Body Discovered

Mindy treated herself to a hot shower before getting to work on the list of names. She wrapped one of the white hotel towels around her chest and another around her wet hair, then flipped on the TV and ran up and down the channels in search background noise while she worked. She developed the ritual of studying with the radio on while she was in college. It was a natural progression to continue the practice while working. Background racket kept her mind from wandering. That, in turn, kept her focused on the task at hand.

Surprisingly, when she called Information in Portland, Oregon the night before to begin her research on Matthew Fox, she was informed that there were three different numbers. She would have thought that such a rare name would be fairly easy to pinpoint, but apparently she was wrong. The operator quickly rattled off two out of the three numbers and added that the third was unavailable; it was unlisted. Obviously, the unlisted number was the one she needed, but she took the other two anyway.

Now, sitting on the edge of the bed and looking down at the phone numbers, she wondered if that was the way to go. What would she say if the man answered the phone? It might not be wise to tell him that he was under investigation. It would simply cause him to cover his tracks. No, she decided. Research on Matthew Fox would have to be done discreetly.