Chapter 4

Frank and Jonesy visit Mrs. Bullock and make an interesting discovery.

Frank and Jonesy agreed that they should visit with Mrs. Bullock since they were already in the area. During the short drive, they debriefed on the conversation with Mr. Bullock.

"Do you think he knows more that he is telling us?" Frank asked Jonesy.

"Consciously no, but I think checking out their split with the Baptist Church is worth looking into.  Often, that which we overlook is most relevant", Jonesy said.

"That is a very Zen quote, but true in this case.  Is it Buddhist?" Frank asked.

"No.  I think I heard it on a rerun of Monk. That guy was very Zen along with having OCD".

Soon afterward, Frank pulled into the Saw Grass village entrance.  This development, like many other recent Florida construction projects, tried to merge opulent living and amenities with the natural setting.  Of course, to achieve this careful landscaping, the use of numerous chemicals was necessary to stop the "natural" from encroaching on the "opulent". Frank pulled up to the air conditioned guard shack and told the "security officer" that they were here to visit Mrs. Bullock.  After telling him their names and presenting identification, the cop-wannabe eyed them carefully and went back in his shack to use the phone.  After about two minutes, he emerged with a bright yellow piece of paper, instructed Frank to put in on the dashboard, and raised the high-security thin fiberglass security arm.

Frank drove down the main road over multiple speed bumps and past many golf cart crossings.  After about three quarters of a mile, he turned onto Magnolia Tree Court, the street indicated on the card that Faith gave him, and pulled in front of what appeared to be about a 5,000 square foot two-story McMansion.  The house was a subtle shade of salmon stucco with a burgundy colored tile roof.  Frank pulled around the circular brick driveway to the front entrance.  As they exited the car, the front door opened and a fit, well-preserved 50-something woman emerged. Frank recognized her from his Internet search as Peggy Sue Mathis-Bullock.

She was very petite and wore yoga pants and a tank top that appeared to actually have been used in the pursuit of exercise.  She had longish blond curly hair that was tied back in a ponytail.  As Frank and Jonesy got closer to her, the stress of non-stop crying could not hide the intensely blue, intelligent eyes that looked upon them. 

"Mrs. Bullock, I hope we are not intruding", Frank said as he reached to shake her hand.

"Not at all Mr. Rozzani", she replied as she shook Frank's hand with a firm yet cold grip.  "This must be Mr. Jones", she said as she turned to offer her hand to Jonesy. "Travis said you would be stopping by and I was anxious to help in any way.  Also, I appreciate the distraction".

She walked back through the door and motioned for Frank and Jonesy to follow.  She led them through a spacious entry that had wood flooring and high ceilings with wide crown molding, through a family room to a large kitchen with Tuscan style decor.  She took a seat at a small round table nestled in a bay window space and motioned for them to join her.

"You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Bullock", Jonesy said while looking around the kitchen.

"Thank you dear. We purchased it in foreclosure.  It was built by a former Jacksonville Jaguars player as a home that he would eventually retire to with his family.  The poor dear went from making millions to bankruptcy.  His business manager invested much of his income in real estate during the boom of the early 2000s with an eye toward large profits for himself and his client.  When the bubble evaporated, so did the profits."

"Well it is a beautiful home in spite of its history", Jonesy said.

Frank briefed Mrs. Bullock on what he knew about Maggie's disappearance. He could sense a weakening in her brave facade at the mention of her daughter's name.  He then asked if there was anything she could add.

"Maggie really is the perfect child.  We were scared to raise a child in today's world with the prevalence of drugs, sex and other bad influences.  Maggie seems to have risen above all of that with a minimum of effort from Travis and me.  We give much of the credit to Pastor Rick and CT".

"CT?" Frank asked.

"Christianity Today.  It's where Maggie attends school and where we attend church", she answered.

"Right, your husband mentioned that you made a switch from First Baptist to "CT" about five years ago", Frank said.

At the mention of the switch, Peggy Sue Bullock made her own uncomfortable shift in her kitchen chair much as her husband had done in his office. "Yes, it was a quick transition, but all for the best."

Frank avoided asking her the reason for the switch as he sensed a similar non-answer would result much as he received from Travis. He changed his approach. "Did Maggie have a boyfriend or any close friends that might be able to give us some additional insight into her disappearance?" he asked.

