by Erin Huss
“Can you OD on Tums?” asked Camry.
“Technically, you can OD on anything,” said Penny.
“Like food?” Camry held up the bag from CinnaMann’s. “Would you like to take home two fresh cinnamon rolls?”
“Are those from CinnaMann’s?” Penny snatched the bag and stuck her nose in to take a whiff. “Mmmmm, these are totally my favorite. I haven’t been there in years, but I used to go all the time.”
I was done talking about food. Between chocking down the cinnamon roll, and the news of a decomposed body in Waller Park, my appetite may never return. “Should we start?”
Penny took one more whiff then wiggled around in her seat to get comfortable. “What do you want to know?”
Because of our close proximity, I was able to use the recorder. I placed it on the center console and made sure it was on. “Start off with your name and how you knew Amelia.”
“My name is Penny Green. I’m a pharmacist tech at Target, and I sell Flynnwood Beauty products. I brought you both samples.” She gave Camry and I plastic portion cups filled with green goo. “This is aloe rub for your feet and hands.” Next she pulled a blue tube from her bag. “This is our number one selling product. It’s a colon cleanse.”
Camry grabbed the tube from Penny and read the instructions. “Where do you stick it?”
“You mix it with water and drink it, silly.” Penny had a high-pitched hyena laugh that could shatter glass. “The special blend of herbs and vitamins will release the toxins in your body, reduce bloating and it’s only forty-nine-ninety-nine.”
As appealing as fifty-dollar diarrhea sounded, we weren’t there to talk colons.
“Did you sell Flynwood Beauty while you worked at Direct Dental?” I asked, attempting to segue.
“No, no. This is a new company. It’s only been around since 2015. I started last month, and I’ve already hit level four manager status.”
I’m sure that meant something.
I gave up on segues. “How did you know Amelia?”
Penny tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Millie and I grew up together, but she was a few grades younger than me so it’s not like we hung out then. I didn’t really get to know her until I started working at Direct Dental. I was the receptionist and she was the manager’s assistant. She’d cover for me when I went on breaks or if I called in sick and vice-a-versa.”
“Did you two ever spend time together outside of work?”
“Sure, a few times,” she said. “But it was mostly in a group with other work people.”
“Did you ever go to her apartment?” I asked, thinking about Carlos.
“No, she didn’t get her own place until...gosh...I guess it was about a month before the video. She was really into interior design. She read a lot of those home décor magazines.”
Carlos also said Amelia enjoyed decorating. These insights into Amelia’s life and her personality would help the listeners connect more with her.
And the more they connected, the more they’d care.
The more they cared, the higher chance we had of finding out what happened.
“Did Amelia ever talk about Carlos Hermosa?” I asked.
“She didn’t talk about him, but I know they were friends.” Penny rolled her eyes and launched into a fifteen-minute rant about Carlos Hermosa. Turned out Penny and Carlos were the same age, went to school together from kindergarten through high school, and they grew up across the street from each other. In short, Penny knew Carlos well, and she wasn’t a fan. “He was a total troublemaker,” she said. “And he’d bring these guys over who would break into our cars, and they’d deal drugs on the corner. Carlos spent like six months on house arrest when he was in high school.”
Camry and I shared a look and she scrunched her nose. She had dug into Carlos’ past and didn’t find a criminal record—and Camry is especially thorough when it comes to Internet stalking. But if all illegal activity happened before Carlos turned eighteen, then those records would have been sealed and Camry would have had no way of seeing them.
“He’s just bad news,” Penny continued. “I don’t even know why or how they became friends.”
“If Amelia didn’t talk about Carlos, then how do you know they were friends?” I asked.
“He brought her lunch once. It was about a week before she was fired, and they ate together in the break room.” She picked imaginary lint off her pants. “I overheard some of their conversation when I was heating up my food. They were flirty. I remember she had a salad with pineapple in it, and she was trying to get him to eat it, but he said he doesn’t eat fruit. Then she told him he was a pineapple because he was sweet on the inside and prickly on the outside.” She looked off in the distance. “I totally forgot about that conversation until now.”
I thought back to our interaction with Carlos and the pineapple tattoo on his upper bicep—the only tattoo in color.
“Did she ever talk about drugs?” Camry asked.
“No, but she definitely didn’t look good before she disappeared. Her hair was thin, and her face was thin, and her body was thin. She was basically just thin all over. Millie wasn’t the type to open up about deep stuff, so I don’t know if she was struggling with drugs or if she was anorexic—like some people around town have said. I figured she’d lost so much weight because of stress.” Without warning, Penny started to cry. I was caught off guard by the sudden outburst of emotion. “I just don’t know what happened to her!” She sniffled. “I had to quit my job because I just...I couldn’t do it. Her name was on everything and it ate me up.”
Camry gave her an owl Kleenex and Penny blew her nose.
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
“It’s horrible! And because of...” Penny stared down at the recorder and snapped her mouth shut.
I sensed her reservation and added, “I can change your name if it makes you feel more comfortable.” Not that it wouldn’t take three seconds for listeners to figure out her true identity.
