The Stake

TOWN STUNNED BY KIDNAPPING

Linda Latham, 17-year-old daughter of Ly

At approximately midnight, Linda’s parents grew concerned about her absence and telephoned the Goodrich residence, only to learn that their daughter had left more than an hour earlier. The walk, a distance of four blocks, should have taken the girl no longer than ten minutes.

Alarmed, her parents searched the area between the two homes. Finding Linda’s handbag near the curb approximately a block from the Goodrich house, they promptly called the police.

Though the area was canvassed by authorities, no information about the apparent kidnapping was obtained.

Linda Latham is the second teenage girl to disappear under suspicious circumstances in recent weeks. On July 26, Sandra Dunlap vanished from her home on Crestview Avenue, and her fate remains unknown to date.

Police point out that there is little similarity in the circumstances of the two disappearances. “The M.O.‘s are completely different,” according to police spokesman Captain Al Taylor. “It would be premature, at this point, to speculate that both crimes were the work of the same perpetrator. In spite of that, we do need to recognize that two teenagers have been abducted over a short period of time. There certainly iscause for concern. I would advise parents to keep a close watch on the activities of their adolescent children, particularly females. The youths, themselves, should exercise extreme caution until the perpetrator or perpetrators have been apprehended.”

Captain Taylor went on to suggest that teenage girls refrain from going out alone, that they carry whistles in case of an emergency, and that they report any encounters of a suspicious nature.

Authorities are conducting an all-out search for the two missing girls. Anyone with information about either disappearance is requested to contact the police immediately.

Nothing about Martha Radley, Larry realized. Didn’t the police see a co

One murder, two disappearances. That’s three down.

Larry removed the bottom page from his small stack of copies — the list of 1968 graduates from Buford High School. He found the names Dunlap, Sandra and Latham, Linda. The Radley girl wasn’t there, of course: she was only sixteen.

But she’d been in the Art Club, and Sandra and Linda had both been Bo

Bo

God, she must’ve been devastated. And scared.

Something like that happens, and you’ve got to start wondering who will be next.

Maybe you.

He copied the story.

He continued searching. He copied three follow-up stories, none of which provided any new information. The girls were still gone. The police had no suspects.

Bo

He found her picture and story on the front page of the Mulehead Evening Standard’sAugust 14 edition.

He stared at the screen with a horrible feeling of loss.

What did you expect? he told himself. You knew she was dead, you’ve got her body. This shouldn’t come as any great blow.

But it was as if part of his mind had held on to a wild hope that Bo

The newspaper crushed that hope.

He moaned as he stared at the photo. He knew it well. It was her senior picture. He had it in his filing cabinet.

Reluctantly, he read the story.

BONNIE SAXON VANISHES

Bo

The 18-year-old girl was last seen by her mother when she returned home following a date Friday night with her boyfriend, Biff Tate. The next morning, Bo

This marks the third disappearance, since late July, of local teenage girls. On July 26, Sandra Dunlap, 18, vanished from her home. Like Bo

According to Police Chief Jud Ring, “It looks now as if we have a definite pattern, especially between the Dunlap and Saxon cases. It’s reasonable to conclude that all three girls were abducted by the same perpetrator. This is a very nasty situation. We still hope that the girls will be found alive, of course. But we just don’t know what has become of them. What we do know is this: there is every reason to believe that such crimes will continue if we fail to apprehend the person responsible for these outrages.

“Our department,” he went on, “is conducting a full-scale investigation of the matter. No avenue is being overlooked. I have every confidence that we’ll soon have the perpetrator in custody. Until then, however, it’s imperative that all our female citizens exercise the utmost caution in their daily affairs.”

Bo

Anyone with information about the abduction or present whereabouts of Bo

She was gone.

Dead.

Whoever wrote the story didn’t know it, but somebody had pounded a stake through her chest. Killed her.

Larry knew he should go on, but he didn’t have the heart.

He checked his wristwatch. Three o’clock. It was early to quit. If he stopped now, he would need to come back tomorrow.

He didn’t care.

He made a copy of the story and shut off the machine.

Twenty-four

When the bell rang, the students began to file out of the classroom. Lane slowly gathered her books from the rack under her seat so it wouldn’t be obvious to the others that she was remaining.

No point letting the whole world know she was staying to help. Some of the kids would think she was brown-nosing. Not that I care what they think, she told herself. Still, it seemed wise to keep a low profile.

Jessica stopped in the doorway and looked back at her.

Lane slid her stacked books toward her chest as if preparing to stand.

“You’re leaving?” Mr. Kramer asked.

“No, uh-uh. Not if you have something for me.”

Nodding, he smiled. “I have a job, if you don’t mind a little manual labor.”

“No, that’d be fine.” She glanced toward the door. Jessica, frowning, turned and walked away.

“Come on up here,” Kramer said. He reached into his briefcase but kept his eyes on Lane as she approached.

She hoped she looked all right. Jim had certainly thought so. During the lunch period, he’d snuck his hand under the loose bottom of her blouse several times before she finally lost her temper. “If you don’t like it,” he’d said, “you shouldn’t wear that kind of thing.”

The white pullover blouse had a cowl neck, short sleeves, and a hem that reached just to her waist. It wasn’t meant to be tucked in. Neither, however, was it meant as an open invitation for Jim to explore the bare areas just out of sight above her belt.