Next, she tells him what she’s learned about John Paul McLellan: the bloody face, the late return, the disappearance of him and his blue Trans Am.
She saves for last the fact that she’s already put out a BOLO for the car.
For a moment, Denny stops and turns toward her, and Judy is afraid that he’ll chastise her for not seeking permission from a higher-up. But instead he says, “Judy. You’re actually doing really good work here.”
Judy frowns. The actually, she thinks, was unnecessary—but she’ll take it.
“Speak up in the captain’s briefing, okay?” says Denny Hayes. Then, without waiting for a response, he keeps walking.
• • •
The Command Post, Judy learns, has been moved from the backstage area of the Great Hall to the Director’s Cabin, on LaRochelle’s orders: they’ll need near-constant access to a telephone.
This means that T.J. Hewitt—the director, who lives there—has been displaced to an empty room in the Staff Quarters.
• • •
At five in the evening, inside the Director’s Cabin, Captain LaRochelle now stands at attention in front of the longest wall. He is an imposing man. Military haircut, very upright posture.
Around him, a dozen investigators sit or stand. Half are from B-tour, staying late; the other are C-tour investigators, just arriving for their shift. Judy and Hayes arrive last, as LaRochelle, consulting his notes, begins to speak.
“Persons of interest so far,” he says. And with his fingers he ticks them off.
“John Paul McLellan Jr. Godson of the Van Laar family. Came home last night with a bloody face, nowhere to be found this morning. Still at large. BOLO’s been issued.”
Judy is startled. She is still figuring out how information gets transmitted from person to person in the BCI. She isn’t sure how Captain LaRochelle knows this already.
He continues. “Louise Donnadieu. Barbara’s counselor. Currently in custody on an unrelated charge, but not sure how long we can keep her there. I’ve got”—he checks his notes—“Investigator Lowry working that lead.”
He pauses.
“Unknown person seems to be roaming the woods near the estate,” he says, “according to a girl named Tracy Jewell, Barbara’s bunkmate. We have no description on this person other than that he’s tall, because Tracy wasn’t wearing her glasses. But we haven’t spotted anybody yet. Nor have we spotted any sign of Barbara herself in the nearby woods. The hounds did pick up a scent on her, but it seems they may have been trailing a path she took on a different organized outing, several days ago.”
He looks up. “So basically, we’ve gotten nowhere near where we need to be, nine hours into this search.”
Another investigator speaks up. “Sir, have the parents said anything notable?”
“Not really,” says LaRochelle. “I spoke to Mr. Van Laar at length just now. He described Barbara as unhappy and troubled. His suspicion is that she’s a runaway. But he didn’t have any idea where she might have gone.”
“Any reason to suspect him?”
“Not that I’m aware of at this juncture,” says LaRochelle. “But obviously we’ll be watching him closely.”
He points to one of the investigators who’s just arrived for C-tour. “That means you,” he says. “You’re in charge of keeping an eye on the parents overnight.”
A beat of silence. Then the same investigator who asked about the parents speaks again. “Sir,” he says. “Do you find it suspicious at all that the father wouldn’t speak to any of us? That he wanted to wait for you?”
LaRochelle considers this. “I wouldn’t say suspicious, necessarily,” he says. “I worked with them closely on their son’s case. Could just be there’s a level of trust there.”
To Judy, this sounds dubious. But as the newest investigator in the room, she has no intention of saying so.
“What else do you have for me?” says LaRochelle, and Hayes elbows her gently.
Judy clears her throat. Raises her hand.
Then she tells LaRochelle about what Tracy Jewell said: the boyfriend, the overnight meetings at the observer’s cabin, the painted walls.
LaRochelle raises his eyebrows. “Anyone else heard anything about a boyfriend?”
Around the room, heads shake.
He points to one investigator. “You. Find a ranger. Ask them if they’ve been to the observer’s cabin yet. If not, get them moving.”
He pauses. “Do we know where Barbara Van Laar was in school?”
An investigator raises his hand. “Emily Grange. Down near Latham.”
“You,” says LaRochelle to the investigator. “Head there. Get numbers from them for Barbara’s friends. Ask about a boyfriend.”
“You,” says LaRochelle, pointing to an investigator coming onto C-tour who has half a sandwich hanging from his mouth. “Head for the Van Laars’ house in Albany. Check Barbara’s room there for anything relevant. Bring back Polaroids, if you can.”
He pauses.
“Questions?”
A moment of stillness, and then one hand goes up, from the edge of the room. It’s an investigator Judy hadn’t noticed, until now, perhaps the oldest person in the room.
“Is it worth considering Jacob Sluiter?”
A general shift in the atmosphere of the room. For a moment there is a standoff; LaRochelle seems to be waiting for the investigator to explain himself, to offer excuses or some rationale.
He doesn’t.
LaRochelle folds his arms. “It’s possible, I guess,” he says. “Him being on the loose. But to me that seems less likely than other explanations,” says LaRochelle.
The investigator nods, though his expression signifies that he is not completely satisfied.
“Could he have been the unknown person in the woods? The one who led the Jewell girl toward the house?”
LaRochelle frowns. “Now let’s think about that,” he says. “Convicted sexual offender and murderer sees a girl, alone and lost, in the woods. Is he going to lead her to safety? Or is he going to seize upon the opportunity to do what he’s done in the past?”
The old investigator says nothing. The two men regard each other, as if sending silent messages to one another that the rest of the room can’t read.
“I’m not saying it’s out of the question,” says LaRochelle. “I’m just saying—when you hear hoofbeats, don’t look for a zebra.”
Judyta
1950s | 1961 | Winter 1973 | June 1975 | July 1975 | August 1975: Day One
