Night Tides - By Alex Prentiss Page 0,2
sharp contrast to her business attire.
“Hey, Julie,” Marty said. “Watch out for that—”
She slipped on a patch of wet leaves but caught herself on her hands before she hit the ground.
“—slick spot,” he finished.
She wiped her hands against the trunk of the nearest tree and finished her descent. She held up a digital camera. “Want to be in the picture?”
“Not really.”
She nodded and obligingly took a photo of the crime scene that left Marty out of the frame. “So, any sign of foul play?”
“Any information will be given out by the press liaison officer whenever there’s something to actually say,” Marty said. “How’d you find out about this?”
“I have my sources.”
“The Lady of the Lakes?”
He watched a simmering annoyance replace her casual professionalism. “I only use that stupid fucking blog as a last resort. Unlike you cops.”
“A tip is a tip. The source isn’t important.”
“Is that who tipped you off?”
“I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation, you know that. All statements come through the liaison officer.”
Julie smiled sarcastically. She was a rising reporter for the Wisconsin Capital Journal, just as Marty was an up-and-comer in the police department; they both knew the rules. She put away her camera and reporter’s notebook and said, “Yeah, I know that. But can you give me a sneak preview? I did come all the way down here in my best slacks.”
Marty arched an eyebrow. “Those are your best?”
“You’re mocking my fashion sense?” She shook her head. “Marty, you may be gay, but I don’t think you’ll ever be able to act gay.”
“All right, but this is all off the record.” He gestured at the clothes on the ground. “A jogger reported finding these just before sunrise. Just a book bag and a suit of clothes belonging to a UW student named Ling Hu. Two sets of tracks leading down here from the road, and only one leading up. I figure boyfriend and girlfriend. They might have gone down the channel to skinny-dip in the open water. Probably drunk. Either way, it looks like only one of them came back.”
“And you’re assuming the worst.”
“I always do.”
“I guess you’ll have to drag the lake to look for her body?”
“Nah, some fisherman will probably find her floating by the time we check with all her family and friends to make sure she’s not just sleeping off a binge. Unless The Lady of the Lakes tells us where she is, of course.”
Again Julie’s eyes blazed with fury. “I wouldn’t spend my time worrying about what those amateur gossip-mongers have to say about anything.”
“Whoever runs it may be an amateur, but they get the scoop on you guys a lot.”
“Marty, are you trying to piss me off? I’ve only had one cup of coffee and half a bagel, so it wouldn’t be difficult.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry. I just have a bad feeling about this one.”
“How so?”
“Well … I don’t think it’s personal.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that if anything bad did happen to the girl, it’s not due to a boyfriend, a husband, or an unrequited crush. It’s a stranger who either picked Ling Hu at random or used some criteria we don’t know about. And if I’m right…” He trailed off and looked back out at the lake.
She finished for him. “She won’t be the last one.”
THE DISAPPEARANCE of Ling Hu was duly noted in Tuesday’s paper, then almost immediately forgotten by the predominantly white, entirely Midwestern Madison. After all, she was foreign, and foreign people were always getting themselves into trouble.
That was not the case with Faith Lucas.
FROM THE WISCONSIN CAPITAL JOURNAL:
UW HONOR STUDENT DISAPPEARS
By Julie Schutes, staff reporter
MADISON, Wis.——Madison police detectives are investigating the disappearance late Wednesday or early Thursday of a University of Wisconsin-Madison student whose discarded clothes were found near the zoo Thursday morning.
The woman has been identified as Faith Evangeline Lucas, 21, of Green Bay. The family allowed police to release her name and picture in hopes that it will prompt people to come forward with more information about her disappearance.
According to police, it is too early in the investigation to tell if Lucas’s disappearance is connected to that of fellow UW student Ling Hu.
Posted by The Lady to The Lady of the Lakes blog:
According to the official police party line, there might be no connection between the recent disappearances of two UW students. As if we’re supposed to believe that their clothes jumped off by themselves.
A sexual predator is on the loose, people. The street cops who work on the isthmus know this,