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“What’s going on?”
“They arrested Dean Wheeler.” He didn’t know Dean had come after her, that the police had searched the salvage yard, that they’d found blood. But he knew Dean’s old girlfriend had gone missing.
“A few days ago, I would’ve applauded that move,” he said.
“And now?”
“Now that I’ve done more research, I feel it was unlikely Bianca Andersen ever knew Dean.”
Because of Jonah’s gaze on her breasts, she became conscious of her nudity and pulled up the blankets. She wanted him as much as ever, but…she was trying not to let that be the deciding factor in her future. “How do you explain that she worked at the mental hospital where he was committed on three different occasions?” she asked her father.
“She didn’t start at that hospital until almost a month after he was released the second time. And she was on vacation when he was admitted the third.”
“The entire two weeks?”
“The entire two weeks. She always arranged her vacation schedule to be off in December.”
“There could be some other way their paths crossed.”
“I’ve been in touch with her husband. The Andersens never lived anywhere close to the salvage yard, haven’t ever been over there. She didn’t frequent that bar you told me about, the Pour House. Her husband wasn’t even familiar with the name. If she and Dean met, it had to be a chance encounter. We might be able to prove that if we managed to run across someone who saw them together. But there’s no foolproof method of establishing it otherwise, which is why I call it unlikely.”
He was always so precise. “‘Unlikely’ is a step in the right direction, I guess,” she said. That wasn’t as definitive as she’d hoped it would be, but it was worth mentioning to Finch, worth double-checking to see if they could find some other connection.
“Butch, on the other hand…” her father went on.
Unsure whether she’d heard correctly, Francesca gripped the blanket tighter. “Did you say Butch?”
“I did.”
Jonah sat on the bed beside her, and she leaned over to share the phone. “But you told me last time that you weren’t able to establish a link between Butch and Bianca.”
“I told you I was still working on it. And what I came across is definitely curious.”
“What is it?”
“They lived at the same rent-by-the-week motel for almost three months.”
Francesca’s pulse quickened. “Where was her husband?”
“She hadn’t met him yet. She was dating Butch.”
Dating Butch? That was more than a chance encounter. “I can’t believe it. How did you find out?”
“I realized it was unlikely that Butch had learned about the job at the salvage yard while living in Phoenix, which meant he’d probably moved to Prescott before interviewing there. And if that was the case, he would’ve had to stay somewhere. It wasn’t as if he had family or any history in the area. He was drifting. So I called all the hotels and motels in Prescott. Given his size, he’s distinctive. The manager of the Desert Oasis remembered him. He also remembered Bianca, because she was such a free spirit, as he put it. He said he used to catch her skinny-dipping in the pool.”
Francesca adjusted the blankets to keep them from slipping. “Was Butch already in contact with the Wheelers? Is there any way he could’ve introduced Bianca to Dean?”
“No. I called and asked a librarian in Prescott to check the microfiche for me. He found the ad. Going by the date of the paper, it wasn’t placed when Butch first came to town, so I’m guessing he was doing odd jobs for cash. According to the motel manager, he moved into the salvage yard after the Wheelers hired him, into a little apartment off the office.”
“The manager knew this?”
“Butch bragged about the compensation package, which included room and board.”
That apartment off Butch’s office was most likely where Julia had lived when they’d taken her in. Francesca had seen it. “And Bianca never went out there to visit him?”
“They’d broken up by then. Apparently, the day they split was memorable, too. The manager said he’d never seen such a terrible fight. He almost called the cops. They were both out of control, screaming and throwing things. It took him and three other tenants to break it up. At that point, Butch got in his car and drove off. A few days later, he landed the job at the salvage yard and moved out.”
“Don’t tell me. That fight was over another woman,” Francesca said.
