Skin Deep

82

It was around ten the next morning when Steve reached Cynthia Farina-Morgan.

He said he had a few questions to ask her about her sister. In front of him were four photos of Terry—the backyard shot and three taken off the Mermaid Lounge Web site. “I hate to bring it up again, but the investigation is ongoing and we have some a few more questions.”

“Certainly, Lieutenant.”

“Your brother positively identified Terry at the Medical Examiner’s office. Understandably he said that it didn’t look like her.”

“It was Terry, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, of course. But I’m just wondering if I could e-mail you some recent photos of Terry. After you’ve taken a good look, I’d like to call you back and hear what you have to say.”

“What’s this all about?”

“Please just take a look then let’s talk.”

She agreed and he e-mailed her the photos. While he waited for her to call back, he dialed Dana on his office phone. There was no answer. She had caller ID and had decided not to take his calls. Shit.

Five minutes later his phone rang. “Are you sure these recent photos weren’t doctored?”

“Yes.”

There was a pause. “Then she had cosmetic surgery.”

“Based on what exactly?”

“Based on the fact that her face is different.”

“What specific changes do you see?”

“Well, it’s obvious. Her cheekbones are more prominent and her eyes are more open and her brows are slanted upward. But I don’t believe it, because she never told me, which wasn’t like her. This is a major change, yet she never asked my opinion.”

He heard hurt in her voice. “Did she ever mention going to a resort spa called Pine Lake Resort in Muskoka, Ontario? It would have been early May. She was up there for a week.”

“No, she never told me. Why was she up there?”

“We’re not sure. She apparently went alone and without telling anybody. She also paid in cash so there was no paper trail. Some of the staff remembered her and identified her, but they say she kept a low profile because her face was bruised and swollen.”

“What?”

“Our first thought was that she had been in a car accident, but that didn’t check out. Then there was speculation that she had been abused by someone.”

“Was she?”

“Not that we know of. And that raised the possibility that she had had significant facial surgery and went there to recover.”

A long silence filled the line. Then Mrs. Morgan said, “All I know is that three months ago she told me she had decided to get breast implants. But she said nothing about facial reconstruction, and that’s what these photos look like.”

They did, and that thought had crossed his mind when he first saw the Mermaid Lounge photos.

“Also, that kind of work would have cost thousands of dollars. And she said nothing.”

“That’s unfortunate, but she clearly wanted to keep it secret.”

“So what does that mean? How does that relate to her death?”

“I’m not sure that it does.” But his gut was telling him otherwise.