‘Why did you never say anything to me?’
‘I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of ruining our mutual respect and friendship.’
‘I have had such a guilt trip over it and I have honestly intended to come clean with you so many times, I just never had the guts to do it. I was worried you’d never speak to me again,’ Anna admitted.
He chuckled and gave her one of his lovely smiles. ‘Look, thanks to Walters, I was a dead duck in the water anyway and I wanted you to still think I had no idea who it was. Besides, it kept you on your toes and you were more thorough with your investigations that I was overseeing.’
Anna’s head was spinning like a top, totally disoriented by what she had just learned, but no sooner had she managed to gather her thoughts to explain to him properly than his mobile rang, and he patted his pocket to take it out. He moved away from her, listening intently, then said, ‘I can go now.’ Immediately, he started to walk at a quick pace towards the car park.
Anna hurried after him. ‘What’s happened?’
‘It’s what I’ve been waiting for and the reason I’m here. FBI agents think they have new information on Fitzpatrick. They have a jet fired up and want me to go now,’ he said, picking up pace. When they got to the Mustang, he unlocked it, grabbed a holdall from the back seat then tossed the car keys to Anna.
‘Leave these with Blane for me,’ he said as he slung the holdall over his shoulder.
‘It’s all so quick; are you sure you’re ready for this?’ she asked with concern.
He tapped his forehead with his index finger. ‘I’ve had his gloating face printed up here in my nightmares for too long, so you bet I’m ready. The Mustang’s insured for any driver, so if you want to go for a spin I’m sure Dewar won’t mind.’
‘I don’t think so… Do me a favour?’
‘What?’
‘We already know Fitzpatrick has no qualms about killing people. If he’s cornered he won’t go down without a fight so please, please be careful.’
Langton walked over to Anna, gave her a kiss on the cheek and instructed her not to worry.
‘Enjoy dinner with Don Blane.’
‘How did you know he’d asked me out?’
‘He’s like a pig in a bacon factory with his nerves. Said he’d asked you out and wanted to know what food you liked, would flowers be appropriate, blah blah.’
‘What did you say?’
‘I said that more than anything she just likes to know you care,’ Langton told her as an unmarked car with a flashing blue magnetic light pulled up in the car park. He got in and opened the window. ‘Don’t worry, I like him and you have my full approval!’ he shouted. At first, she was sure it was just in jest but then something in his manner changed. He looked at her in that way he so often had, which always touched her, as if he was asking something from her, and his dark eyes seemed incredibly sad, but then the window glided back into position and he was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Academy’s thousand-seat auditorium was like a state-of-the-art cinema, with its comfortable orange seats and a massive screen on which the FBI badge and motto were projected. The room was suddenly filled with the sound of the national anthem and everyone stood up as the US contingent belted out the verses of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ with great gusto. The welcoming address was given by the Director of the Academy, and Anna found it easy to identify who the Americans were as they rapturously applauded at every pause in the Director’s half-hour speech.
Each of the course instructors introduced themselves and gave a resumé of their specialities and career achievements. Some went on longer than others and there were clearly one or two who thought they were God’s gift to the fight against crime. Anna found it hard to concentrate as her mind wandered to her earlier conversation with Langton. She couldn’t believe he had never said anything about her lack of discretion in discussing the Fitzpatrick case with Deputy Commissioner Walters. He had let her sweat it out for nearly two years, during which the guilt and feelings of remorse she had carried had on many occasions been all-consuming and reduced her to tears.
Her attention was brought back to the auditorium stage when she heard the voice of Don Blane, who spoke with authority and humour about his career and stood out as the most professional and humble of the tutors. When Blane finished there were further talks about the rules and regulations they were all to abide by and it was nearly four p.m. before they were to go to their allocated classrooms.
As Anna looked round her classroom, she was disappointed to see she was the only female in the group of twenty-five. Blane immediately made it clear that the object was to get to know each other, rank was immaterial and only Christian names were to be used throughout the course. The room went quiet when he pointed to the tables at the back and informed them that their weekend homework was to read through and familiarize themselves with their course case files. Every inch of the tables was laden with thick files, each of which bore a student’s name. After outlining the details of the course modules, Blane ended by wishing them an enjoyable weekend and said he’d see them all by the start of the Yellow Brick Road at seven a.m. on Monday morning for a fitness test.
Anna picked up her file and went over to him, saying that his personal introduction was the most professional and best bit of the introductory session.
‘Thank you, Anna. Are you still okay for dinner?’ he asked, clearly worried that she had changed her mind.
‘What time and where shall I meet you?’ Anna replied with an affectionate smile.
‘Fantastic, seven at the reception, okay?’
‘Perfect. I’ll see you there and I’m really looking forward to it,’ she said, still smiling.
Although she still felt tired and jet lagged, Anna was eager to read the case file when she returned to her room, so she’d be well prepared for her first class. The file was very thick and contained witness statements, forensic reports, search records, maps and photographs. She settled herself at the small desk and opened the file to the first page, which contained brief details of the real incident the case study was based on.
Mandy Anderson was a fifteen-year-old girl who had gone missing two years previously during the late spring of 2011. She was the adopted only child of a very religious Catholic couple. On the day she disappeared she had been at the shopping mall with two friends. She parted company with them at about two p.m., saying she had to be at the church by three for choir practice. There was CCTV footage of her leaving the mall, but from that point Mandy Anderson was never seen or heard of again – she had simply disappeared off the face of the earth.
The object of the exercise was to read all the statements and reports then draw up lines of enquiry for both police and forensic investigations, as well as a victimology report on Mandy Anderson and offender profiles for possible suspect categories. Solving the case was not the issue, but demonstrating astute decision-making, inductive reasoning and skilled referenced research were imperative to receive a pass mark on the case file exercise.
Anna turned to the next page in the file and saw a picture of Mandy in a missing-persons leaflet. She looked much younger than her fifteen years and very angelic, dressed in a choir outfit of red cassock, white linen surplice and a gold crucifix. There was an air of innocence about her – she wore no makeup yet was exceptionally pretty. Wide blue eyes, little tip-tilted nose and long flaxen hair. She had a beaming smile, which partially revealed her dental braces over pearly white teeth.
Attached to the file was a large map, which Anna took out, unfolded and placed on her bed to examine. She noticed a vast wooded area called Prince William Forest and was surprised to see the FBI Academy and Marine Corps base on the edge of the map. Anna then realized that Mandy Anderson’s disappearance must have been a local investigation. It crossed her mind that Jessie Dewar might have dealt with the profiling on the case and she wondered if Don Blane had deliberately allocated her the file. She certainly thought there would be no harm in asking him later at dinner.