The cat-eye woman picked up the story. “The state police showed up, and there was a standoff, for hours. My husband was one of them. Then they saw flames and rushed inside to rescue the kids. He was arrested on all kinds of charges, but never went on trial because he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and pled guilty by reason of insanity. Such a shocking story.”
“I heard that Kate had moved several times to get away from him, and he kept following her. Poor woman. And those poor children were absolutely traumatized, especially little Lloyd. He was injured in the fire.” The woman in the turtleneck sat back to let the waiter set a plate before her.
Jack shook his head in amazement. “What a story. When was this, ten, fifteen years ago?”
“Oh, more than that, maybe thirty. I was newly married,” said Cat Eye. “Afterwards, my husband suggested I offer my help to the family. Kate was perfectly polite, but still shaken up, and made it quite clear that she preferred to be left alone. Still, when she opened the shop, everyone rushed to support her.”
“Or spy on her,” murmured her friend. “Everyone was so curious.”
“It worked out to the same thing, didn’t it? Her shop has done well, and good for her. They say she still visits her ex in the hospital, isn’t that odd? I could never.” She shuddered.
Tina thought about asking his name, but based on the information they’d already shared, she knew they could find it.
“What about their two kids?” Tina asked. “Were they okay?”
The quilter startled, as if once again, she’d forgotten Tina existed. “Mostly, aside from poor Lloyd and that burn. They went to school here, then left this town never to be heard from again.”
“My cousin’s boss’s son took Linette to the prom. He was crushed when she left right after graduation. She was quite the heartbreaker. Beautiful girl.”
Ding-ding, thought Tina. If she could find a photo of Linette in high school, they’d know who they were looking for. Based on everything she was hearing, Linette Mansfield could be their best bet to locate her brother.
She shot Jack a glance to get him to wrap up the encounter so they could move on. While he chatted with them, took selfies, and offered to buy their lunch, she put their lunch on her own credit card. Marigold would cover it, but even if she didn’t, those fries had been worth it.
Back in Jack’s Audi, she pulled out her iPad, which was easier to use for more extensive searches. “High school first,” she said after a moment. “See if we can find any visuals on Linette. After that we can stop in at the Rutland Psychiatric Hospital. That’s the closest hospital designated by the state for long-term mental disorder care. Take a right at that roundabout to get to the high school.”
Jack nodded as he started up the car. “Sure, but we never settled that other issue.”
“Other issue?”
“Margaritas. Our schedule is loading up. We’re gonna need to spend the night somewhere, and we might as well pick a place near a margarita.”
18
An hour later, they had acquired photos of Linette and Lloyd Mansfield at the ages of fifteen through eighteen from the yearbook archives of the Woodstock Union High School. Lloyd had a clear resemblance to Jessie’s photos of Adam and Marigold’s of Seth.
“I think we can safely say they’re all the same person,” said Tina as they walked across the pretty high school campus, where class had already ended for the day. A few students were still hanging around, playing Hacky Sack or working on homework. “We’re on the right track. I’m glad coming to Vermont wasn’t a waste of time.”
“Of course it wasn’t,” said Jack. “I now have a lifetime supply of crafting supplies.”
“Ha ha. So this is Linette.” She angled her phone so they could both analyze the photo.
In high school, Linette had been a very pretty girl with lemony-blond hair. Her eyes were a light dreamy blue, her skin free of acne. The various yearbook photos tracked her growth. At fifteen, she was awkward and a little chubby, but by eighteen she appeared more bubbly and sociable, though with the rounded cheeks of someone still growing.
One photo showed her posing with eight other girls on the crew team. In another, she was receiving her diploma with a big grin. She’d been voted “most likely to marry a billionaire” by her fellow students.
“I wonder if she did marry a billionaire,” Jack mused.
“Unlikely. They don’t grow on trees.”
“It would make it easier to find her. Just look up the Forbes One Hundred List and go through it one by one, see who they’re married to.”
“If she’s anything like her brother, she changed her name even before she got married. Possibly her appearance, too. She may not even be blond anymore.”
Jack thought that if he’d gone through what the Mansfield children had, he too might be anxious to transform into another person. “The stuff about Lloyd was interesting too. I mean, voted ‘most likely to bake you a cake’? What the does that mean?”
“It sounds to me like his fellow students thought he was a kind person. Either that or it was randomly generated, like they didn’t know exactly what to say about him.”
“I vote for the ‘kind’ option, given that he’s involved with Jessie.”