Assuming we had listeners.
“Cornelia,” said Penny.
“I’m sorry?”
“You can change my name to Cornelia. It’s my favorite girl’s name.”
“Okay, Cornelia, go ahead,” I said.
Penny/Cornelia sighed. “I know who posted the video,” she said so low I wasn’t sure I heard her right.
“You’re HJZoomer22?” Camry blurted out.
“No! Of course not!” Penny ripped the tissue into confetti. “Blake Kirkland, he worked for Direct Dental doing marketing, he’s the one who posted it. I told him not to, but he did it anyway.”
I worked hard to keep my voice and face neutral. “Why do you think he posted it?”
“I’ve asked myself this a million times. I just don’t know. He was recording the Gala and captured everything on video.”
“Did Blake know her?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Did you tell this to the police?” I asked
Penny gave a feeble nod of her head. “A detective came to Direct Dental and interviewed a few of us right after they found her car.”
“Was it Detective Ramsey?”
“That sounds familiar.” Penny sniffled. “Another detective named La-something called me a few days ago. I’m supposed to go down and give another statement tomorrow.”
This gave me pause. I wondered what else Penny knows that would interest the detective.
“Did Detective LeClare say why she wanted to speak to you?” I asked.
Penny used what was left of the tissue to wipe her nose. “She didn’t say. I’m guessing it’s because I worked with Millie. Not sure what else I can offer. Last time I saw Millie was the day she left Direct Dental. HR called her in and, like, ten minutes later she was escorted out.”
“What about Blake Kirkland?” I asked. “Have you sp
oken to him recently? Did he give a statement?”
“He took off after Millie disappeared.” Penny wiped her cheeks using the backside of her hand. “I heard he went to Oregon and OD’d on pain meds. The guilt killed him.”
“Guilt from posting the video?” I asked.
“Yes. He took the video, then Millie disappeared. He thought it was his fault. Ate him up.”
What a sad way to go. That is, assuming what Penny said was true. She could have made this all up just to give us a sales pitch.
But my gut told me there was truth to what she said.
Maybe not truth to all of it.
But truth to some of it.
Which gave me an idea.
“Does Waller Park mean anything to you?” I asked, watching her reaction carefully.
Penny gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. “Sure. I take my kids there to feed the ducks all the time.”
She wasn’t rattled by my question.
Or she was an excellent actress.
Either way, I had nothing and it was time to move on.
“Do you remember who else the detectives interviewed at Direct Dental?” I asked.
Her tears dried and only smudged mascara remained. “I know they interviewed me. They interviewed our boss, Kelly Barnard. And, obviously, they interviewed Jeremy.” Annndd, cue the tears. “He was away when she went missing and had no idea what was happening until he got back and there was a detective waiting for him at his desk. People totally thought he must have known. He broke down right there in front of everyone. It was awful. So awful.”
“Who is Jeremy?”
Penny chuckled through her tears, as if I just told a joke.
“No, really, who is Jeremy?” Now I was dying to know.
Penny looked from Camry to me, and back again. “You don’t know who Jeremy Wang is?”
“No, I don’t.”
Penny shifted around in her seat to square me. “You seriously don’t know who Jeremy Wang is?”
“Tell us already!” Camry was sitting on the edge of the seat.
I cut my eyes to give her a warning, but she wouldn’t look at me.
“I’m sorry about that,” I said to Penny. “We only started the investigation, and I haven’t heard about Jeremy Wang yet. Any information would be helpful.”
Penny gave us a skeptical look. “Jeremy is Millie’s ex-boyfriend. He worked in accounting at Direct Dental.”
It took a minute for my brain to compute this.
...
Still computing.
...
Computed: Holy hell!
“Do you know why they broke up?” I asked in a rush.
Penny nodded her head, playing with the tattered tissue in her hands. “I was the only person in the office who knew they were together. Direct Dental used to transfer people who were dating. But Jeremy said he was ready to take their relationship to the next level and Millie wasn’t. So he dumped her. She didn’t say anything, but you could tell she was totally heartbroken. That’s why I thought she’d lost weight.”
“When did this happen?” Camry asked. She was practically sitting on the center console.
“About two months before Millie went missing.”
Camry and I shared a look. She was already on her phone, searching for a Jeremy Wang.
I twisted around to square Penny and crisscrossed my legs. “Okay, I need you to start from the very beginning and tell me absolutely everything you can remember about Amelia and Jeremy Wang’s relationship.”
Episode Eight
The Boyfriend
“It’s like the podcast gods are shining down on us today,” Camry said from the passenger seat. “The true identity of HJZoomer22 and a mysterious boyfriend.” She drummed the dashboard. “What a huge break!”
Yes and no. Before I could give thanks to the podcast gods, there was still a little thing called facts. I had to confirm Blake Kirkland was a real person and that he did post the video of Amelia. I also had to figure out why no one had mentioned Jeremy Wang before today.
Not Leon. Not Richard. Not Carlos. Not any news media outlet. Not anyone. There had never been one mention of Jeremy Wang, an ex-boyfriend, or any former romantic flings.
