Threads of Suspicion(123)

“Let’s hope our traveler was there,” Evie said. It would eliminate Jim or Lynne. She couldn’t help but wish for that.

“I’m optimistic, if only because that’s the only way to face hours of staring at video,” David replied with a short laugh. “After this, there’s the film from the back of the hotel. I scanned it, maybe a hundred fifty people, mostly dedicated fans who worked their way back there and stayed put for the whole evening. I’ve got Lynne moving between the two locations.”

Evie unwrapped a muffin. “You want to swap places for a while—I watch the video, you dig into Jim’s life?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll stay on it. Once you start, it’s like running a marathon. You don’t want to let it beat you or stop until it’s done. I’m sending the faces in batches to the FBI for those recognition checks with DMV. Some images aren’t at a good angle, some people won’t have Illinois drivers’ licenses—could have been issued in Indiana or Wisconsin—but it’ll make a solid start. As they feed names back, I’ll send them to researchers for background checks.”

“I appreciate this, David.”

“The concert traveler I can handle. Put your focus on Jim.”

“I’ll be heading out for a long list of interviews once it’s a reasonable hour to knock on doors.”

“If I’m not here when you get back, I’ll be at the hotel catching a few hours’ sleep. Call if you get any leads and want me to join you.”

“That I can promise.” She settled at a desk to begin digging deeper into the life of Jim Ulin.



A day of productive interviews always put Evie in a good mood. It was coming up on two p.m. when she stopped in once more at the Benoit home, accepted Lynne’s mother’s offer of coffee. David was having a productive day as well, going by the number of messages she’d received. The FBI was having better success identifying people from the rope line photos than she’d expected.

Evie’s phone dinged, and she looked at another face, now with a name, but didn’t recognize the individual.

“Need to answer that?” Lynne’s mother asked as she led the way to the kitchen.

Evie shook her head and pocketed the phone. “It can wait an hour.” David would call if a background check said they had likely found the right guy. She accepted the coffee Nancy offered.

“Lynne should be getting home soon. I can text her for you, ask her whereabouts.”

“No need, Nancy, but thanks. I just want to confirm something Jim said, but I can ask her another time. So Lynne had a good time at the concert last night?”

“She had a wonderful night. And before you ask, I can make a safe assumption she’s probably with Jim right now, telling him all the details of the evening. They may not be dating anymore, but he’s still important to her.” Nancy hesitated. “Jim stopped by here last night while Lynne was at the concert. He shared with me his account of that night he told you.”

Evie simply nodded and drank her coffee. She wasn’t sure why she was sitting here with Lynne’s mom, but maybe it was simply this—to get Nancy’s read on what Jim had told her. “Did it surprise you?”

“That Jenna had caused him some problems, no. That he hadn’t told the police the details back then—that did. I had no idea Jim had seen Jenna that night until he sat at this kitchen table and told me about that midnight coffee-shop visit.” She twisted a napkin in her hands as she talked. “I’m concerned about what it’s going to mean for Jim. He’s the one you have to look at now, right?”

“Yes.”

“Is there anything else I might be able to answer, Evie?”

“How did Jim change after Jenna went missing?”

“He was very worried about Lynne. She was searching the neighborhood and campus all hours of the day, looking for Jenna. In true Lynne fashion, she’d fixated on the possibility that if she looked hard enough, she could find her friend. Jim wasn’t getting much sleep. He had good people working the music store and coffee shop, but he handled all the inventory, made up the work schedules, helped his dad run both places—and he was needed. Within a week I was thinking this guy’s going to make himself very ill if he keeps this up. I predicted that correctly. He spent close to a month fighting off a serious cough and bad bout of the flu. It’s actually what got Lynne off her obsession with Jenna, the fact Jim was so sick. Lynne can be a pretty good ‘mother’ when it comes to fussing over someone who’s ill. It probably embarrassed Jim to no end once he was feeling better, but Lynne doesn’t offer much slack with her get-better rules. I suppose she learned that from me.”