Part 26 (1/2)
”Those two were as bad as they come. What they did to that girl” He broke off, shaking his head. ”The papers didn't print half the details. We didn't want the facts made public and we were trying to s.h.i.+eld the parents as best we could.”
”It said in the newspaper she was kidnapped from the mall,” Elizabeth said.
”That's right. We never found out the exact details. Holly went shopping with a couple of her girlfriends. They got separated you know how kids are. Her friends never saw her again.”
”What did the Martinezes say?” Zach asked.
”They admitted to the murder but never gave up any of the details. We tried to play them against each other, but neither one of them ever said much. We figure Holly might have decided to go home early. Maybe the wife offered her a ride home or something. Consuela was five months pregnant at the time. She probably looked pretty harmless.”
Elizabeth's eyes widened. ”Consuela Martinez was pregnant when she murdered that girl?”
”That's right. Sick, isn't it? She never made it to term, lost the kid while she was in jail. That was the hand of G.o.d at work if I ever saw it.”
Elizabeth felt the blood leach out of her face. ”She was pregnant, Zach.”
”Yeah.” He fixed his dark eyes on the detective. ”We don't have any proof yet, but there's a chance the Martinezes may have murdered another girl when they were living in San Pico.”
”Oh, yeah? You got a name?”
”Not yet. We've got a general description, that's about all.” He gave the detective the description of the child Maria had seen, the blond hair and blue eyes, around eight or nine years old, the party dress she had been wearing. The detective made notes on his pad.
”How'd you come across this information?”
Zach took a deep breath. ”So far, like I said, it's just speculation.”
”Based on ?”
Zach cast Elizabeth a desperate glance.
”We'd rather not say quite yet,” she told the detective, ”not until we have more to go on. But we'd really appreciate it if you'd take a look at your missing persons file from 1967 to 1971. Those are the years the Martinez couple lived in San Pico. If you run across a child who fits the description Zach gave you, we'd really like to know.”
”I'll take a look. Doesn't ring any bells, though. I'll let you know if I run across anything in those files.”
Zach extended his hand. ”Thanks, Detective. We appreciate your time.”
They left the Fresno police department, Elizabeth exhausted and depressed.
”That was even more awful than I thought it would be,” she said as Zach drove out of town.
”Yeah.” He looked as tired and tense as she was feeling.
”We've got to tell Maria,” she said.
”If we do, she's going to be even more frightened than she is already.”
She sighed. ”Maybe we should tell Miguel. If he knows a pair of brutal murderers lived in his house, maybe he'll move out.”
”They didn't live in his house. They lived in another house that was in the same place, and it was over thirty years ago. Even if we tell him about the murder, I don't think it will convince him. He needs his job too badly.”
”Maybe we should talk to your brother again.”
He flicked her a disbelieving glance. ”We need something more solid, something that will force Miguel to believe his wife's story and let her move out of the house. Better yet, something that will convince my brother to let them move.”
”We need to find out if the Martinezes murdered another child while they were living in the old gray house.”
”Yeah. One with blond hair and blue eyes.”
”Then we've got to find out if a child who fits that description went missing somewhere around San Pico sometime between 1967 and 1971.”
Zach turned to look at her. ”You know this could all just be some weird coincidence.”
”It could be. I don't think it is.”
”Neither do I.” Zach raked a hand through his hair. ”I know a guy a private investigator named Murphy. I'll give him a call as soon as we get back, put him to work on this and see what he can find out. In the meantime, we'll talk to the local police. Maybe they can help.”
”Maybe we'll get lucky. In the meantime, don't forget tomorrow you've got an appointment with Dr. Marvin.”
”I haven't forgotten. I'm supposed to be at Willow Glen at one o'clock.”
She smiled for the first time that afternoon. ”I'll be holding good thoughts for you.”
”I was um kind of hoping you might go with me.”
Surprised, she glanced at his profile, taking in his dark skin and lean, handsome features as he studied the road. ”I could take a late lunch. It wouldn't be a problem.”
Some of Zach's tension seemed to ease. ”Thanks.”
Elizabeth didn't say more. She thought of the things Gwen had said, but she couldn't seem to make them fit with the man who sat beside her, a man who seemed to need her, as Zach had just then.
She couldn't keep her hopes from rising. Maybe Gwen was wrong. Maybe Zach wasn't the loner he used to be.
Elizabeth knew it was dangerous thinking.
Zach spent the morning chasing down Ian Murphy, putting him to work on finding a missing girl who met the description of Maria's ghost, then he went over to the San Pico police department.
He was given the names of a couple of longtimers who had been in the department since the late nineteen sixties. They remembered the old gray house. Unfortunately, they also remembered Zachary Harcourtor at least the man he'd once been.
”Officer Collins?” Zach offered his hand to a tall man with a slight paunch and Collins reluctantly shook it. ”Thanks for taking time to see me.”
”No problem.” He eyed Zach up and down, a.s.sessing the beige slacks, knit s.h.i.+rt and Italian loafers. ”I guess you gave up black leather.”
Zach forced himself to smile. ”Yeah. Did that some time back.”
”You know, we met before,” Collins said. ”Maybe you remember. I was there the night you were busted for negligent homicide.”
Zach kept the smile fixed on his face, though it took a Herculean effort. ”Actually, I don't remember a whole lot about that night. What little I do recall, I'm trying to forget.”
The other man moved closer, gray-haired and iron-jawed, a sergeant named Drury, according to his badge. ”Heard you were a big-time lawyer now. Fancy firm in L.A. somewhere.”