The Reversal

mother, father and Sarah, the sister—and conducted interviews. We then brought the family together and conducted a joint interview. It often works best that way and it did this time. In the joint interview we found our investigative direction.’ ”
    “ ‘Tell us about that. How did you find this direction?’ ”
    “ ‘In the individual interview, Sarah revealed that the girls had been playing a hide-and-seek game and that she was hiding behind some bushes at the front corner of her house. These bushes blocked her view of the street. She said she heard a trash truck and saw a trashman cross the yard and grab her sister. These events occurred on a Sunday, so we knew there was no city trash pickup. But when I had Sarah recount this story in front of her parents, her father quickly said that on Sunday mornings several tow trucks patrol the neighborhood and that the drivers wear overalls like the city sanitation workers do. And that became our first lead.’ ”
    “ ‘And how did you follow that lead?’ ”
    “ ‘We were able to obtain a list of city-licensed tow truck companies that operated in the Wilshire District. By this time I had called in more detectives and we split the list up. There were only three companies that were operating on that day. Each pair of detectives took one. My partner and I went to a tow yard on La Brea Boulevard that was operated by a business called Aardvark Towing.’ ”
    “ ‘And what happened when you got there?’ ”
    “ ‘We found that they were about to shut down for the day because they essentially worked no-parking zones around churches. By noon they were done. There were three drivers and they were securing things and about to head out when we got there. They all voluntarily agreed to identify themselves and answer our questions. While my partner asked preliminary questions I went back to our car and called their names into central dispatch so they could check them for criminal records.’ ”
    “ ‘Who were these men, Detective Kloster?’ ”
    “ ‘Their names were William Clinton, Jason Jessup and Derek Wilbern.’ ”
    “ ‘And what was the result of your records search?’ ”
    “ ‘Only Wilbern had an arrest record. It was an attempted rape with no conviction. The case, as I recall, was four years old.’ ”
    “ ‘Did this make him a suspect in the Melissa Landy abduction?’ ”
    “ ‘Yes, it did. He generally fit the description we had gotten from Sarah. He drove a large truck and wore overalls. And he had an arrest record involving a sex crime. That made him a strong suspect in my mind.’ ”
    “ ‘What did you do next?’ ”
    “ ‘I returned to my partner and he was still interviewing the men in a group setting. I knew that time was of the essence. This little girl was still missing. She was still out there somewhere and usually in a case like this, the longer the individual is missing, the less chance you have of a good ending.’ ”
    “ ‘So you made some decisions, didn’t you?’ ”
    “ ‘Yes, I decided that Sarah Landy ought to see Derek Wilbern to see if she could identify him as the abductor.’ ”
    “ ‘So did you set up a lineup for her to view?’ ”
    “ ‘No, I didn’t.’ ”
    “ ‘No?’ ”
    “ ‘No. I didn’t feel there was time. I had to keep things moving. We had to try to find that girl. So what I did was ask if the three men would agree to go to a separate location where we could continue the interview. They each said yes.’ ”
    “ ‘No hesitation?’ ”
    “ ‘No, none. They agreed.’ ”
    “ ‘By the way, what happened when the other detectives visited the other towing companies that worked in the Wilshire District?’ ”
    “ ‘They did not find or interview anyone who rose to the level of suspect.’ ”
    “ ‘You mean no one with a criminal record?’ ”
    “ ‘No criminal records and no flags came up during interviews.’ ”
    “ ‘So you were concentrating on Derek Wilbern?’ ”
    “ ‘That’s right.’ ”
    “ ‘So when Wilbern and the other two men agreed to be interviewed at another location, what did you do?’ ”
    “ ‘We called for a couple of patrol cruisers and we put Jessup and Clinton in the back of one car and Wilbern in the back of the other. We then closed and locked the Aardvark tow yard and drove ahead in our car.’ ”
    “ ‘So you got back to the Landy house first?’ ”
    “ ‘By design. We had told the patrol officers to take a circuitous