Thanks for the comments on my post, all duly appreciated. I have no large investment in the scenario I proposed. In the course of any investigation many working hypotheses may be put forward that suggest various places to look for information, and it was in that spirit that I offered my, "perhaps it happened this way" story.

I didn't see the local interview Susan, but I particularly liked the way Ted Coppel handled Condit's lawyer on nightline when he essentially pulled the same evasions and, like Condit, attempted to hijack the interview by telling Coppel what questions he SHOULD be answering (instead of the ones the lawyer didn't want to answer). Coppel, with only a slight hardening of his features and voice, said words to the effect of, "Well, Abbie, why don't you just leave the questions to me and you stick to trying to give the answers." Direct confrontation can be done very easily and matter-of-factly when you are confident of your authority. It may come more easily to men, and women may more naturally have the subtlety you described in the style utilized by the local newswoman, although either can do either.

Condit's lawyer also brought up the "innocent until proven guilty" argument, Gareth, which is often brought up to quash inquiry during periods of unbridled speculation among members of the public and new media. During my misspent youth one of the things I did for a couple of years was law school. My recollection of U.S. constitutional and criminal law is that in many but not all countries, as in the U.S., persons ACCUSED of crimes are considered innocent BEFORE THE LAW. There is no such guarantee in the court of public opinion and we are all free to think what we please and say what we think.

Condit has not been formally accused of a crime either by indictment or by a grand jury, and he is not before a court of law.

Interestingly the police often say, as they have in this case, that an individual, "is not a suspect", so that they may have more freedom in investigating him. Once a person is identified as a "suspect", for example, he must be cautioned to obtain a lawyer and search warrants must be obtained. The whole process becomes adversarial instead of the "cooperative" and dealings become at arm's length.

And, M.Ted, perhaps as you say my "third location" idea doesn't fit the Washington celebrity circumstances, or perhaps it means that the location would have to have been somewhere just outside Washington, where people don't pay nearly so much attention to the city's self-absorbed little social scene.

Anyway, as I understand it Condit has an alibi for when she is presumed to have dissapeared. Her apartment contained her luggage and keys and other items. It has all the elements of mystery that invite wild speculations.

Yes, harpgirl, although I had stopped short of saying it I was thinking that the daughter in this case was reported to have some traits suggesting at least grandiosity. I agree that it is the parental dilemma that if we protect our daughters too well, we deny them the healthy awareness of danger that they may need soon after leaving home.

But I have the feeling that there is another aspect, that is the WAY in which we relate or are "attached" to our children, that influences whether they live in real life or in a fantasy when they leave us. I think that if we are "really" connected to THEM, and really see THEM and really talk to THEM and listen to THEM during the years they are with us, rather than to them solely as representations or reflections of ourselves, that they will in turn really live in the world with real people and be the safer for it.

Although it is frightening to comtemplate, adversity is a great teacher, and if we can bear to allow our kids to suffer a certain number of consequences of their own less than perfect judgments, or of ours, they will obtain a much better preparation for what comes after.

Of course, sometimes fate provides serious, even tragic adversities that no one would ever choose, but even then among the outcomes strength, courage and endurance are included.

I cling to the unlikely story that Ms Levy has been seen at Mossad headquarters, for then it would mean that Mr. Condit has suffered a period of embarrassment he has clearly brought upon himself, and Ms Levy can go of and play at being a spy, which appears to be what she had in mind. (Of course it may be that she HAS been a spy, recruited, as they often are, in college by, say, the Mossad, who was then assigned to obtain information from the chairman of an important congressional committee, then discredit him by the circumstances of her disappearance. Or, given that it is unlikely she would intentionally have put her parents through the past two months, perhaps the circumstance of her disappearance was s surprise to her, too.)

Oh, never mind me. I do this in movies, too. Always trying to figure out what's going on. None of my speculations are intended to be disrespectful of Ms Levy, who, at twenty, is still entitled to experiment with a foolish liaison, and to be flattered and charmed by the attentions of a powerful older man with a (and this is why I REALLY can't stand Condit) youthful physique and the ability (I'll wager) to affect a boyish charm. And of course we are all reluctant to speak ill of someone who may be dead.

Tragically, women and children are snatched from the street or their homes every day, never to be heard from again. Although the odds greatly favor that harm has come to a woman at the hands of a husband or lover, and the moment of separation is the most frequent trigger for violence, one can only hope that while the focus has been on Condit some random psychopath has not made off with her.

If she has come to harm I can only pray for the Levys that they may eventually be given the serenity to accept that which they cannot change.

Doc