Right, Jessica Taylor. I thought of that too, Carbuff. Of course, we know next to nothing about Taylor (at least, I haven't been able to find much). No idea if she worked for an agency, advertised on CL, or was streewalker level. And since we have no phone numbers or working names for her, we have no way to sleuth that. Dead end, I'm afraid.
Anyway, round trip ticket makes sense. Don't know why I didn't think of that. Blindsided, I guess. And if that IS the case, LE already has that piece of the puzzle, right? Easy to trace, I would think.
So let's assume for a moment that MBB did have a return ticket, and that she was at the bus terminal to board a bus back home. What prompted her to leave the terminal and go off with our SK? Seems like the answer to that could only be one of two things (to me anyway).
1). She met up with a stranger at the terminal, he offered her a large sum of money, she wanted to recoup her losses from the robbery, and decided to throw caution to the wind. Maybe it was arranged for a quickie, and she figured she's still have time to make the bus. That scenario doesn't seem all that likely to me, but it's certainly a possibility.
2). The more likely scenario in my mind, is that she got to the terminal early and got a call from a regular. He offered her a large sum of money to meet (car date or hotel), and she agreed to meet him. Maybe the money was so good she couldn't turn it down. But then, I have to wonder if this "regular" would have time to drive all the way into Manhattan, meet MBB, have a 1/2 to 1 hour date, and her still make her bus. I don't think so. I think it far more likely that he was already IN Manhattan. I think he works in the city. July 9, 2007 was a Monday, so that would make sense. The call MBB made to friends was at night, though I have no idea what time, so if it was close to early evening, that might fit. If it was closer to 11:00pm, this scenario seems less likely.
Anyway...just random thoughts.
