I leaned sideways, taking my phone from the back pocket of my jeans.
“Who are you calling?”
“Ozzie.” I found his number in my contacts and touched his name.
“Put it on speaker,” Luke said.
Tapping the icon, I put the phone on the table as it rang.
“Hey, Mina.” Ozzie’s deep voice came over the line. “I gave Claire a full report on what I found out today, which wasn’t all that much. I’m sure she’ll tell you about it in the morning when she stops in for coffee.”
“That’s great,” I said. “But it’s not why I’m calling. Luke and I discovered something.”
“Oh?” Intrigue with a healthy dose of skepticism tinged Ozzie’s voice.
“So, you know that list of names we came up with from the missing persons database?”
He expelled a breath, clearly exasperated. “You mean the list I told Claire to forget? That I was working on it and to let me handle things? That list?”
I rolled my eyes, a smirk tipping one side of my mouth as I glanced at Luke. “Yeah. That one. It’s a good thing we didn’t listen to you. We narrowed it down based on the style of clothing on the body. I think we might know who she is.”
“Because of her clothes?” His voice was full of skepticism now.
“No.” I sighed. Why did men have to be so dense sometimes? “We went to the library and looked up the articles on their disappearances. One woman stuck out to me because of her boyfriend. He’s quoted in one of the articles. His name is Rich Stevenson. I recognized the name, but couldn’t place it, so wesearched it. Once I saw his picture, it clicked. He’s a local handyman.”
A short pause came over the line. “Really?” The intrigue and interest were back in his tone, the skepticism gone now.
I chuckled. “Yes.”
“That’s good work, Mina. I retract my earlier statement about the list. Maybe I should tell Chief Riggs to hire you as my partner.”
Snorting softly, I glanced at Luke with a grin. “I’ll stick to slinging coffee, but I’ll happily take any consulting fees the department wants to send me.”
Ozzie laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind, but I wouldn’t hold out hope.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t.” I knew the finances for most law enforcement departments were tighter than the caps on some of my syrup flavor bottles.
“So, what’s this woman’s name?”
“Oh.” I laughed. I hadn’t mentioned that. “Moira Duluth.”
“I’m going to talk to my dad,” Luke interjected. “See if he knows Rich and what he can tell us about him. We tried to find a connection online between Rich and Walter Shuman, but there wasn’t anything that we saw. Dad might have some insights.”
“Just warn him not to say anything to Rich, if he knows him. I don’t want to tip him off before I’ve had a chance to speak to him.”
“No worries there. He’ll keep it quiet.”
“So, whatdidyou learn today?” I tipped my head, staring at the phone with a slight smile.
Ozzie chuckled. “You’re as bad as Claire. There really wasn’t much. I spent the day trying to track down a jeweler who would recognize the necklace we found with the body. Now that I have a possible identity, though, I’ll reach out to her family.” Hesighed. “I’m really never going to hear the end of it if you truly identified her before I could.”
“You’d have figured it out. That necklace is a good lead.” And was a tidbit of information he hadn’t mentioned before, probably on purpose. I knew the police held back things they didn’t want made public, so they could use it to be certain they had the right person.
“I just happened to recognize a name,” I continued. “I hope we’re on the right track. If it’s not Moira in the wall, I don’t know who it is. None of the other women seem to have a connection to Parker’s Landing.”
“We’ll find out soon enough. I’ll locate her family tomorrow. Hopefully, they’re still in the area.”
“Do you want me to look? I have a computer in front of me.” I raised my hands, ready to type.
