“Tell me about the last day you saw her.” I flip through my notes. “June second. Did she go to school that day?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. She was dressed and out of bed, but she could have been going anywhere. She had lots of friends who weren’t friends, if you know what I mean.”

“Men? Are you saying your daughter was prostituting herself?”

“Maybe.” She pulls a patterned cigarette purse from the pocket of her jacket and holds her lighter to the tip of a Marlboro Light, inhaling and then waving away the smoke in a practiced gesture. “I don’t know how she made her money. I didn’t help her out, I can tell you that. I knew she’d drink whatever I gave her, or whatever else she was snorting or shooting. I stopped asking.”

“These friends. Did she ever mention anyone by name?”

“Not that I remember. At least one of them had money, though. She brought home a new Nikon camera once. And someone gave her a coat, a nice one.”

That gets my attention. “Can you describe it?”

“It was short and brown, some kind of animal fur. Maybe it wasn’t real, but it sure looked that way, and expensive. She certainly didn’t buy it from around here.”

“Was she wearing it that last day?”

“Maybe. I can’t remember.”

It’s clear I’m getting almost nowhere with Karen. Whatever the trick is to get her talking openly, I don’t seem to know it. “The psychic who called you, what did you think of her?”

“What could I think?” Karen makes a troubled face as she exhales again, smoke fanning out like a screen of poison. “Shannan always did exactly what she wanted. If someone killed her, she probably asked for it.”

The harshness of her words silences me for a long moment. I’ve known women like Karen, flinty and shut down. But I also understand that anyone with a shell like this has come by it honestly. She’s had good reasons to protect herself, and still does. “Ms. Russo, I really do want to help find Shannan, but I’m going to be honest with you. My primary case is Cameron Curtis. You’ve heard of her.”

“Sure, the movie star’s kid. I watched that show for years. Never thought I’d have something in common with Heidi Barrows.” She shakes her head.

“We have very little to go on with Cameron, but she had a lot of disruption in her childhood. Violence, too. We think that might have something to do with her being targeted.” I look at her meaningfully. “That’s why I’m here asking questions about Shannan when she was young. It could be the same guy. I’m looking for threads.”

She seems unmoved, at least on the surface. Glancing at her watch, she says, “I’ve told you what I can.”