Page 94 of The Lie Maker

“He did ruin their lives.”

“And it explains why now, after all this time. Because the daughter died recently. He’d have had to get some intel on your dad, and I don’t know how he’d have done it, but it strikes me as a possibility. I’m trying to think of some kind of angle, maybe an interview with him, a ‘look back’ kind of story. See what the son has to say.”

“It’s a possibility,” I said.

“You don’t look convinced.”

“No, you’re right, it’s a possibility. Probably one of many.”

She looked annoyed that I wasn’t as excited as she was. “Okay, I’ve got more.”

“Listening.”

“I don’t know if this means anything, but that judge who went missing and they found in the harbor? He’s the one who sent Galen Frohm away, based on your dad’s deal.”

“That’s why the name rang a bell,” I said. “Willard Bentley.”

“Right.”

“Yeah, but if he just drowned, what does that have to do with—”

“It might not have been a simple drowning.”

“How do you—”

“Later,” she said, cutting me off. “Okay, so, here’s the biggie.”

I waited.

“I got a lead on that plate. If it’s your dad’s, and not a stolen one, then I’ve found him. Or at least found where he would have been before he disappeared.”

“No way,” I said.

She smiled smugly. She went for her purse and brought out a piece of paper.

“Here you go.”

Written on it was this:

Frank Dutton

Trailwind Acres Unit 12

Southbend Rd.

Gilford New Hampshire

“It’s a trailer park,” she said. “Or a mobile home community, if you want to be politically correct.”

I had my phone out and was looking to see where Gilford was. “It’s about a two-hour drive.”

I sat at the table and went to work on the laptop that was connected to the net. I put the name into the Google search field and got, not surprisingly, a few hundred Frank Duttons, so then I added New Hampshire, and while that thinned things out some, it didn’t turn up anything useful. I checked to see whether anyone by that name, in that location, was on Facebook or any other social media sites and struck out.

“I doubt your dad would have much of an online presence,” Lana said.

“True.” I cleared the search history and closed the laptop.

“What are you going to do?” Lana asked. “Tell Gwen?”