Free A Deadly Game by Catherine Crier Page A

9-millimeter Clock as stolen from his car outside a Firestone tire store in 2001. Scott sued the store over the theft, his first small claims suit, and collected seven hundred dollars from the company.
    The detectives finally asked what Scott thought had happened to Laci. By then, Scott had settled on the idea that a transient had assaulted her in the park, probably because of her expensive jewelry. Recently, he told detectives, his wife had become concerned about stories of rapes and assaults in the park. She'd started thinking about carrying pepper spray on her walks, but she never did.
    The two investigators tried to keep Scott talking. Did the couple have any future plans? Scott said he and Laci intended to move to San Luis Obispo when Conner began school. He wanted to buy an olive ranch. Grogan remarked that Scott seemed very poised in social settings; he must be a very successful salesman. Scott smiled and thanked him, saying it was important to have those skills in the sales business. Did Laci ever embarrass him in social situations? Not at all, Scott replied; she was actually quite helpful.
    The interview concluded around 4:30 P.M., when Detective Grogan learned that Scott's parents were downstairs demanding to see their son. Grogan accompanied Scott to the waiting room. Lee Peterson told the detective they had just driven up from San Diego to help their son. Tall, slender, and slightly stooped, Lee said that Scott should not be interviewed without an attorney present. Grogan responded that his son had declined to take a polygraph that might exclude him as a suspect. Before his father could speak, Scott again refused the test.
    What did Lee Peterson know? Cops sensed he was suspicious of his son.
    Leaving the Petersons, Grogan returned to the bureau to compare notes with Brocchini and Buehler. The detectives found several inconsistencies in their respective conversations with the young man. Their suspicions were heightened when Brocchini added that a boat patrol officer at the Berkeley Marina reported that there'd been absolutely no rain on Christmas Eve.
    It was time to put Scott under a microscope.
    Grogan prepared a search warrant for Scott's home, business, vehicles, and boat. They would serve the warrants the very next day. Then, at 4:30 P.M., Brocchini's cell phone rang. It was Scott Peterson, wanting a progress report.
    "Officers did a grid search last night and then repeated it today," Detective Brocchini said. "There are three dog teams there, and mounted sheriffs are coming over. The sheriff's helicopter has also searched the area with a heat detector."
    "Have you used cadaver dogs yet?" Scott asked.
    The detective was shocked.
    "Cadaver dogs are used for sniffing out dead bodies," Brocchini explained. "Have you already given up on finding Laci alive?"
     
    CHAPTER THREE
    SCOTT AND LACI
    Despite their heightened suspicions, the Modesto police had little to go on during the first few days of the investigation. But one thing was clear: They needed to know more about Scott and Laci's background. Through countless interviews with friends and family and analysis by the California Department of Justice, investigators began to stitch together a "victimology" report that would provide a look into the lives of Scott and Laci Peterson. Many aspects of this report have never before been disclosed.
    Thirty years old at the time his wife vanished, Scott Peterson was born in San Diego's Sharp Hospital on October 24,1972. He was the only child of Lee and Jackie Peterson, who had married the previous year. Both of Scott's parents had children from previous relationships. When Scott was born, his father, Lee, already had two sons and a daughter from his first marriage to Mary Kamanski. Mark, Joe, and Susan lived with their mother in San Diego, but visited with their dad on weekends.
    Jackie Peterson had three children from previous relationships, but she had given up two of them, Anne Bird and Don Chapman, for adoption soon