Womans Murder Club 5 - The 5th Horseman

Chapter 57

I HANDED BARBARA JANE a box of tissues, stared over her head, first at Jacobi then at Conklin, as she blew her nose. Holy shit. We’d finally gotten a break on Jag Girl.

“Barbara, what’s your friend’s last name?”

“It’s Wegner. But Sandy goes by other names. I don’t know them all.”

“She’s an actress?”

“No, an escort.”

I was stunned. Sandy Wegner had been a party girl. So how had she kept her prints out of the system?

“Are you an escort, too?” Conklin asked.

“No way. I teach. Special ed, right here in the city.”

Jacobi loaded up the Mr. Coffee as Barbara Jane Ross told us how she and Sandy had been roommates at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“When we were in school, Sandy needed some extra cash, so she went on a few ‘dates’ for an escort service. A lot of girls do it,” Barbara said. “You never, ever have enough money in school.

“She didn’t do it often, but when she did, she thought it was exciting and fun,” Barbara continued. “Sandy loved having a secret life. She wasn’t the only coed doing it, either.”

“Did she ever mention that one of her dates was giving her a hard time?” I asked. “Maybe someone got possessive? Or violent?”

“Nothing like that,” Barbara said. “She would have told me. We talked about everything, even her work.”

“Did Sandy have a boyfriend? Maybe someone who could have found out that she was doing this kind of thing on the side?”

“There was no one special in her life or she would have quit her night job,” Barbara told us. “She wasn’t a slut. I know how that sounds, but honest to God, she wasn’t — oh, God! Her parents don’t know. They live in Portland.”

“Do you know their names? Maybe you have their phone number?”

Barbara Jane dug into her Coach bag; she pulled out her PDA.

“Listen,” she said, “I just remembered who she worked for. The escort service. I think it was called Top Hat.”

“Thanks. You’ve been a big help. Hang around, won’t you, Barbara Jane? Inspector Conklin has some more questions for you.”

As I walked out of the door, Conklin took my chair. I saw Barbara Jane Ross look into his face and smile.