She Told a Lie

by P. D. Workman

  He was Zachary’s go-to guy in the department to let him know what was going on with any cases he was involved with. Who was on a file, how to encourage them to cooperate, all kinds of little things that smoothed Zachary’s way.

  “Madison Miller. You’re in luck, Campbell’s got that one.”

  Joshua Campbell had been good in the past about the cases Zachary was investigating. He wasn’t like some of the cops who had it out for any private citizen who might conceivably interfere with their cases. Zachary was careful not to get in the way of the police department and kept them informed about what he was doing. Campbell had given him a couple of tips in the past and put up with Zachary’s questions and requests.

  “Great. Thanks, Mario. I’ll give you a call once I’m back in my apartment and we’ll watch a game.”

  Not that Zachary was that interested in professional sports. But he enjoyed hanging out with Mario occasionally. He hadn’t had many friends growing up, and consequently didn’t have a lot as an adult. He needed to make sure he nurtured the friendships he had.

  “I’ll hold you to it,” Bowman returned. “Talk to you later.”

  Zachary disconnected and tried Campbell. There was a click as it was picked up, then a pause before Joshua Campbell spoke.

  “Zachary Goldman,” he greeted. “Private eye.”

  “Yes,” Zachary agreed. “I’m calling to interfere with another of your cases.”

  Campbell snorted. “Nice when everyone is upfront about everything.”

  “I’ve been asked to look into a missing persons case. Mario said it’s on your desk. Madison Miller.”

  “Madison. Yes. Not much there, I’m afraid.”

  “She is missing.”

  “Well, she’s not at home with her parents. I’m not sure that she’s missing or that any law has been broken.”

  “What have you found?”

  “It’s all pretty run-of-the-mill. No indication of foul play. Looks like she just took off with the boyfriend.”

  “So there is a boyfriend.”

  “Mom and Dad told you that there wasn’t one, didn’t they? I suspect they didn’t know. Madison kept it on the quiet. Parents weren’t involved enough to know any better.”

  “Did you identify him?”

  “Name is Noah. No last name, unfortunately. He didn’t go to school with her, so no one could tell us his full name or any contact info. But her friends are all on the same page. She had been seeing him for a few weeks or a couple months. Spending more time with him and less with them or at school. It looks like she decided to take off with him.”

  “You don’t think he did anything to her?”

  “Nothing we’ve been able to find. Her car is gone. Backpack, electronics, toiletries, and clothing. That looks voluntary to us.”

  “But she is a minor.”

  “She is. And the file remains open. But I don’t think she’s going to be found unless she wants to be found. Maybe if they get tired of each other after a while, she’ll show up at her parents’ home again. Until then… we’ll keep our ears to the ground. But we can’t do anything without any evidence.”

  “No one at her work knew anything? When was she last seen? Mrs. Miller wasn’t sure whether she had worked Saturday or Sunday.”

  “There is no job.”

  Zachary raised his eyebrows and stared at the radio. “There is no job?”

  “Nope. Madison pulled one over on Mom and Dad. She never worked at Pedal Pushers. They’d never even heard of her. No application, no paychecks.”

  “Mrs. Miller said that she met Madison’s supervisor. Had her phone number.”

  “Yeah. It was all a setup. I don’t know who Mrs. Miller met, but it wasn’t Madison’s supervisor at Pedal Pushers.”

  Zachary tried to marshal his thoughts. He scribbled on his notebook, trying to break something loose. “Then where did she work?”

  “She didn’t. Her friends said she didn’t have a job.”

  “Where was she spending her time, then? With this Noah?”

  “Yep.”

  “Where was she getting money for clothes?”

  “Couldn’t tell you. This was a girl with secrets. She did not want her parents to know that she had a boyfriend. She built up all kinds of stories to keep them from finding out. In the end, she probably saw that the house of cards was going to come tumbling down, so she decided to get out while the getting was good.”

  Zachary nodded. “Yeah. Did you look at her social networks? Was she into drugs?”

  “According to her friends, she liked to party. They’re pretty tight-lipped about what that meant. Drinking? Drugs? It pretty obviously meant spending time with this boy.”

  “Her social networks show her drinking.”

  “Not the ones I saw. They were squeaky clean.”

  “I managed to find some that her parents probably didn’t know about.”

  Campbell blew out his breath. “Of course you did. You want to shoot those my way?”

  “Sure.” Zachary was happy to share whatever might help them to find Madison. “I’ll email you. You didn’t get any from her friends?”

  “Certainly not. They probably figured they’re doing her a favor, keeping her out of trouble. I’ll have a little chat with them about obstructing the investigation.”

  “You want to hold off on that for a day or two? So I can talk to them first and see if I can get anything out of them? Sometimes kids are more likely to talk to someone… unofficial.”

  “I’ll give you a day,” Campbell said grudgingly. “But I can’t be seen as letting this investigation slip. There’s not much for us to go on, but if people think we’re just letting it go cold, they get a little anxious.”

  “I’ll try to catch them at school this afternoon.”

