Chill Factor

“Yes, sir.” The young cop rushed down the hall.

Dutch entered his office in time to hear Mrs. Gunn telling Wise and Begley that they’d had no serious problems with Millicent other than her eating disorder, and that she’d been cured of it.

“I can’t bear to think of her out there somewhere in this weather,” she said.

“That’s why we welcome this opportunity to talk to you, Mrs. Gunn.”

Begley’s tone of voice was that of a kindly father figure, and Dutch resented the way the Gunns responded to it. Give Begley a few days on the case, and they’d be questioning his methods and effectiveness just like they had his.

“You reckon Ben Tierney is the B.T. mentioned in her diary?” Mr. Gunn asked.

“We’re not sure of that yet,” Begley replied. “Agent Wise is looking into several possibilities. Mr. Tierney is only one of them. We must be very thorough before we draw any conclusions.”

“But old Gus Elmer said that you’d sealed off this Tierney’s rooms at the lodge. Did you find something in them? Something belonging to Millicent?”

Dutch saw the agents exchange a look of consternation. Wise was the one to address Mr. Gunn’s question. “We sealed off his rooms to protect potential evidence in the event that Mr. Tierney has a connection to her disappearance. That’s not to say we believe he does.”

“But you haven’t sealed off anybody else’s rooms,” Gunn argued. “How many other men around here have the initials B.T.?”

Begley dodged that by asking, “Did Millicent ever talk about him?”

“She’d mentioned him.”

“In what context?”

“Down at my brother’s store, where she works, they have this bulletin board. Somebody catches a big fish with a rod they bought there, or bags a deer with a rifle my brother sold, they bring him a picture of it, and he puts it on his bulletin board. Sorta like free advertising.

“So, naturally, Tierney’s articles are tacked up there, too. He’s by far their most famous customer. I think Millicent looks on him as a celebrity, him being in the magazines and all. She got excited every time he came into the store. Maybe she has a teenage crush on him.”

“Did she ever see him outside the store?” Wise asked.

“Not that we know of. But now we’re beginning to wonder. Pretty young girl like Millicent, with stars in her eyes over some older fellow . . .” Gunn cut a worried glance toward his wife, who was sniffing into a handkerchief. “You get my drift.” He coughed behind his hand. “Have y’all connected him to any of the other women who’re missing?”

“A colleague in the Charlotte office is working on that,” Wise said.

“I apologize in advance for the bluntness of the questions I’m about to put to you,” Begley said to the girl’s parents. “Diplomacy takes time, and none of us wants to waste it, do we?”

“No, sir. Ask away. Enough time’s been wasted already.”

Dutch ignored the critical glance Ernie Gunn shot him.

“What caused Millicent’s eating disorder?” Begley asked. “Was that ever determined?”

“Peer pressure, we think,” Mr. Gunn said, speaking for both of them. “You know how girls are about their weight.”

Begley smiled. “I’ve got a teenage daughter, a bit younger than Millicent, worries that she’s too fat, and she weighs maybe one ten.”

“Millicent got down to eighty-seven pounds,” Mrs. Gunn said feebly. “That was her lowest. That’s when we intervened.”

At Begley’s request, they gave him an account of her illness and alleged recovery.

“She’s doing good,” Mr. Gunn concluded. “Oh, sure, she might’ve dropped another couple pounds, but that’s due to her cheerleading workouts. We’re almost positive she isn’t forcing herself to vomit. She’s over that.”

Dutch wasn’t so sure, and he could tell that Wise and Begley weren’t either.

“What about boyfriends?” Begley asked.

“She has them. Off and on. You know. Typical kids. She falls in and out of love as regular as she changes her hairdo,” Mr. Gunn said.