Chapters (97)
- Cover
- Back Cover Text
- Praise
- Booklist
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- Eighty-Six
- Eighty-Seven
- Eighty-Eight
- Eighty-Nine
- Acknowledgments & A Personal Note
- Excerpt
Paul’s jaw clenched. “We fought it back then,” he said. “Hired lawyers to lobby the town council to prevent burial here or move their graves. Offered to donate land at the edge of town for another cemetery but we lost that fight because some on council said the mothers had no role in the crime and should not be stigmatized for it.”
“So they remain here?” Ben cast around.
“Yes.”
“I apologize, but I had to ask.”
“I’ll show you where their graves are but I won’t set foot on them,” Paul said. “Give me your notepad.”
Paul drew a map to the sites, then pointed.
“Thank you. I just need to get pictures and I’ll be right back.”
The graves weren’t far. Ben walked past ponds, flower gardens and benches and found headstones for Nancy Alice Gorman, Florence Dolores Mitchell and Marlene Judith Klassyn.
But he didn’t know who their respective daughters were.
After taking pictures and writing the names down, he returned to the Tullocks.
“Did you get them?” Paul said.
“Yes, thank you,” Ben said. “Again my apologies for doing this now. But it’s part of my work and, well, it would help my research, my effort to be as accurate as possible, if I had the full names of the girls. I know there’s a publication ban, there are laws protecting them, but since their mothers’ names are in full public view, I was wondering if you knew the girls’ names and could share them with me? I won’t have to say where I got them. I’m sure everyone in town knows them and I will get them eventually.”
Paul and Lynn exchanged looks.
“Those names are burned into our memories,” Lynn said. “We’ll never be able to erase them. And the way we see it, they don’t deserve to be protected. Not anymore. Give me your notes, Ben.”
In clear block letters Lynn printed:
NICOLA HOPE GORMAN
MARIE LOUISE MITCHELL
JANE ELIZABETH KLASSYN
Seventy
Cielo Valle, Orange County, California
Present day
Still alone in the house, Kayla searched with renewed intensity because she knew she was close to answers.
She went to the closet in Emma and her dad’s bedroom, moved the trunk, lifted the loose panel, turned on her phone’s flashlight and raked the hiding spot on the floor. Nothing.
She looked under their bed. Nothing. Under the mattress. Nothing. Emma’s nightstand. Nothing. Emma’s drawers, sifting through her clothes. Nothing. Back to the closet, checking pockets, clothes, suitcases. Nothing.
In the hallway closet she checked the folds of blankets, towels, washcloths. Nothing. She checked closets with cleaning supplies. Nothing. The laundry room. Nothing.
Emma hadn’t returned yet.