of their look I turned and whispered to Vera. “Can you wait outside for a few minutes? They might be more comfortable talking without you here.”
Vera nodded solemnly, and stepped outside.
The tension in the room did not really ease, but it did soften. “I’m Sarah,” said the natural blonde. “This is Cheryl and Becky.”
“Nice to meet you.” I took a seat on the one vacant lower bunk, trying to make myself look at home. “Look, I don’t care if you were friends or if you hated one another. I’m not here to judge, just to figure out what happened.”
Cheryl spoke up then, a little shyly. “They were kind of snobby. Thought they knew everything.”
“Oh? About what?”
“Everything,” Cheryl said. “Horses, especially. They both said they were raised on farms.”
“Did anyone like them?” I asked.
The girls shook their heads. “Not really,” Sarah said. “Well, maybe Mackenzie – the guy who runs the stables. Even our counselor, Renee, didn’t like them.”
Nora had mentioned Mackenzie as well, though she had neglected to say that the girls had been universally disliked. “Did they spend a lot of time with Mackenzie?”
“They practically lived there,” Sarah said. “They didn’t really do any other activities. Well, they did the first aid one because it was required, but that was it.”
“And Mackenzie didn’t mind?” I asked. It seemed like a normal adult would have tried to encourage them to do some other activities once in a while.
The girls exchanged dark looks.
“What is it?” I asked. “I have to know.”
Sarah took a deep breath. “There were rumors... and I don’t know if they were true... but there were rumors that he was sleeping with them. That they did threesomes.”
Rumors were dangerous things. Sometimes they were wild and out of control, but sometimes there was a kernel of truth. “Where did you hear these rumors?”
Cheryl and Becky’s eyes drifted immediately to Sarah, and I knew that she had spread the rumors. Sarah, for her part, shrugged. “I heard some of the boys talking about it. Besides, it’s not hard to believe. The girls practically worshiped Mackenzie.”
“Which boys?” I took a notebook and pen out of my purse.
“Um.” Sarah darted a look at her friends, but they did not jump in to protect her. “Jimmy Treadway and Ben Lions.”
I wrote the names down. I didn’t put a lot of stock in that rumor, based on what I knew so far, but I would follow it up. “When was the last time you saw the girls?”
“Lights out,” Sarah said. The others followed her lead, echoing her words a second or so behind.
“None of you heard them get up in the middle of the night?”
They shook their heads.
“Were they prone to sneaking out?” I asked.
The girls looked at each other. Something passed between them, something that I wanted to know about, but once again, they shook their heads.
“Why did you hesitate?” I asked. “Were they making plans to sneak out? Anything you can think of would be useful.”
Again, they shook their heads. There was something missing from their account, but not, I thought, something I was likely to get from them while they were all sitting there together. Perhaps I needed to get the phone numbers of the two girls who had already gone home and ask them.
“All right, thanks.” I took three business cards out of my purse and handed them out. “If you can think of anything else, let me know.”
7
W ITH SO MANY PEOPLE COMING AND going, it was hard to pin down the ones I most needed to interview – such as Renee, the missing girls’ counselor. After I left cabin number five I wandered around the rest of the girls’ cabins, just trying to form a picture in my mind of who Laura and Regina were and what their
They looked warily at Vera before the natural blonde, who seemed to be the de facto leader, spoke up again. “Not really, no.”
Noticing the direction of their look I turned and whispered to Vera. “Can you wait outside for a few minutes? They might be more comfortable talking without you here.”
Vera nodded solemnly, and stepped outside.
The tension in the room did not really ease, but it did soften. “I’m Sarah,” said the natural blonde. “This is Cheryl and Becky.”
“Nice to meet you.” I took a seat on the one vacant lower bunk, trying to make myself look at home. “Look, I don’t care if you were friends or if you hated one another. I’m not here to judge, just to figure out what happened.”
Cheryl spoke up then, a little shyly. “They were kind of snobby. Thought they knew everything.”
“Oh? About what?”
“Everything,” Cheryl said. “Horses, especially. They both said they were raised on farms.”
“Did anyone like them?” I asked.
The girls shook their heads. “Not really,” Sarah said. “Well, maybe Mackenzie – the guy who runs the stables. Even our counselor, Renee, didn’t like them.”
Nora had mentioned Mackenzie as well, though she had neglected to say that the girls had been universally disliked. “Did they spend a lot of time with Mackenzie?”
“They practically lived there,” Sarah said. “They didn’t really do any other activities. Well, they did the first aid one because it was required, but that was it.”
“And Mackenzie didn’t mind?” I asked. It seemed like a normal adult would have tried to encourage them to do some other activities once in a while.
The girls exchanged dark looks.
“What is it?” I asked. “I have to know.”
Sarah took a deep breath. “There were rumors... and I don’t know if they were true... but there were rumors that he was sleeping with them. That they did threesomes.”
Rumors were dangerous things. Sometimes they were wild and out of control, but sometimes there was a kernel of truth. “Where did you hear these rumors?”
Cheryl and Becky’s eyes drifted immediately to Sarah, and I knew that she had spread the rumors. Sarah, for her part, shrugged. “I heard some of the boys talking about it. Besides, it’s not hard to believe. The girls practically worshiped Mackenzie.”
“Which boys?” I took a notebook and pen out of my purse.
“Um.” Sarah darted a look at her friends, but they did not jump in to protect her. “Jimmy Treadway and Ben Lions.”
I wrote the names down. I didn’t put a lot of stock in that rumor, based on what I knew so far, but I would follow it up. “When was the last time you saw the girls?”
“Lights out,” Sarah said. The others followed her lead, echoing her words a second or so behind.
“None of you heard them get up in the middle of the night?”
They shook their heads.
“Were they prone to sneaking out?” I asked.
The girls looked at each other. Something passed between them, something that I wanted to know about, but once again, they shook their heads.
“Why did you hesitate?” I asked. “Were they making plans to sneak out? Anything you can think of would be useful.”
Again, they shook their heads. There was something missing from their account, but not, I thought, something I was likely to get from them while they were all sitting there together. Perhaps I needed to get the phone numbers of the two girls who had already gone home and ask them.
“All right, thanks.” I took three business cards out of my purse and handed them out. “If you can think of anything else, let me know.”
7
W ITH SO MANY PEOPLE COMING AND going, it was hard to pin down the ones I most needed to interview – such as Renee, the missing girls’ counselor. After I left cabin number five I wandered around the rest of the girls’ cabins, just trying to form a picture in my mind of who Laura and Regina were and what their
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