Free Chill Factor by Sandra Brown Page B

point. “What about women?”
    â€œRelationships?”
    â€œOr whatever.”
    â€œHis neighbors in Virginia barely know him because he’s seldom there, but unanimously they said they’d never seen a woman at his place.”
    â€œA good-looking bachelor like him?” Begley asked.
    Hoot shrugged. “He could be gay, I guess, but there’s no indication he is.”
    â€œHe could have a ladylove stashed away somewhere else,” Begley ventured.
    â€œIf he does, we’ve found no evidence of one. No long-term relationship. Or short term for that matter. But, as I said, he travels a lot. Maybe he, you know, catches, uh, romance when and where he can.”
    Begley ruminated on that. Serial rapists or women killers rarely cultivated or maintained healthy, lasting relationships. Indeed, they typically had an intense dislike for women. Depending on the psyche of the offender, the hostility could be latent and well concealed, or openly expressed. Either way, it was usually manifested in violent acts against the opposite sex.
    â€œOkay, you’ve aroused my interest,” Begley said, “but I hope you have better than this.”
    Hoot shuffled through more paper. Finding the sheet he was looking for, he said, “This is a quote from Millicent Gunn’s diary. ‘Saw B.T. again today. Second time in past three days. He’s so freaking cool. Always very nice to me.’ The very is underlined, sir.
    â€œÂ â€˜I think he likes me. Takes time to talk to me even though I’m fat.’ That entry was dated three days before her disappearance. Her parents claim none of her friends are named B.T. They don’t know anyone who goes by that name or has those initials.”
    â€œFat?”
    â€œActually, Miss Gunn is anorexic and bulimic.”
    Begley nodded, having read on her stat sheet about her hospitalization last year. “Where did she see this B.T. twice in three days?”
    â€œThat’s what put me onto Ben Tierney. I went digging to see who B.T. might be. The first logical place to look was the high school. I came up empty. All the B.T.s were girls.
    â€œSecond logical place would be where Millicent works. She clerks part-time in her uncle’s store. In addition to hardware and gardening equipment, he sells . . .” Hoot paused and pushed up his eyeglasses. “Sporting goods, clothing, and equipment.”
    Begley turned back to the corkboard, studying the photographs of the five apparent victims as he thoughtfully tugged on his lower lip. He focused on the first. “Was he in Cleary at the time Torrie Lambert disappeared off that hiking trail?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Hoot admitted. “So far I have no record of his being there on the actual day she disappeared. But he definitely was in town soon thereafter. The lodge’s registry bears that out.”
    â€œMaybe after Torrie Lambert he thought the pickins in the area were good, so he came back, and has kept coming back ever since.”
    â€œMy thinking exactly, sir.”
    â€œHe travels. Have you researched similar missing persons cases near any of his destinations?”
    â€œPerkins is working on that, too.”
    â€œViCAP, NCIC?” Begley asked, referring to the information networks widely used by law enforcement agencies.
    â€œNothing.” After a short pause, Hoot continued. “But we don’t yet know all the places he’s been. We’re having to review his credit card statements to see where his travels have taken him over the last several years, then cross-checking our unsolved cases in those specific areas. It’s tedious and time-consuming.”
    â€œWas he in the vicinity of Cleary when Millicent Gunn disappeared?”
    â€œHe checked into the lodge a week before her parents reported her missing.”
    â€œWhat do the boys in the RA out there think about him?”
    â€œI haven’t shared this