Page 106 of Nobody's Fool

He leaned back. “It would make a hell of a movie, actually. But I think I’ll pass.”

“You’re right,” I say. “No one will care about an old robbery. But a kidnapping—a prominent, unsolved one—well, that’s a different story.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

He seems genuinely befuddled. He’d been locked onto my interest being personal, a search for Anna, but even with the Belmond name, he wasn’t going down the excuse/evasion route one would expect a kidnapper to take. In fact, this was the main reason why I had the Belmonds call. The plan had been thus: If he’d been involved in the kidnapping—if he’d known who Anna really was—he mostly likely would have panicked when the Belmonds called. Lenore Spikes had investigators watching him to see whether he bolted so he could be followed. But he didn’t. He clearly welcomed the meeting. That meant either he wasn’t directly involved in the kidnapping—or that he had brass balls and was playing the ultimate game of bluff.

“Just tell me about Anna.”

“We were both part of the program.”

“What program?”

“I don’t know Anna’s exact story. But they were all variations of the same thing. There was a feeder agency. They find vulnerable girls. And boys. When they arrive, a group of men—hard men, awful men—train them. And yes, I don’t really mean train. They brutalize them. Do you really need to hear all this?”

“I don’t,” I say.

“People think these girls only come from Eastern Europe or somewhere like that. That’s not true. You just want lost children, ones with no one who gives a shit about them. Ones where no one will care that they vanish. There’s more than you think. Everywhere.”

“And Anna was one of them?”

He nods. “They paired her with me. Our job was to rob tourists. Like you.”

I know it isn’t relevant to this case, but I have to ask. “Why didn’t you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Just rob me?”

“We did.”

“You know what I mean.”

He nods. He gets what I’m asking. “We had flair. Anna and me. We liked to make it more. I know that sounds cruel. I was working on my craft.” He gestures to the “dead” woman on the bed. “That’s the truth. Special effects. It was also effective. If you convince someone they committed murder… Can I add, sorry, it was fun?”

I keep my tone steady. “And risky.”

“Not really. I always came into the room fast, so they wouldn’t check her vitals. You were also drugged. I think we gave you too much. It took forever for you to wake up. I had to practically carry you out of the room. And even if someone did get suspicious, what could they do? Report us? I was caught once. Working with another girl. The police laughed. What’s the charge for faking like you’re dead?”

Osorio had pointed out something similar. “So what happened to Anna?” I ask.

“I don’t know. Eventually the girls get used up. So they let them go. Or they run. Or they end up in prison or dead.”

“She never told you her real name?”

“She said her name was Anna Marigold. She said she grew up nearPenn State. That her mother died young and left her with a sister. The sister married a man who abused her every which way. She saw a chance to run away.” He shrugs. “That might have been the truth, that might have been a lie. I don’t know.”

“But that’s what Anna told you?”

“That’s what Anna told me, yes. I was working with four girls at the time.”

“You mean you were their handler?”

“Use whatever term you like. It’s not accurate. But we would be running four scams at any one time. We kept it up for another six months after you left, then Anna took off for a while.”

“Took off?”

“Yes.”