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years are up. But, at the end of the two years, they must leave for their own well-being. Each girl makes a minimum of a hundred thousand a year, plus tips, so it comes out to more like a hundred and twenty thousand. Their room and board, hospitalization, social security and life insurance are covered by the house, so they don’t have many outside expenses. I don’t exactly force them to put the money into blue chip stock portfolios and CDs or bonds, but I make it clear that if they don’t, they won’t be working here long. So at the end of their two years, they leave with my very best wishes and about a quarter-million in cash. By that time, I’ve also made sure they have a few business courses under their belts.”
    Hawker gave a low whistle. “Now I can see why they’re laughing.”
    The woman smiled, pleased that Hawker was impressed. “Follow me. I want to show off the rest of the place.”
    â€œThere’s more?”
    â€œYou’ve seen the icing. Now I want to show you the cake.”
    Hawker followed her through a side hall that went through a small but modern kitchen that was all tile and stainless steel. The chef was a tiny man in white with a huge gray handlebar mustache. Barbara gave him their dinner order and then led Hawker to the back of the house.
    Here the decorations were so different that they might have entered a separate building.
    These were her living quarters, she explained, a house within a house. It was a one-bedroom suite with a den, a massive sunken living room and a wall of glass that looked out onto a tropical garden and swimming pool.
    Hawker hummed and nodded his approval dutifully. “Not exactly a hand-built cabin on a mountain, is it?”
    â€œBetween the two, I preferred the cabin.”
    â€œThat brings us back to Jason, Barbara. In the weeks before he disappeared, did he say or do anything unusual, anything out of character that suggested he might have found out about your problems?”
    She thought for a long moment. “No. No, I don’t think so. Actually we didn’t get a chance to talk much during that last week. He was very busy working on one of his projects.”
    â€œWhat kind of project?”
    â€œSomething to do with fossils and rocks, that’s all I know.” She thought for a moment before adding, “He did say one thing that was rather odd. It was the last time I saw him, as a matter of fact. It was late in the morning, and he stopped at the house for something to drink. He seemed to be in a very good mood. He said that he thought his doctoral dissertation was going to be even better than he had hoped. He said it might make it possible for us to get married a lot sooner than we had planned. When I tried to press him for details, he just laughed and said he would tell me later.”
    â€œDid he say anything about having an appointment with anyone?”
    â€œNo. The police asked me the same thing.”
    â€œHow did Jason get around? What kind of car did he drive?”
    â€œA real old khaki jeep. He needed it for his work.”
    â€œHas the jeep been found?”
    The woman shook her head. “No. I guess that’s why I still had hope.”
    â€œWhen I visited Jason’s cabin, I met a girl who said she was a member of some kind of commune not far from Jason’s property. Did you or the police talk to them about Jason’s disappearance?”
    â€œThe police did, and I did, too. They call themselves the Spring Mountain Family. They live the pure life. No drugs, no meat, homegrown vegetables—and no clothes. Jason liked them very much, and they liked him.”
    â€œAnd how do you feel about them?”
    She shrugged. “Truthfully, they made me uncomfortable. I’m suspicious of extremist groups. Even the benevolent ones.”
    â€œIs there any chance they could have been responsible?”
    â€œNo, I don’t think so. They loved Jason—or