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Gibson let out a long, subdued breath.Yeah, I guess I do, she thought. “How did the kids get along?”
“Francine could get Dougie to do whatever she wanted. She just had that way about her. Now, I might have given you the wrong impression before about Dougie staying in the garage and lifting weights. The boy was not stupid. He was a brooder, but intelligent. His grades weren’t the best, but not because of ability. He just seemed bored. But he loved his sister. Would do whatever she told him to do. I think that’s why he waited around for her before heading out.”
“Well, a good actress can be very manipulative,” said Gibson. The conjured image of Clarisse and the image of the young Francine Langhorne from the photo appeared in her mind’s eye. She mentally blended one into the other and got a real mess in return.
“Yes, they can. And she was.”
“Manipulative enough to have him kill their mother? I mean, you said she vanished, but do you really know that for sure?”
“We never found a body, and the kids disclaimed all knowledge of her disappearance.”
“Would someone have seen anything if they did do her harm?”
“Another WITSEC family with kids, name of Enders, lived near them. The Langhornes would socialize with them. The fathers got along, I mean really well. It was like Harry had found a kindred spirit in Darren Enders. We talked to them, but they weren’t home the night she vanished. Geraldine’s kids reported her missing the next morning. Part of me thinks she went to join her husband. We never found a trace, but, like her husband, she had a good head start.”
“One last thing.”
“Sure.”
“Can you find samples of Francine’s and Dougie’s handwriting?”
“Handwriting?” asked Beckett.
“Yeah.”
“You have something you think they both wrote out?”
Do as I say, not as I do, she thought. “Not right now, but I might stumble on something in the future.”
“You’re talking a long time ago.”
“I’m not expecting miracles. Just asking you to make some phone calls to see if something turns up.”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” replied Beckett.
“Thanks, and thanks for all the info.”
“You really think his kids found Harry Langhorne and killed him?”
“It’s certainly possible.”And I might be working with one of the killers, thought Gibson.
CHAPTER29
O?N THE DRIVE HOME, GIBSONmulled over things.
If Clarisse was Francine, she could have found and killed her father at Stormfield. Whether her brother, Doug, was around and part of it, Gibson didn’t know.
But then why involve me? If she did kill him, then she basically engaged me to findher.
Since that made no sense, Gibson had to conclude she had it all wrong, or was missing something vital that would make her initial speculation right.
Later, she turned into her driveway and sat there for a bit.
If the “and parents” comment made by Clarisse meant she had a parent in assisted living, then Geraldine Langhorne might be alive. Had Francine found her mother, and made her tell where her father was? Then she went and killed him? But that still didn’t explain Gibson’s involvement in all this. And had something just happened to Geraldine, if that’s who it was? Based on the partial conversation Gibson had overheard, it was possible.
And if Clarisse is Francine, how did she even know thatIexist?
Based on what Beckett had told her about the school play, Francine had been a thespian, too. She and Gibson were close in age. Had Francine gone to Temple while Gibson had been there? Had she used the name Francine Parker? Or had she used another name? And where was Doug? Had he followed his sister across the country? From what Beckett had told him about Doug Langhorne, he didn’t sound much like the college type, but one never knew.
