“So you’re saying you only pay me if you feel like it.”
“No, I’m saying we’d have to evaluate the information.”
“Which is cop-speak for ‘Just give me the name.’”
Even though she was acting tough, I had the sense that it was really fear guiding Rachel’s attitude. After more than two minutes of going back and forth, Rich Conklin turned to face her with his arms folded over his chest. In a little sharper voice than I think he’d intended, he said, “This is a homicide investigation. If you know something and are withholding information, it could be considered a crime.”
That did not have the desired effect. Rachel snatched up the possible likeness of “Missy” and stood, calmly saying, “I must’ve made a mistake. I probably never met this girl.” Then she threw a perfect scowl at Conklin. It told him she was smarter than he thought she was and wasn’t going to put up with any bullshit.
I let her turn and start to walk. We had nothing to lose. I wanted to see if she was sure about her stance of not talking until she got some money.
Conklin dropped his folded arms and seemed about to say something to entice her to come back. I stood too and put my hand on his forearm to quiet him. I wanted to see this young woman’s commitment.
After about eight steps and no obvious reaction from us, Rachel paused. She looked over her shoulder to see if we’d say anything to stop her.
We both just stared at her silently. No matter how much I wanted to shout for her to come back. Then I took it a measure further. I turned slightly, like we were leaving too, in the opposite direction. That got her attention. Conklin and I both started along the tiled walkway. Then from behind me I heard, “Wait.” We walked away a few more steps. Then Rachel said, “Wait, please.”
I turned back. “Rachel, it’s up to you if you talk to us. I explainedto you how things are. You don’t trust me, or don’t trust the police, that’s your business. I just want to catch the guy who murdered this poor woman.”
Rachel gave a determined nod and returned to stand in front of us as the waterfall continued to pound down. Conklin and I may have put a little too much Hollywood into our reaction when we waited before all of us sat down, but there was something satisfying about it.
I pulled two fast-food coupons out of my pocket for her and said, “Whether you talk to us or not, you need to eat.” Rachel took the coupons without hesitation.
“Missy, or Donna—whatever she called herself—was really funny. She was fun to hang out with. She’d make little comments about people walking by. It helped pass the time.”
“Do you know her last name?”
Sheepishly, Rachel shook her head. “I don’t.”
“What benefits were you signing up for? Do you remember the date?”
“It was a while ago. Some kind of weeklong stay at a cheap hotel to basically get us off the street because some big shot foreign leader was visiting San Francisco.” She paused and looked toward the water sheeting down. “It never worked out.”
We established that the last time she saw “Missy” was about two weeks before she’d washed up on the beach. Until she saw the composite image of her, Rachel just thought Missy had found a better place to live.
Rich said, “Can you remember anything about the people around you just before she disappeared?”
“She’d been talking to a guy. He’d been by a few days in a row. I figured he was talking to her because she was really pretty.”
I cut in. “What didhelook like?”
“He was tall with dark hair. He was really good-looking.”
“Did he have a scar on his face?”
Rachel gave me a funny look. “I don’t know.”
“What happened between Missy and the tall guy?”
“Nothing. She left with him one night and that was the last time I saw her.”
“Did you know anything about Missy’s background?”
“We didn’t talk about our families. I think she said she was from farther down the peninsula. She wanted to be some kind of stand-up comedian. Somehow she ended up in the Tenderloin. That’s as far away from being a comic as you can get.”
Conklin asked, “Is there a reason you don’t talk about your families?”
“They’re usually the reason we’re on the streets in the first place.”
