Early the next morning I called a PI firm I knew my Dad had used a few times. They were in his Rolodex. I went to the office and met with Sam. I told him I wanted to interview five people I hadn't seen since prom week. I gave him their names. I explained what I wanted to know. He made some suggestions and I agreed. He would find them. He would do the interview with me watching on cctv and connected to him so I could ask questions through him. That way they would never know it was me.
Two days later my cell rang. It was Sam. "Be here at two. Plan to be here until about five. I have two interviews scheduled. If these answer your questions we may not need to find the other three women."
"I'll be there." I was early. Sam showed me how the interview room worked. Different from the standard, seen on TV, interview room used by the police there was no mirror for me to look through. There were tiny cameras three places in the interview room and I had three TV's to watch, a headset so I could listen and a mic to speak to Sam through. We tested the system and I was set.
At two-fifteen Donna White walked in. She showed ID and Sam brought her into the interview room.
"Mr. Connors, what is this all about?"
"You agreed to be interviewed about things that happened when you were in high school?"
"Yes, and you offered a hundred dollars."
"Yes." Sam gave her a one hundred dollar bill. She put it in her purse. Sam waited.
"Now, please tell me what high school you went to." She answered and he made short notes on a clipboard. He asked other generic questions and then they turned personal.
Sam asked her to name the boys she had dated who attended the same high school. She named three, Brian, Scott and Lance. That told us she had not dated Asshole, by any name.
He asked her about her closest friends at the start of her senior year. She named Beth, Connie, Madaline, and Crystal. He followed by asking if she still was in contact with any of them.
"I see Beth fairly often, three, maybe four times a year. Connie I hear from on e-mail at least once a month. She lives in Arizona. Madaline married a guy in the Navy and we lost touch."
"And Crystal?"
"I haven't seen her since the prom!" There was fire in her answer.
"Ask her why?" I whispered into the mic.
"Was there a fight?"
"She and her date did what they called a practical joke on a guy I liked. It was cruel, mean and ruined the guy. I found out when they talked about it at the prom, and laughed. I haven't spoken to either of them since. Nor do I want to."
"Ok, we're done. Ask her about being a cheerleader and about Mr. Peterson. See if she heard any rumors about him."