Twenty seconds later a soft, slightly nasal voice said, “This is Rolf Batchelor. Police? Something came up with my sister?”
Milo introduced himself and gave a capsule explanation.
Batchelor said, “Wow, after all this time. I kept waiting for someone to call me and when they didn’t, figured it wasn’t going to happen. I thought of contacting the police but didn’t have anything to offer. The whole thing was so incredibly shocking. Not only poor Whitney but Jarrod floating around in a boat.”
“How’d you learn about it?”
“From Donna. Whitney’s mom. She was so agitated I could barely make out what she was saying. When I finally understood, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It took me a long time to wrap my head around it.”
“You knew Jarrod.”
“No, never met him, but any child going through something like that? Horrible. So why are you calling now, Lieutenant—was it Stargill?”
“Sturgis.”
“Like the biker thing. I went once. So what’s come up with regard to my sister?”
“You viewed her as that.”
“You’re surprised because we were steps? Well, yeah, I did. I welcomed having a sib, being an only for so long.”
“You were close.”
A beat. “We got along really well but when our parents married Iwas already in med school up here and Whitney was like…eight, nine? So with my being away, we didn’t see each other very often. But the times I was home, we had fun. Whitney was a super-bright kid, we used to play two-handed bridge, chess, do puzzles, math games.”
I’d been scrawling notes, showed one to Milo.
He said, “What was Whitney like as a person?”
“Like I said, super-smart, but also super-shy. I used to feel protective of her. Because of her being so quiet and to herself. Donna seemed to think there was something wrong with that, she kept prodding Whitney to quote ‘come out of your shell, you’re not a hermit crab.’ I assume you’ve met Donna.”
“We have.”
“Not the most…pliable person. How’s she doing? Has she remarried?”
“No.”
“That surprises me,” said Batchelor. “She seemed to need having someone to talk to. My dad was perfect for her, a great listener.”
Another note.
Milo said, “Good marriage?”
“Oh yes,” said Batchelor. “Dad had been torn up by my mom’s death and Donna brought him out socially. She was also much younger and I guess today you’d call her arm candy.”
He chuckled. “Dad liked making an appearance.”
“Sounds like you haven’t had much contact with Donna.”
“Not since my dad’s funeral. She was invited to our wedding but didn’t make it. So yeah, it had been a while when she called to tell me about Whitney. Then she emailed me about Whitney’s funeral and I attended.”
“You were close to Whitney,” said Milo. “Donna, not so much?”
“Well,” said Rolf Batchelor, “to be honest, Donna and I didn’t mesh super-easily. It’s not that we had conflict but some people you just don’t…the main thing is Donna was good to Dad. Nor did sheever try to put a wedge between Dad and myself, nothing like that. She and I just didn’t…mesh is the best term for it. But Whitney, she always seemed so vulnerable. Being shy and to herself.”
“Can you think of anyone who’d want to hurt her?”
“From what Donna told me Jarrod’s father sounds like a pretty good bet. I assume you know about the custody battle.”
