Chapter Thirty-Four
Midge is still at her desk, immersed in the Sarah Greene case. She hasn’t heard back from the moderator of the Sienna Harmon page, but there are plenty of other leads to follow.
As Renee mentioned, several reliable witnesses spotted Sarah on her way to Congregational, but no one saw her heading home.
She could have been planning to run away and disguised her appearance somehow, escaping unrecognized. She might even have gone to Pennsylvania to reconnect with Michael Klatte, regardless of her mother’s claim that she’s no longer in touch with him.
Midge finds his cell phone number in the case file for Gordy’s death.
The line rings directly into voicemail.
She debates leaving a message, opts against it, and hangs up.
She debates calling Amy Klatte, opts for it, and dials.
Gordy’s widow answers on the first ring.
“Mrs. Klatte, this is Imogene Kennedy with Mulb—”
“Midge! Do you have news? Are the forensic tests back?”
“Not yet. This is actually unrelated. It’s about Sarah Greene?”
“Sarah! What about her?”
“I understand she and Michael are no longer in touch?”
“No, they aren’t. Why?”
“Sarah’s mom is trying to find her, and I thought Michael might have some idea where she is.”
“I doubt that. We’ve been here in Pennsylvania all summer. Is Sarah . . . Why can’t Sadie find her? What’s going on?”
“She went out yesterday and didn’t come home. I thought maybe she’d headed your way, to see Michael.”
“Sarah? Oh, no. She definitely wouldn’t have done that, even if they were still . . . you know. That’s not like her.”
“That’s what I hear. I was wondering if Michael might have some insight.”
“I’m not sure he would, but either way, he’s away until Monday.
My brother and sister-in-law took my boys on a cruise with their family.
Gordon and I always wanted to do that with them, and .
. .” Her voice breaks, but she regains her composure far more quickly than she did the first few times Midge spoke to her, when her grief was raw.
“Anyway, they were excited to go on vacation with their cousins.”
“I’m sure they were. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
“It’s not a bother. I’ll pray that you find Sarah. Please keep me posted, about that and about my husband’s case.”
“I will,” Midge promises, and hangs up.
Ten minutes later, Allie sticks her head in. “There’s a call for you from someone named Kim.”
“Kim who?”
“Reynolds. Should I put her through?”
“Please.”
The Sienna Harmon Facebook group moderator is named Kimberly Zee, but Midge had provided her cell phone number.
She answers the desk phone with a brisk, “Detective Sergeant Kennedy.”
There’s a pause, and then a female voice asks, “Hi, I . . . uh . . . Did you message me about Sienna Harmon?”
“Is this Kimberly Zee?”
“Kim Reynolds now, but my maiden name was Zakowski, and I went by Kimberly Zee on Facebook.”
“Then yes, I messaged you.”
“Oh, good.”
Midge hears a male voice in the background, and Kimberly tells him, “Yes, it was really her.” Then, to Midge, “My husband thought I should call police headquarters directly, to make sure it was legit. There are a lot of crazy people out there when it comes to true crime stuff. You wouldn’t believe the messages I used to get. ”
“I’ll bet. I’m working on a missing persons case involving a young woman named Sarah Greene, and I’m investigating whether there’s a connection to Sienna. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
“Not at all.”
Midge opens a new document. “How did you know Sienna?”
“We were in a few classes together.”
“Was theology one of them?”
“No. I knew who he was, but . . . no.”
“He—you mean, Mason Bauer.”
“Yes.”
“Did Sienna ever discuss him with you?” Midge asks, typing the information into the report.
“Yeah, she thought he was great, you know, at first. Her grades were suffering because she was going through a rough time—her parents split up, and her grandma died, stuff like that. Professor Bauer was super helpful. She’d go to office hours, you know . . . that’s how it started.”
“The inappropriate relationship?”
“Yes. I mean, she never told me anything about that. She, you know . . . she kind of changed, and she . . . well, she didn’t want to talk about him much anymore.”
Yes. Midge knows.
Her hands clench into fists over the keyboard.
“How did you find out about what happened between them, Kimberly?”
“When I heard about the allegations with the other girl, I put two and two together, and I asked Sienna about him. She denied it, defended him, but eventually, she reported him. I was really proud of her. She said she wanted to make sure he didn’t pull that stuff on anyone else.
She was really determined. Then she just .
. . she fell off the face of the earth, basically. Out of nowhere.”
“When she went missing.”
“Right. She told her roommate she was going out on a date with some guy one night, and she just didn’t come home.”
“And the roommate reported her missing?”
“Yes, but not for a few days. I think she thought she and this guy just hooked up. It wasn’t unusual . . . you know. It was college.”
“Right. Who was the guy?”
“That’s the thing. Apparently, there was no guy. I mean, she didn’t mention him to me. And they couldn’t find anyone. A lot of people thought it was Bauer, even though a bunch of people vouched for being with him the night she went missing.”
“Right. He had a solid alibi.”
“I know.”
“What’s your theory?”
“I honestly thought at first that she just wanted to take off, get some space, get her head straight after everything that happened. I mean, that’s what she said in her text.”
“You’re the friend she contacted?”
“Yes. I had texted her that day, asking her about some assignment, and she never answered. So later that night I asked if she was okay. I asked a few times, and she finally got back to me.”
“What did she say exactly?”
“Just that she needed some space because she just couldn’t deal with the stress anymore. When I heard that they found her body, I was shocked. I mean, I didn’t think she was suicidal. And when I looked back at that text . . . it just didn’t sound like her.”
“How so?”
“She always texted in shorthand—like the letter u for you, that kind of thing. And she made a lot of typos because she was always in a rush. That last message was perfect. Everything was spelled out, like she was the grammar queen. I don’t know. It kind of made me wonder.”
“About whether someone else had her phone and sent the message?”
“Exactly. But the police didn’t really seem to think so, and they cleared Bauer, and, you know, I guess it was easier for them to just go with the fact that she killed herself.
Sorry,” she adds. “I don’t think all cops are like that.
But sometimes, they don’t take young people that seriously, you know? ”
“I do know.”
She hears a wail in the background on Kimberly’s end. “Oh, that’s my daughter. My husband has her, but she wants to nurse, so . . .”
“Go take care of her,” Midge says. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take your number. I’m going to look into a few things and may have more questions.”
“Sure. Why do you think Sarah Greene is connected to Sienna?”
“Her parents may have crossed paths with Mason Bauer, years ago. I’m just looking into every possibility.”
“I really hope you find her.”
“So do I.”
She hangs up and finishes typing the information into her iPad. Then she pulls up Sarah’s photo, enlarging the image.
Staring into the girl’s clear-eyed, wholesome, smiling face, she whispers, “Where are you?”