Page 95 of Three Girls Gone

“You’re sure it wasn’t the other way around?” Before coming, Amanda reviewed the names on the restraining orders filed against Anne, and Wilcox wasn’t among them.

“Yeah, I’m sure. The guy’s a loon.”

“Why do you say he’s a loon?” Trent chimed in.

Anne rubbed her arms. “It was just an energy he gave off, and he was never really with me when he was with me. Ya know? And he was very aggressive and domineering in the bedroom. A little I’m okay with, but not to where he took things.”

Amanda had no interest in probing this any further, but she had little choice. “And where was that?”

Anne’s cheeks flushed. “He liked me to dress up in a baby-doll dress and put my hair in pigtails. He’d spank me and say, ‘You’ve been a very bad girl.’”

Amanda was sorry that she’d asked. Now she felt like throwing up. They were certain that Wilcox was the man they were after and knew what he did to little girls. Hearing this made the picture too vivid. “When was the last time you talked to him or saw him?”

“It’s been years.”

Amanda believed her. “When you were seeing each other, did he ever talk about his childhood?”

“No.”

“Did he mention friends or family?”

“No, and I’d be surprised if he had any friends. The guy was a loner. I took pity on him and look where that got me.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Amanda headed for the stairs off the deck, deciding to walk around the house to the car.

“Wait.” Anne pushed off the railing. “Is that all? Why are you asking about— Oh? You think that he, that he did what you thought I did?” She put a hand over her stomach. “Huh. Yeah, I can see that he’d do something like…” Anne turned and vomited over the railing.

That was Amanda’s cue to get out of there. She pivoted and hurried to the car. Being so close to emptying her stomach, catching one whiff would do her in.

After doing up her seatbelt, she turned to Trent. “What made Marshall into a monster?”

“Well, you remember the profile. Sexual abuse as a child is likely.”

“There is that. Now Katherine told us he was uncomfortable around his boss, but what if it wasn’t so much that she was in charge, but thatshewas awoman?”

“He may have suffered at his mother’s hand, and now he takes it out on innocent girls.”

“Just might be the case. Yet he was domineering with Anne.”

“In the bedroom, with her already in a vulnerable state. And them both playing a role.”

“True.”

Her phone rang, and he pulled away from the curb and got them on the way back to Central.

“It’s Katherine,” she told him before answering on speaker.

“I heard from Fitz,” Katherine said.

The fast response lined up with the detective that Amanda had dealt with when Katherine was taken. He never wasted time getting things done. “What did he find out?”

“Marshall’s illegally subletting his place to someone. Has been since December.”

“Since he found out about your renewed interest in venue employees,” Trent interjected. “And after he was fired. That can’t be a coincidence.”

“Unlikely,” Katherine said. “I guess Wilcox flapped his jaw and told these people that he was going away for a few months. For, as he put it, ‘peace and quiet in the country.’ He didn’t tell them where he was heading or how long he’d be gone.”

Woodbridge would count ascountrynext to New York City. Though many places could be seen that way. “Where do they send the rent?” It felt like too much to hope they mailed a check these days, but it might be a transfer to an account at a local bank.