WHAT A START to the week this was. Time was going to be an important factor in this case. Whatever happened to Molly, it had a two-day head start on me, and I had to work to catch up.
I started by contacting the police. They gave me the runaround, like they do. Said it was an active investigation, and that they wouldn’t comment on it, and that I should stay away. This was an obvious lie, given what Gail Waterman had said. I followed up by calling Lacroix. He’d give me the straight dope.
Lacroix said basically the same thing, but added a few colorful observations, and used some questionable language to describe the hypocrisy. Said he didn’t care if I was investigating or not. At least someone was looking for the girl. He also promised to get some more information about the girl and her family. In turn, I’d pass him any information I found while looking for her. And if I found her—alive or dead—he’d be the first person I call.
I was surprised that the police weren’t investigating too hard, especially given the mother’s standing. But, then again, I’d seen how they respond to tech billionaires being murdered, and it wasn’t too hard to figure out there’s a minimum level of power and fame required for them to do anything.
The absence of the father in all of this was curious. There may not have been a reason for him to visit me along with the mother, but surely he was still involved with the family. I’d have to look into that too. Maybe it was a factor in her behavior? Maybe he was absent? Maybe he was involved?
Molly had a sister too. Liz. The mother said that they were both a little wild, but Liz was had settled down since she started university. She was older than Molly by three years and was the bookish one. Good grades, a varsity athlete, and she lived on her own. She said they both went clubbing, but they hung with different groups.
The mother had provided me with some useful information, including pictures of both Molly and her sister. There was an obvious family resemblance, but Molly had darker hair than Liz, and it looked like she regularly bleached it to look more like her sister’s hair. Also, Liz had a mole just above her lip and to the left of her nose.
I learned from the mother that Molly was hanging out with a pretty rough crowd. She had no more information than that. But her sister might have some more information. They went to all the popular places together, but with different social circles. Seemed like something a parent wouldn’t know much about, so I took it with a saltshaker full of salt.
I called Liz’s phone, and it went straight to voicemail. I called Molly’s phone, and it also went to voicemail. The latter, I expected, since it was supposedly off. I continued trying Liz’s number through the afternoon, while working on other leads; sometimes it rang, sometimes it went straight to voicemail. Sounded like she was a busy person. Classes, probably.
I called her apartment as well—this was back when everyone had both a cell phone and a landline. It made sense if she was sharing the apartment with one or more roommates. Everyone was still at school, so I continued working on things until I got bored of waiting around and went out for supper.