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.He had a Visa bill and a bank statement and the phone book.He started paging through the phone book first.There were several listings for men by first name or first name with a following initial only.These numbers ran the gamut of area codes.Many local but still more from area codes outside of Los Angeles.There were also several listings for local hotels and restaurants, as well as a Lexus dealer in Hollywood.He saw a listing for Robin and another listing for ECU, which he knew was Entrepreneurial Concepts Unlimited.Under the heading "Dallas" there were several numbers for hotels, restaurants and male first names listed.The same was true of a heading for Las Vegas.He found a listing for Vivian Quinlan with an 813 area code phone number and an address in Tampa, Florida.That solved the mystery of the smeared postmark on the letter.Near the end of the book he found an entry for someone listed as Wainwright that included a phone number and an address in Venice that Pierce knew was not far from the home on Altair.He flipped back to the Q listings and used his desk phone to call the number for Vivian Quinlan.A woman answered the phone in two rings.Her voice sounded like a broom sweeping a sidewalk."Hello?""Mrs.Quinlan?""Yes?"Uh, hi, I'm calling from Los Angeles.My name's Henry Pierce and ""Is this about Lilly?"Her voice had an immediate, desperate tone to it."Yes.I'm trying to locate her and I was wondering if you could help me.""Oh, thank God! Are you police?""Uh, no, ma'am, I'm not.""I don't care.Someone finally cares.""Well, I'm just trying to find her, Mrs.Quinlan.Have you heard from her lately?""Not in more than seven weeks and that just isn't like her.She always checked in.I'm very worried.""Have you contacted the police?""Yes, I called and talked to the Missing Persons people.They weren't interested because she's an adult and because of what she does for a living.""What does she do for a living, Mrs.Quinlan?"There was a hesitation."I thought you said you knew her.""I'm just an acquaintance.""She works as a gentleman's escort.""I see.""No sex or anything.She told me she goes to dinner with men in tuxedos mostly."Pierce let that go by as a mother's denial of the obvious.It was something he had seen before in his own family."What did the police say to you about her?""Just that she probably went off with one of these fellows and that I'd probably hear from her soon.""When was that?""A month ago.You see, Lilly calls me every Saturday afternoon.When two weeks went by with no phone calls I called the police.They didn't call me back.After the third week I called again and talked to Missing Persons.They didn't even take a report or anything, just told me to keep waiting.They don't care."For some reason a vision bled into his mind and distracted him.It was the night he had come home from Stanford.His mother was waiting for him in the kitchen, the lights off.Just waiting there in the dark to tell him the news about his sister, Isabelle.When Lilly Quinlan's mother spoke, it was his own mother."I called in a private detective but he's been no help.He can't find her neither."The content of what she was saying finally brought him out of it."Mrs.Quinlan, is Lilly's father there? Can I talk to him?""No, he's long gone.She never knew him.He hasn't been here in about twelve years- ever since the day I caught him with her.""Is he in prison?""No, he's just gone."Pierce didn't know what to say."When did Lilly come out to L.A.?""About three years ago.She first went to a flight attendant school out in Dallas but never did that job.Then she moved to L.A.I wish she'd become a flight attendant.I told her that in the escort business even if you don't have sex with those men, people will still think that you did."Pierce nodded.He supposed that it was sound motherly advice.He pictured a heavyset woman with big hair and a cigarette in the corner of her mouth.Between that and her father, no wonder Lilly went about as far as she could get from Tampa.He was surprised it was only three years ago that she left."Where did you hire a private detective, there in Tampa or out here inL.A.?""Out there.Not much use to hire one here.""How did you hire one out here?""The policeman in Missing Persons sent me a list.I picked from there.""Did you come out here to look for her, Mrs.Quinlan?""I'm not in good health.Doctor says I've got emphysema and I've got my oxygen that I'm hooked up to.There wasn't much I could do comin' out there."Pierce reconstructed his vision of her.The cigarette was gone and the oxygen tube replaced it.The big hair remained.He thought about what else he could ask or what information he might be able to get from the woman.Lilly told me she was sending you money."It was a guess.It seemed to go with the whole mother-daughter relationship.f*i"Yes, and if you find her, tell her I'm getting real short about now.I'm real low.I had to give a lot of what I had to Mr.Glass.""Who is Mr.Glass?""He's the private detective I hired.But I don't hear from him anymore.Now that I can't pay him anymore.""Can you give me his full name and a number for him?""I have to look it up."She put down the phone and it was two minutes before she came back and gave him the number and address for the private investigator.His full name was Philip Glass.His office was in Culver City."Mrs.Quinlan, are there any other contacts you have for Lilly out here? Any friends or anything like that?""No, she never gave me any numbers or told me about any friends.Except she once mentioned this girl Robin who she worked with sometimes.Robin was from New Orleans and they had stuff in common, she told me.""Did she say what?""I think they both had the same kind of trouble with men in their family when they were young.That's what I expect she meant.""I understand."Pierce was trying to think like a detective.Vivian Quinlan seemed like an important piece of the puzzle, yet he could not think of anything else to ask her.She was three thousand miles away and was obviously kept literally and figuratively distant from her daughter's world.He looked down at the phone book on the desk in front of him and finally came up with something to ask."Does the name Wainwright mean anything to you, Mrs.Quinlan? Did Lilly or Mr.Glass ever mention that name?""Um, no.Mr.Glass didn't mention any names.Who is it?""I don't know.It's just someone she knew, I guess."That was it.He had nothing else."Okay, Mrs.Quinlan, I'm going to keep trying to find her and I'll tell her to call you when I do.""I'd appreciate that and make sure you tell her about the money, that I'm getting real low.""Right.I will."He hung up and thought for a few moments about what he knew.Probably too much about Lilly.It made him feel depressed and sad.He hoped one of her clients did take her away with a promise of riches and luxury.Maybe she was in Hawaii somewhere or in a rich man's penthouse in Paris
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