“She seems to have plenty of cash. And she takes Uber everywhere in the city.”
“Okay, wedoall share an Uber account. I figure it’s a safety issue. But we didn’t give her any cash.” There was a long silence on the phone. Then Ellen said in a low voice, “I found a wad of cash in her room when I was cleaning up. I mean, like, seven hundred dollars.” After another few seconds she said, “Initially, I was impressed she was so good at saving her allowance money. Now I have a whole new thing to worry about the rest of the day.”
Claire wasn’t sure what to say.
Ellen asked, “Do you have any suggestions about what I should do with Hope?”
“I’m a big believer in open communication.”
“Me too. The problem is it takestwopeople to communicate. When we sit down to talk to Hope, it always turns into either Harold or I lecturing her.”
“I don’t know. She’s bright. And she has to follow her own path.”
Ellen said, “I just worry where that path may take her.”
That didn’t turn Claire’s mood around in any way.
CHAPTER24
CINDY LOST TRACKof time while chatting with the two FBI agents as they drove toward San Mateo, about twenty miles south of San Francisco on the 101. She then noticed they were winding through parts of Foster City. Eventually, they found themselves in a completely residential neighborhood with a mix of houses—some new and luxurious, some that had seen better days. The house they stopped in front of fell sort of in between. Nice enough, but nothing special.
Cindy tried to contain her fascination with everything Joe Molinari and Debbie Roche did after arriving at the address, before they even parked the car. She watched as they immediately noted a nearby car’s license number and ran it through an analyst at the FBI.
Special Agent Roche was on the phone with the analyst for some time. Finally, she turned and said, “Okay, this is slightly unusual, and it may still mean nothing, but thereisa connection here to Portland. The car was leased in Portland by an adult male named Jonathan Shaw.”
Joe parked their car near the house, then almost immediatelysaid, “I’ve got movement in the main room.” The FBI agents were out of the car quickly, with Cindy trailing them.
A woman with dark hair answered the front door. The entryway had walls on either side of the door. “Hello. May I help you?”
The FBI agents identified themselves and showed their IDs. The woman said her name was Alicia Shaw. She invited them inside, and didn’t ask for Cindy’s identification.
Roche tried to explain why the FBI was in this woman’s house without insulting her. Finally, she said that a neighbor had reported seeing a young girl here who looked like a missing child from Portland, Oregon.
Mrs. Shaw smiled, but when no one else did, she leaned forward and said, “Oh my God, you’re serious.”
“Did you recently move here from Portland?” Roche asked.
“We did,” Mrs. Shaw said, growing quickly serious. “My husband is on a two-year teaching exchange program with Stanford. He teaches quantum physics. We moved here with our three kids about six months ago.”
Roche asked for photos of the children. It was an easy request. Cindy could see family photos displayed in frames all over the room. There were clearly two boys and a girl in the family, but everyone in the photos appeared to be brunette.
Debbie Roche said, “The tipster said that a little blond girl was living here.”
That’s when Mrs. Shaw burst out in nervous laughter. She got up from the table, found her phone, and came back to show them all a photo of her daughter—now with blond hair.
Mrs. Shaw said, “Fiona was just in a school play as Goldilocks. She refused to take the wig off for two weeks. It wasn’t worth the fight, so I let her. Reluctantly.”
Cindy could see the same little girl who was in the other photos, smiling with yellow locks of hair falling in her face.
Debbie Roche asked a few more questions and they concluded the interview with the very friendly Mrs. Shaw.
As they were getting back into the Tahoe, Joe turned and said, “This is what a real investigation is like. Lots of dead ends and lots of time wasted.”
“But does finding a missing child make up for all that?”
Debbie Roche turned in her seat and with a big smile said, “Absolutely.”
CHAPTER25