  “Be careful hanging around schools asking questions. People will think you’re a pedo and we’ll get calls…”

  “I’ll get the school’s cooperation. Mr. and Mrs. Miller can confirm that I’m on the case.”

  “They hired you?”

  “Uh… no.”

  Campbell waited for a further explanation.

  “You remember the boy in the Salter case?”

  “The mute. Sure.”

  “He goes to that school. He was friends with Madison. Or at least… had a crush on her.”

  “Ah. You’re not making him dig into his college fund to pay you, are you?”

  “No. Just a favor for a friend.”

  “Good for you. But don’t take too many pro bono cases. Even you have to eat now and then.”

  Zachary had to chuckle at Campbell mothering him. He was not the motherly type. “Yes, sir.”

  Campbell laughed at himself. “Well, you’ve got the bones of the case. Anything else?”

  “You’d tell me if there were some leads. Any indication of where she and Noah might have snuck off to?”

  “No, probably not. We’d be following them ourselves.”

  “Yeah. Well, let me know if there’s anything you think I should know.”

  “And you let me know if you make some headway. This is a police investigation.”

  “We have parallel investigations,” Zachary corrected. “I will definitely tell you if there is anything you should know.”

  Campbell cleared his throat. It wasn’t the first time the two of them had danced around the details of who was required to tell whom what.

  “We’ll be in touch, Zachary.”

  “I’ll get you those social network profiles. Maybe you’ll see something that I missed.”

  “Thanks. I’ll be looking for them.”

  8

  Zachary talked to Mrs. Miller and had her call the school to explain who Zachary was and to ask them to cooperate with his investigation. The school was well within their rights to refuse but, in Zachary’s experience, they would usually do whatever they could when the health and safety of one of their students were at stake.

  But he still knew that they might shut him
down as soon as he got there. Then he would have to stay outside of the school boundaries and figure out how he was going to get in contact with Madison’s friends to ask them questions. Maybe Rhys would be able to help him.

  He parked in the public parking, went through the main doors, and headed directly for the office so that he wouldn’t set off any alarm bells. The school was far more likely to be well-disposed toward him if he were completely upfront about what he was there for than if he snuck around and tried to get a look around or started asking questions before checking in with the main office.

  The secretary at the front desk had apparently been warned about his visit and knew what Zachary was there for when he gave his name.

  “The principal will see you in just a moment. Have a seat, please.”

  Zachary sat on one of the uncomfortable seats in the waiting area, mentally sliding back to the many times as a child and teen that he’d had to wait in the office for a principal or guidance counselor or school resource officer to talk to him. Or to meet his social worker or to explain to a foster parent why he was in trouble yet again. A lot of uncomfortable chairs in a lot of school administrative offices.

  A young woman approached Zachary, and he stood to shake her hand and greet her, expecting her to introduce herself as a student teacher or aide. But she introduced herself as Principal Lakes, surprising him. She looked too young to be the principal.

  Lakes led him into her office and offered him a seat. The more comfortable chairs. If anyone were ever comfortable sitting in front of a school principal. Zachary always felt like he was a kid again, trying to explain why he couldn’t keep out of trouble. He wondered if other adults felt the same way. Normal adults who hadn’t spent so much time in the office as kids.

  Principal Lakes looked Zachary over carefully. She smiled and cocked her head slightly. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”

  Zachary was taken aback. He shook his head. “Uh… principal of the school. That’s… that’s all.”

  “My predecessor here was Principal Montgomery.”

  Zachary blanked on the name. He thought about it for a minute, trying to place who Montgomery was and why he or she was so significant.

  Then he remembered Rancheros, the cowboy bar. Sitting and watching a blond, middle-aged principal connecting with her date, an underage student from her school. Zachary felt the blood drain from his face.

  “Oh.”

  Lakes nodded. “Yeah. Her. I recognized your name when Mrs. Miller called. I am very happy to have the chance to meet you.”

  Zachary nodded as if he were greeting her for the first time. “I… I’m glad to meet you too.”

  “It has been an uphill battle getting parents and students to trust me, after what Principal Montgomery did.”

  “I can imagine. But you’ve stuck it out.”

  “I have. And I think that, generally speaking, I’ve succeeded in earning their trust.”

  “Good for you.”

  “So,” Principal Lakes leaned back in her chair, twirling a pencil between her fingers. “You’re looking into what’s happened to Madison Miller.”

  Zachary nodded. “Did you know her?”

  “I try to know all of my students by name. Some of them I know better than others.”

  Zachary’s face warmed. He had a feeling she sensed he was one of those students she would have known pretty well. “So tell me about Madison.”

  “She was a good student. Bright. Good worker. Friendly. Not mean or cliquey.”

  “Did anything change in the last couple of months?”

  “There were some concerns expressed by her teachers. Her marks were down. She wasn’t handing in homework. Was distracted in class.” Lakes shrugged one shoulder. “It’s not all that unusual. Adolescence is a hard time. Shifting hormones. Peer pressure. The work can be very difficult. Often there are family problems that the teachers are unaware of. Kids have a lot of responsibilities on their shoulders.”

  “And in Madison’s case?”

