Chapter 24
Cindy tried to contain her fascination with everything Joe Molinari and Debbie Roche did after arriving at the address, before they even parked the car. She watched as they immediately noted a nearby car’s license number and ran it through an analyst at the FBI.
Special Agent Roche was on the phone with the analyst for some time. Finally, she turned and said, “Okay, this is slightly unusual, and it may still mean nothing, but there is a connection here to Portland. The car was leased in Portland by an adult male named Jonathan Shaw.”
Joe parked their car near the house, then almost immediately said, “I’ve got movement in the main room.” The FBI agents were out of the car quickly, with Cindy trailing them.
A woman with dark hair answered the front door. The entryway had walls on either side of the door. “Hello. May I help you?”
The FBI agents identified themselves and showed their IDs. The woman said her name was Alicia Shaw. She invited them inside, and didn’t ask for Cindy’s identification.
Roche tried to explain why the FBI was in this woman’s house without insulting her. Finally, she said that a neighbor had reported seeing a young girl here who looked like a missing child from Portland, Oregon.
Mrs. Shaw smiled, but when no one else did, she leaned forward and said, “Oh my God, you’re serious.”
“Did you recently move here from Portland?” Roche asked.
“We did,” Mrs. Shaw said, growing quickly serious. “My husband is on a two-year teaching exchange program with Stanford. He teaches quantum physics. We moved here with our three kids about six months ago.”
Roche asked for photos of the children. It was an easy request. Cindy could see family photos displayed in frames all over the room. There were clearly two boys and a girl in the family, but everyone in the photos appeared to be brunette.
Debbie Roche said, “The tipster said that a little blond girl was living here.”
That’s when Mrs. Shaw burst out in nervous laughter. She got up from the table, found her phone, and came back to show them all a photo of her daughter—now with blond hair.
Mrs. Shaw said, “Fiona was just in a school play as Goldilocks. She refused to take the wig off for two weeks. It wasn’t worth the fight, so I let her. Reluctantly.”
Cindy could see the same little girl who was in the other photos, smiling with yellow locks of hair falling in her face.
Debbie Roche asked a few more questions and they concluded the interview with the very friendly Mrs. Shaw.
As they were getting back into the Tahoe, Joe turned and said, “This is what a real investigation is like. Lots of dead ends and lots of time wasted.”
“But does finding a missing child make up for all that?”
Debbie Roche turned in her seat and with a big smile said, “Absolutely.”