"No. No boyfriend", she answered a bit too quickly. "She has friends in the CT youth group but none that we haven't already talked to.  She was a bit of a loner and preferred her own company, spending time reading and writing poetry as hobbies".

"May we see some of her poetry?" Jonesy asked.

"If you think it might help.  I have the notebooks in my office upstairs.  I'll get them for you.  Is there anything else that I can help you with?" she asked.

"If you wouldn't mind, we would like to look around in Maggie's room, ma'am", said Frank.

"You can if you think it's necessary.  Travis and I, as well as the police, have already gone through it from top to bottom".

"We're just trying to be thorough", said Frank apologetically.

"I understand.  Her room is at the other end of the house from my office on the second floor.  I'll show you the way and then get the poetry notebooks."

At the top of the stairs, Mrs. Bullock pointed down a long hallway to the left. "Maggie's room is at the end of the hallway on the right. I would help you look in her room, but it's just too painful for me right now.  I'll meet you downstairs in the kitchen when you are through".

"We understand, Mrs. Bullock", said Jonesy. "We will try not to disturb anything".

Frank and Jonesy entered the last room on the right and was struck by two things immediately.  First, the sheer size of the room.  It was a master suite type layout with high vaulted ceilings, floor to ceiling windows and a large bay window looking out onto the golf course.  The second impression was the decor which Jonesy described by saying that it looked like a unicorn threw up in the room.  Everything was pastel colors, stuffed animals, and juvenile art work all focused on a lacquered white king size canopy bed.  This was not the typical bedroom of a 16 year old girl.  Everything was precisely arranged and extremely neat.  The drawers were all filled with neatly folded clothes that were all modest in nature.  There were no hidden indicators of typical bad teenage behavior hidden at the bottom of draws, on closet shelves, or under the bed.  While Frank perused the walk-in closet that was bigger than his kitchen, Jonesy lifted the edge of the white fluffy comforter and ran his hand between the mattress and box spring.  After a couple of passes, he hit something rectangular and hard.  He pulled it out and discovered that it was a pink, hard-covered 5"X7" notebook with a picture of a (wait for it) unicorn on the front.  The notebook was 3/4 filled with girlish handwriting in pale blue ink.  He walked over to the closet and found Frank replacing yet more stuffed animals to their resting place.

"Looks like the police were as thorough as ever", Jonesy reported with a half-smile.

Frank looked up and said, "Where did you find that?"

"In the universal teenager hiding place; the same place where I hid my Playboy magazines before the Internet made them obsolete; between the mattresses.  It's full of writing that Maggie apparently did not want to share".

"Well, let's take it with us.  We don't have time to look through it now", Frank said.

Jonesy slipped the notebook into his pocket and they left the room.  They headed back downstairs and to the kitchen where Mrs. Bullock waited at the table with a stack of four similar notebooks.

"Did you find anything in Maggie's room, gentlemen?" Mrs. Bullock asked looking up with newly moistened and reddened eyes.

"No ma'am, I didn't find anything", Frank said while Jonesy remained silent.

"Well, I didn't think you should", she replied, "but I appreciated your need to be thorough.  Will that be all for today?  What are your next steps?"

"Unless you can think of anything else, we are through disturbing your day.  We have several other leads to follow up on over the next couple of days and then we will get back to you and your husband with our findings", Frank said.

She gave a weak smile and then escorted them to the door.  She told Frank to be sure to contact her if they needed anything else from her.  He took the four notebooks from her and he and Jonesy headed for the Lexus.  As they were leaving the driveway, Jonesy took the notebook he discovered out of his pocket and added it to the pile with the other four.

"Aren't you going to look at it?" Frank asked.

"No.  You're the research guy.  I'm just the sidekick. Besides, it sounds like someone needs to pay the local mega-church a visit and since I'm not as concerned with getting struck by lightning when I enter a church as you should be, I thought I would take that task on", said Jonesy.

"Sounds fine to me", Frank agreed.

As they left the community and, once again, passed the scrutiny of the "highly-trained" security professional, Frank turned north on A1A.

"Let's divide and conquer", he said to Jonesy.  "I need to follow-up on the Bullocks' split from the Baptist church to see if there is anything there and I need to look through Maggie's notebooks.  You can visit Pastor Rick at "CT" and see what his story is".

"You're the boss", Jonesy said sarcastically. "I might enjoy a different spiritual perspective".

Frank dropped Jonesy off at his surf shop and headed back to his trailer.