A Deadly Game by Catherine Crier Page B

Frey, Scott would go from a man who never attended church, to one who professed in a letter from jail that he hoped to get out and "do the work of the Lord."
    Shortly after Scott met Laci, he learned about his two siblings who had been given up for adoption before his birth. Don Chapman of Pennsylvania and Anne Bird of San Francisco were first reunited with each other and then with their biological mother, Jackie Peterson. As he seemingly did with every other aspect of his life, Scott took the news quite calmly and quickly developed a relationship with his additional siblings.
    In researching this book, I had the opportunity to sit down with Anne Bird, a bright, articulate, well-spoken woman with a highly defined sense of ethics and integrity. She seemed concerned that she might know something important to this case, and out of a need to "tell the truth," as she put it, she spoke out in detail for the first time over dinner at a California restaurant.
    Anne came into the Peterson family in 1996 when her half brother, Don Chapman, contacted her to ask whether she wanted to meet her biological mother. After conducting a search on his own behalf, Don located Jackie Peterson and sent her a certified letter saying that he was her son. Jackie reportedly opened the letter in front of her family, and then "freaked out" because no one else, including Lee, had ever heard about Don and Anne.
    Anne was hesitant, but eventually green-lighted Jackie to contact her. She first met Scott when he rang the doorbell at Jackie's home and she let him in. He could not stop staring at her all evening. She was thinner then, and the two looked very much alike, especially their eyes.
    Anne believes that Scott was immediately taken with her. She was worldly and well-traveled, having spent seven years in London, where she attended Oxford University. She'd also been to Brussels and other European cities, experiences Scott had only wished for. Her adoptive parents were wealthy and Anne had a lot of well-to-do friends. At twenty-two, she had landed a great job at the Golden Door Fitness Resort and Spa in Escondido, and then later at a spa in Mexico. Scott was impressed with the life Anne had lived-so much so that his sister, Susan Caudillo, grew envious of their relationship. Later, when Scott became a suspect, she carefully monitored everything Anne would say, as though she was concerned that Anne might slip up and mention something that would help the police.
    Over time, Anne learned a great deal about Jackie and her background, but the stories her biological mother told changed continually. She recalled several different versions of Jackie's upbringing, including the one Jackie later recited at Scott's trial. In that version, Scott's mother told the court that her father had been killed on December 24-the same date Laci disappeared. He was struck in the head with a lead pipe for the $800 in his pocket. Jackie was just eight years old at the time. Apparently the murder took a toll on Jackie's mother. Some of her children were sent to live with various relatives, and Jackie was placed in an orphanage.
    Jackie's story did include some truths, but Anne learned from other family members that it also contained some fiction. For one thing, her father had been killed on December 23, not December 24, as Jackie testified in court. There were other embellishments, but like Scott, Jackie always stayed close to the truth.
    There were other things about Jackie that disturbed Anne. When they first met, Scott's mother, who had lifelong lung problems and often relied on oxygen to help with her breathing, had spent some
    time talking to Anne about lung transplants and how hard it was to find a donor. Anne couldn't help wondering whether she was being sized up as a potential organ donor.
    According to Anne, Jackie's husband was introduced to her as "Pete." Only later, after the case broke, did Anne learn that Lee Peterson had started going by "Pete" in the wake of some