Jeremy was either an elaborate lie created by Penny so she could sell us a colon cleanse, or he was taken off the suspect list early on and of little consequence to the case. But if Penny was right, and Jeremy broke off the relationship because of Amelia’s inability to commit, then that made him a suspect in my book. They broke up. Amelia got her own apartment. She got close with her new neighbor, Carlos. Carlos visited her at work. Jeremy become jealous and...
It was certainly worth looking into.
I turned right on Clark Ave. and got stuck behind a produce truck going twenty in a forty-five zone. It was nearly dusk and I had hours of material to edit. “When we get back to Hazel’s, I’ll get started on episode two. You try to find more information on the body found at the park and Jeremy—ouch!”
Camry smacked me on the back of the head and frantically pointed out the window. “Pullover, pullover, pullover, pullover.”
I did as instructed, afraid she was about to vomit, and pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall that looked more like the set of an old western movie. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
Camry grabbed my head and directed my attention up. On the second floor, in bold hard-to-miss print was a sign: Jeremy Wang, CPA.
“Well I’ll be damned,” I said. “Do you think it’s the same Jeremy Wang?”
Camry already had her phone out. “Yes!” She turned the screen to show me a picture from Yelp. It was a thirty-something-year-old man with a crooked smile, pearly teeth, dark hair in a side part, hazel eyes and, when I zoomed in, there was a faint scar in the middle of his left eyebrow.
“He’s the right the age.”
“Says here that he has an office in Santa Maria,” Camry read. “But he primarily works out of his office in Las Vegas.”
“Does it say when he’s in town?”
“According to his website, he’ll be in tomorrow” she said, a self-satisfied smile spread across her face. “Told ya the podcast gods are happy with us.”
Perhaps they were.
We raced home and spent the rest of the night researching Jeremy. I looked through Leon’s notebooks. Camry scoured the Internet. By the time the sun rose, we were practically experts on all things Jeremy Wang.
“Let’s compile everything that we know into one list so I can write a better narrative on Jeremy.” I sat up in my bed and opened my laptop. I was wearing yesterday’s clothes, only because I never slept. Between Jeremy and the body at Waller Park (which had produced no new information) my mind had not shut down.
Camry’s on the other hand…well, her brain shut down shortly after three a.m.
“Come on.” I clapped my hands. “Time to wake up.”
“No,” she moaned from under the covers. “I’m still sleeping.”
“Too bad.” I tossed a pillow at her.
She threw the covers off of her head, sending the dirty clothes that were piled on her bed to the floor. “I hate you.”
“No you don’t. Now, get up. Let’s do this.”
“Fine,” she grunted and rolled up right, her eyes still closed.
“I’ll start.” I grabbed my notebook. “We know Jeremy is a certified public accountant and manages wealthy people’s money in both California and Nevada.”
Camry patted around her bed until she found her iPad hidden beneath a blanket. “We also know he worked for Direct Dental until 2009.”
“He grew up in Santa Barbara, attended UCSB, and was once quoted in the university paper saying…shoot. I forget. What did he say?”
Camry picked the goop out of her eyes and consulted her iPad “He said, ‘It’s
a nice change,’ when asked about a summer rainstorm in 2002.”
Not exactly a smoking gun, but we knew Jeremy didn’t mind the rain. Which felt more relevant at two a.m.
“Jeremy opened his Las Vegas office nine years ago,” Camry read from her own notes. “He comes to the Santa Maria office twice a month. Which I find weird. Why does he have two locations so far apart?”
“He still has family here,” I said.
“I guess that makes sense,” she said, not sounding totally convinced. “Jeremy has not had a single speeding or parking ticket in the last seven years, nor has he ever been arrested or sued.”
“How do you know that?”
“It’s a matter of public record. Also, he has a 780 credit score.”
“Do I want to know how you found that out?”
“Nope.”
“You’re killing me.” But I added this information to my list anyway and glanced at my notes. “Jeremy married Doris Fundoogle one month ago in Vegas.”
“And we assume she willingly took his last name,” Camry added.
“It doesn’t look like Jeremy has kids. He has a private Instagram account, and a Facebook page for his business that he updates regularly with Wall Street Journal articles.”
Camry swept her hair up into a bun and used a pencil to keep it in place. “According to the waitress I talked to when I called the Wang’s family restaurant, Jeremy drives a brand-new black Audi SUV, and helps with the bookkeeping. The waitress, who is also Jeremy’s cousin, had no knowledge of Jeremy and Amelia’s relationship. However, she was eight when Amelia went missing—so there’s that.”
“That seems odd to me. Think about it, if my ex-boyfriend went missing shortly after we broke up, I’m sure my family would talk about it for years to come. That’s a big thing. You’d think she would have at least heard of Amelia before, or heard the story of her cousin’s girlfriend who disappeared. Unless it’s a family secret.”
“You’re wrong. If you had an ex-boyfriend who went missing, we’d mostly be talking about the fact that you actually had a boyfriend.”
I threw another pillow at her and she bat it away with her iPad.