Half Moon Bay by Jonathan Kellerman & Jesse Kellerman

Author:Jonathan Kellerman & Jesse Kellerman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2020-07-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

That afternoon, I put Charlotte down for a nap and sat to review my notes.

The depth of Buddy’s recall impressed me. At the same time, I was perplexed by a number of things he’d said and more so by things unspoken.

I’d mentioned Claudia and Helen as suspects with personal motives, but Buddy had brushed that off, wanting only to talk about Norman, whom he obviously loathed. Yet he’d missed Norman’s visit to Linda Vista. Had never heard of Diane Olsen, the literal girl-next-door.

Had the other members of the Franchette family been questioned at all? Or did Buddy and his partner assume no involvement? If so, why? They had to know that most serious crimes against children are committed by relatives or close friends.

He’d spent much of our conversation harping on fugitive radicals. I could understand why. The era was tumultuous, and the bombings did appear to line up with the Franchette family’s misfortunes. But I could see another advantage to the political angle: Focusing on it distracted from the investigation’s shortcomings.

I knew better than to let hindsight make me smug. Every cop has had to let someone go for lack of evidence.

But we’re people, too. We bring our own quirks to investigations, and Buddy was a performer, with a need to be admired. So much of success in life boils down to acting like you know what you’re talking about, even when you don’t.

Especially when you don’t.

I needed to see that file.

I got out my laptop to follow up with Tracy Golden, my initial point of contact at the FBI. I hadn’t finished the email when Nate Schickman’s name appeared on my cell. I figured he was calling to let me know he’d been unable to find information on Mary Franchette.

Now I could tell him why: Mary was Peggy, and the records had been confiscated and lost.

I picked up. “Yo.”

My ear filled with noise.

“Clay? Are you there? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah. What’s going on?”

“I’m at People’s Park. We got sort of a situation. There’s a guy—fuck, hang on.”

Shouting in the background. Raw anger.

Nate came back on. “There’s a guy here stirring shit up, claims you sent him.”

“What?”

“That’s what he says.”

“What guy?”

“Big dude. Nazi tats. He has your card.”

I said, “On my way.”

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