Before leaving, Jennifer Radisson explained that Josh had learned of Edith's new address in California-perhaps through some common friend-and had written his teenage sweetheart. He claimed that he had left Ouray "for business reasons" and had no idea Edith was pregnant. While he wanted to "do right by her" she had no desire to welcome the rogue back into her life. By this time she was married to Bill Radisson and wanted nothing to do with Mulligan. Jennifer apparently shared this opinion. Letters trickled in over the years, but Edith's early assessment of Josh Mulligan as a miscreant proved to be correct. He never offered financial support, and though he claimed to want to see his daughter, visits never came to fruition. Jennifer never saw her natural father face-to-face and gave the impression she didn't give a flip. While she acted blasé about his life and death, Dean wondered if she were being entirely truthful with herself. He remembered her paraphrase of John Donne while they were sitting in the park, "No man's death diminishes me because I won't let it."
There was another phone call from the state authorities as Jennifer was leaving. The black man, the passenger spotted in the stolen Buick, had been apprehended when he returned to the vehicle to retrieve his overnight satchel. He claimed to have been picked up by Patsy Boyd while hitchhiking down state. He knew neither her name nor anything about her. He ran when Patsy ditched the Buick because she ran and he had no idea what was going on. His story checked out, and after extensive questioning, the police released him. There was no young girl with Patsy Boyd nor did she mention one. He had driven most of the two hours they were together while Patsy slept. If Patsy had a destination in mind more specific than Chicago, she didn't share this knowledge with her hitchhiking passenger. His only comment of note was that Patsy, while obviously exhausted, seemed especially cheerful- "pleased with herself" was how he'd described her. The police took this to mean she had perhaps arranged some secure accommodation for her daughter. This upbeat interpretation gave Cynthia Dean little additional comfort. The only modicum of solace she felt came from Fred O'Connor's jailhouse assurances that Martha was not in harm's way.
"If Martha's no longer with her mother, do you think Fred knows where she is?" Cynthia said. "If not, how can he be so sure she's safe?"
"He was pretty smug about her being okay," Dean answered. "I guess we have to trust him, but I wish he'd stop going solo and confide in us. Wherever she is, I'd be more comfortable if she were in police hands."