Missing Person - Episode #9

Episode 9: At the Beach
So now someone wanted to kill me. But how did anyone know I was working on this case? Was Lenny part of this kidnapping in some way? I still had more questions than I had answers about this case.

I called my friend Officer Cho back at the police station. He had the car registration information I requested earlier. The mysterious red car that hit Anne last night on the freeway belonged to John Costello, age 37, living in Santa Monica. Tomorrow I would visit Costello. Tonight, I just needed to get some sleep.

The next morning I got up early and went to visit Anne in the hospital. Luckily, she was doing just fine. I told her I would pick her up later in the afternoon and give her a ride home.

First, I went to visit June Brown, the other ex-employee of Pardo Computers that Anne and Bill thought might be involved in the kidnapping. She now worked at a clothing store on the beach, Stern’s Fashions. I love going to the beach in L.A. The sun is always shining, the surfers are riding the waves, and the people all look so beautiful, just like movie stars.

I walked into the clothing store and looked around. The customers were mostly college students. “Excuse me, miss?” I said to the young sales clerk. “I’m looking for one of the employees here, a June Brown?”

“Who’s looking for her?” she asked, a little suspicious.

“My name is Darron Reeves. I just want to ask her a few questions.”

“What kind of questions do you want to ask her?” she replied.

“Just some questions. Look, is June Brown here today or not?” I was getting impatient with this girl.

“I’m June Brown, and I don’t know if I want to answer your questions, mister.” She crossed her arms and looked at me with a very unfriendly face. “Who do you work for? The police?”

“No, I don’t work for the police. I’m a, eh...private detective,” I answered. “I just want to know where you were three days ago, in the morning. Can you just tell me that?”

“I don’t remember. I think I was with my boyfriend,” she said with a smile. “Yeah, that’s right, I was with my boyfriend.”

“Can I talk to your boyfriend?”

“No, you can’t,” she said, suddenly getting very angry.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because he doesn’t want to talk to you!” June said. “Look, buddy, I don’t have to answer your questions. Now why don’t you just get out of my store?” She turned around and walked away.

I couldn’t force her to talk to me, so I didn’t try. I left the store and got back in my car. Maybe this girl was involved in the kidnapping, Maybe she and her boyfriend were trying to get even with Pardo Computers. Maybe, maybe, maybe.