The photo caught the attention of a prominent model scout who happened to be in Minneapolis at the regional art exhibition for his niece. He was so struck by the photo that he inquired for a month as to the identity of the girl in the picture. When he finally located Marlow, she was flown to New York City to Elite Model Management. She signed and the rest is, as they say, history. A year later, she was the youngest American model ever to land the cover of Vogue.
[Studio]
MARLOW FIN: Oh . . . my goodness. Is that it? [Reaches for photo]
JODI LEE: This is the photo. The one that launched your career.
MARLOW FIN: How did you get it?
JODI LEE: Sotheby’s let us borrow it. After all, you are the subject matter, right?
MARLOW FIN: Unbelievable. [Studies photo, camera zooms in]
[Voice-over]
JODI LEE: I then quickly flipped the switch and turned to what everyone wanted to know. What the world had been buzzing over for nearly a year. Did Marlow really do it? Was she really capable of killing someone?
[Studio]
MARLOW FIN: This is truly wonderful. Thank you for sharing this. [Hands photo back]
JODI LEE: When you look at that photo, Marlow . . . what do you see?
MARLOW FIN: I see . . . I see a girl who should stay right where she is.
JODI LEE: And why is that?
MARLOW FIN: Because she’s happy.
JODI LEE: I am going to turn to another police report now, Marlow. This one from September 8, 2020. It was created by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department the day after the incident. Can I read you some of it?
MARLOW FIN: You may.
JODI LEE: “On the premises of the property is a shed, large enough to be a barn. Upon inspecting the inside of that structure, blood was found in the corner. Officer Bittner slipped in the area in which the blood was found. Samples were taken by a forensics team for a DNA analysis. Marlow Fin, the last person to see the victim, was questioned this afternoon at police headquarters.”
I can see your reaction right now. You have no reaction.
MARLOW FIN: I have read the report before. Many times.
JODI LEE: “Slipped in the area in which the blood was found.”
MARLOW FIN: Yes.
JODI LEE: Marlow . . . what happened that night?
CHAPTER 19
ISLA
1997
None of us wanted to go home.
We lay in our field surrounded by bent bluegrass, a soft bed for our heads. Only tiny feathery whiteflies bothered us, fluttering around in the glow of summer sundown. The sky was an orange creamsicle I wanted to pluck out and taste. A quiet evening symphony of creature sounds, croaking and strumming for us.
I took a blade of bluegrass and stroked my kneecaps with it in small circles. Sawyer chewed on the end of one while Marlow lay on her belly, drumming her fingers.
“Are you coming over for dinner?” I asked.
Sawyer took the grass out of his mouth, examined it, and placed it back in.
“Grandma Ada doesn’t have to work the night shift. So I’ll probably eat with her.”
“Moni’s making her chicken noodle soup you like so much.”
“I know . . . but I think Grandma Ada wants me home. Sometimes she gets lonely. Especially after . . .”
His voice trailed off.
Especially after. I had learned what this meant a week earlier. Mom and Dad, post-dinner, talking in low voices, assuming I was upstairs playing with Marlow in her room. I had come back down to ask if we could have graham crackers.
“That poor boy. I had no idea.”
I paused at the bottom of the stairs.
“I think that’s why they moved here. Maybe let him start over,” said Dad. I heard him set his wineglass down on the counter.
“But she works all the time.”
