Page 41 of Last Girls Alive

“I was a bit surprised too—but they were essentially thrown away, taken into foster care and thrown back out. I couldn’t find a residence for Tanis Jones, but there’s her last place of employment. It’s something.”

Katie began writing an overview of the young women who were the last to stay at Elm Hill Mansion. “Okay, Tanis Jones works at Sunshine Gifts & Antiques. We’ll have to pay her a visit. Heather Lawson moved out of state to Kansas and there are no records for her. Terry Slaughter – no information. She has quite a few aliases. And Karen Beck committed suicide in prison.”

Katie stood back and sighed.

“What’s up?” McGaven asked.

“Just looking at the short lives of these young women. How things could have been different if they had homes, families, someone who cared. It just makes me sad.”

“For all intents and purposes, we have to move forward assuming that Candace Harlan is alive,” he said slowly. “Heather Lawson and Terry Slaughter, too.” McGaven scrolled through pages of information. “I believe that Lawson and Slaughter most likely changed their names. It will be difficult to find them, but we can, if needed.”

“Unless one of them becomes our next victim,” Katie said sourly.

“Hey, you’re not getting all negative on me now,” he said.

“Never.” She studied the board. “We need to talk with Tanis Jones.”

McGaven looked up. “Let’s go.”

A buzz alerted Katie that there was a text. She glanced at her phone and saw that it was from Chad, but dismissed it, promising herself she would get back to him later.

“Have we received any emails from forensics or the medical examiner? We need to talk to him about Mary Rodriguez.” Katie hadn’t had a chance to open her messages and knew that McGaven was always cc’d on any reports.

“Nope.”

“What about that CPS officer? Has he called you back?”

“Wait a minute. Oh yes… Jerry Weaver, CAPSW.”

“That’s quite a title.”

“It means he’s a certified advanced practice social worker and CPA officer.”

“We need for him to get us all the information about the last six girls at the Elm Hill Mansion.”

“I’ve put in another call to him. We keep missing each other, so I gave him your number as well.”

“Good. Updates… okay, let’s see what kind of evidence picture we get here…” she said and began printing her newest information.

McGaven read as she wrote.

“So, the mansion was actually built in 1894 with the landscaping completed in 1895. It is 403 Elm Hill Road.”

“Okay, makes sense.”

“The original owners were German immigrants Emily and Frederick Von Slovnick. He made a considerable income in the railroad and building business—so he built this beautiful mansion for his bride.”

“That was a big deal back then.”

“This is where it gets unusual. According to available records, Emily had several miscarriages with no living children. Then Frederick poisoned his wife and took his own life.”

“Wow, tragic,” he said.

Katie stepped back and said, “The only thing that seems to stand out about the house is that the building plans differ—from the original to the submitted. It seems that there is a discrepancy in the staircase.”

“Placement or size?”

“It’s actually smaller now.”