Page 10 of Dirty Ex-Mas
“When you met in person, you called him Jacob and he answered to that name?” I confirm.
She nods. “And I saw his credit card when he paid for drinks. It said Jacob, I’m fairly sure.”
That he paid by credit card is new information. I make a mental note to track down the slip and any other information we may glean from that. Reed makes a notation in his notebook, I’m sure with a similar thought.
“What happened next?” Reed asks.
“The date was going really well,” Paula continues. “We went somewhere for dinner. He offered to drive, which I saw nothing wrong with, so I left my car at the bar. He said he knew of a restaurant just down the way. It all seemed normal and fine.”
“What do you mean by normal?” I ask her.
“He didn’t seem like a creepy kidnapper—no windowless white van—he wasn’t wearing high water pants and short-sleeved button down with a skinny tie under a Member’s Only jacket.”
I laugh at her stereotypical description of a creepy kidnapper which sounds more like a child molester, but I keep that thought to myself.
“We’d been driving for a few minutes,” she continues, “when he stopped at an intersection, turned to me, and saidhere, let me fix that for you, but I didn’t know what he was referring to. Next thing I remember is waking up in that room with all those other women. They were all tied up, it was awful.” She shudders visibly.
“And you said someone drugged the other women? Do you know what kind of drug? Did you see anything on the ground, anything that might identify what they took?” Reed asks.
Paula shakes her head. “No. They looked awake but not with it, you know? Their eyes were open, but no one was home.”
“Got it.” He nods and makes more notes.
“Can you tell us what he looked like? The man you went on the date with?” I ask.
Paula turns to me before answering. Her face is pale, and her eyes are blinking faster than normal. She looks scared, just not of me. It’ like recalling what happened to her is affecting her feelings all over again. “I mean, just what I told that sketch artist. He was great, the picture he drew looked a lot like the guy.” She looks down at her hands, resting in her lap, then back up at Reed. “Jacob reminded me of you a bit.”
“How so?” Reed asks.
“Tall, thin, nicely dressed in a suit, styled hair, handsome.” Her cheeks redden as she says the last word.
Reed smiles at her, his expression comforting and encouraging at the same time.
“I’m sorry if I haven’t been helpful.”
“You’ve been very helpful,” Reed says. “Sometimes the smallest things can help the most. You told the police he was driving a rental car, is that right?”
“Yes, I mean I think it was. It had rental company license plates on it and one of those stickers inside. And it was black, like maybe a Camry or an Altima, four-doors, definitely a sedan.”
“Do you remember where the stop sign was that he stopped at?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “There was a tree on the corner closest to me, I remember that.”
“What kind of tree?”
“Small. Like planted a short time ago. There was a tall stick in the ground next to it with one of those bands attaching the tree to it, like it wouldn’t be able to stand up on its own without it. That’s the last thing I remember seeing.”
We confirm a few more facts with Paula, but it isn’t until we stand to leave that Reed pulls his phone from his pocket and shows her something on it. “Is this the man who took you?”
Paula studies it for a moment. “It looks a lot like him. He was older than this and his hair was different.”
“How much older, would you say?”
“Five years, maybe ten.”
We thank the women for their time and show ourselves out. We didn’t get nearly as much as I thought we would out of her. She didn’t tell us much more than the police report already had.
“What did you show her,” I ask Reed as we’re getting in the car.
