twice more.

 

Pertinent people were questioned. Answers were received.

 

A few tangential leads had been run down.

 

And that was it.

 

Abject failure.

 

In less than two weeks.

 

Puller wondered if his father’s status as the husband had had anything to do

with the truncated investigation. Had they wondered if Puller Sr. had been

involved and just didn’t want to go there?

 

Perspectives about domestic abuse were different thirty years ago. Wife beaters

were given time to cool off and sent back to battered women who were too scared

to press charges. What was clearly illegal now was tolerated back then. A wink,

a nod, a look the other way.

 

On an Army post three decades back Puller assumed things were different too. But

to be fair, the CID back then was not aware that Puller Sr. had arrived home in

time to possibly be involved in his wife’s disappearance. He had not been a

suspect.