  “We talked to her parents. They said she was having difficulty with the school work. They were arranging tutors.”

  “And then she didn’t show up for school this week.”

  “Yeah. We had the police here before school even started, asking questions and asking to speak to Madison’s teachers and friends. Anyone who might know where she was or have some insight.”

  “I’m going to want to talk to the same people.”

  Lakes shrugged. “We’ll do what we can. But we can’t compel anyone to talk to you. It will be up to them.”

  “Of course.”

  “Did the police talk to Rhys Salter?”

  “Rhys? Why would they talk to him?”

  “He knew Madison.”

  “He might have known of her. Lots of people knew who she was. But he wasn’t… in her circles. And as far as talking to the police… I don’t know how much you know about Rhys, but he isn’t verbal.”

  Zachary nodded. “I know him. But he can communicate, even if he can’t usually speak.”

  Lakes grimaced. Zachary got the feeling that she hadn’t spent much time trying to communicate with Rhys. “At any rate, the police did not ask to speak to him, and we didn’t give them his name. Like I say, he wasn’t in her circles. He might have had some classes with her, but they weren’t close friends.”

  “I understand. If you could get me a list, and I could maybe start seeing some of them this afternoon before school lets out…”

  “We can’t pull kids out of classes.”

  “Can’t you? When one of your students may be in danger?”

  “The police didn’t think she was in any danger. There was no indication of foul play. I really didn’t get the idea they could do much of anything.”

  “What did you think? Did you think it was in keeping with Madison’s character to disappear like this?”

  “I thought it was strange,” Lakes admitted. “But like I say… things had been a little rocky lately. It wasn’t the first thing that was out of character.”

  “What else?”

  “Like I said, her marks. Being inattentive in class. She just seemed… her demeanor was different. I don’t know how to describe it. More secretive. Agitated. Mmm…” Lakes squinted her eyes and pursed her lips, looking for a word. “More intense. Emotional.”

  “Did you consider drugs or alcohol?”

  “It’s one of the things we’re trained to watch for, so of course we considered it. Asked her if she needed any assistance or counseling in dealing with substance abuse issues… That didn’t go anywhere. We didn’t have any evidence.”

  “Did you know she had a boyfriend?”

  Lakes frowned. “In the school?”

  “No. The police said he didn’t go here.”

  “Then I really wouldn’t have any way to be aware of it. Unless he came into the school.”

  “She was dating him during the period when her marks dropped and these other changes occurred.”

  Lakes gave a small smile. “Boyfriends can be distracting. And relationships can be so intense at that age. They can be all-consuming. And you can’t tell a teenager that in a year she won’t even care about him anymore, but her school performance is something that will impact her path for years to come…”

  “But it’s pretty hard to convince someone to give up a romantic relationship for the longer-term good,” Zachary suggested.

  “Or even just to cool it a bit. Yes. I’ve learned that you can’t talk kids out of these first loves, even in cases where they are clearly incompatible or abusive.”

  “Did you think Madison’s boyfriend was abusive?”

  “I didn’t know he existed, so no.” Lakes considered the question. “I don’t recall ever seeing Madison with bruises, or hearing any concerns about abuse from her teachers. But there are a lot of kids in the school, and we can miss the signs.”

  “Did you have any other concerns about her? Just her academic performance?”

 
; “Yes, that was the only thing that had been expressed. Her disappearance took me completely by surprise. I didn’t know of any problems she was having at home. But even the most together student can be masking serious problems. Sometimes they can be homeless for weeks before someone realizes there is a problem. Reputation is paramount to teens.”

  Zachary could remember the fear of being different, being bullied because he was in foster care or a group home, because his clothes were worn or out of date, having gone through several kids before he inherited them, of being on meds, having ADHD, PTSD, and learning disabilities. He would have given anything to be normal, whatever he thought that was. As an adult, he didn’t worry as much about how he looked to others. But he also wasn’t in close quarters with a few hundred critical peers every day.

  “If you think of anything else, will you give me a call?” Zachary put one of his business cards on her desk.

  “Of course.”

  The first interviewee was Madison’s homeroom and English teacher, who happened to have a prep period when Zachary began his interviews. Mrs. Wright was an older teacher, gray hair pulled back from her face in a ponytail.

  She studied Zachary intently, and he worried for a moment that she might have been one of his teachers decades ago. Then she relaxed.

  “I’ve never met a private investigator before.”

  “Well… I’m just an ordinary guy. Like anyone else. In real life, private investigators aren’t usually hard-boiled, gun-toting womanizers.”

  “You’ve ruined my fantasies.”

  Zachary smiled. “I know you’ve already talked to the police, but I was hoping you wouldn’t mind going over some of the same ground again.”

  “I would like to help you find Madison and make sure she is okay.”

  “That’s what it’s all about. Had you noticed any changes in Madison lately? Did you have any concerns?”

  “She was definitely going through changes… but I didn’t have any reason to think that it was anything other than the usual adolescent stuff. Development is so rapid at this age. They’re bouncing between childhood and becoming responsible adults, and that’s a big gap. Add in hormones and increasing scholastic demands, and lots of kids lose it.”