She had been about to tidy up the mess on the bed when she noticed the pile of Mandy’s birthday cards and decided to look through them, checking them properly this time. It felt strange reading them, as the contents of the cards wished the girl a happy sixteenth, yet she had probably died before she even reached that age. Stranger still was the card Anna opened next, which was signed, ‘Love always, Jack xxx’, and in which the word ‘always’ was written in a slightly different-coloured pen, as if added as an afterthought.
This anomaly made her recall Jack’s comment that things would never be the same without Mandy. She sighed, everything buzzing around in her head, when suddenly the unexpected memory popped up of Dewar saying that the Josh Reynolds’ suicide note was fake because its wording suggested it was written by someone who already knew he was dead. Anna scratched her head to ruffle up her hair. Could Dewar’s theory also apply to the birthday card?
She looked again at the card from Jack and felt almost sure it was written as if he knew there was some sort of permanence about Mandy’s disappearance.
‘Okay, okay, now just sit back on this for a second,’ she muttered to herself and then began to piece it together slowly. If Jack killed Mandy then Carl Brennan must have lied about his son’s movements on that day, and he must also know where Mandy’s body was.
She grabbed the search record and spread the map out over the bedroom floor. Checking the report, she could see that it had been compiled by Carl Brennan, who also co-ordinated the efforts of the Park Rangers, Sheriff ’s officers, US Marines and members of the public in the woodland searches.
Anna decided the best thing to do was to write down, on bits of paper, the names of the teams, including the date and time they had searched each gridded area of woodland. Having laid them out on the corresponding areas of the map, nothing struck her as out of the ordinary.
She was beginning to gather up the bits of paper from the map when she noticed something odd about the searches on 25 May. Carl Brennan had led a team of eight people searching an area of woodland in Prince William Forest at eleven a.m. Ten other searches, in different areas, had taken place at the same time on that day, but what made Carl’s team stand out to Anna was that one member, a Mr J Knox, appeared to be in two places at the same time. At first, she thought that it could have been chance, someone with the same surname and initial, a relative perhaps, but as she looked closer she could see that the same thing re-occurred with the whole of Carl Brennan’s team. Each member listed on his team was also listed at another site at the same time. She was certain she was right – Carl Brennan must have made up a team using real names and there could only be one reason. Mandy Anderson’s body was buried in this section of woodland.
It was nearly two a.m. by the time Anna had put her notes in chronological order. Nevertheless, she pulled on a jumper over her pyjamas, went downstairs and before waking Blane laid out the statements and search map on the dining table, along with her notepad. She hesitated in his bedroom doorway, worried about upsetting him with her revelations. He was sound asleep, looking completely at peace, but her mind was made up; she wouldn’t be able to sleep herself as she was far too keen to run her thoughts by him.
Anna gently touched his shoulder. ‘Don, it’s me,’ she whispered. ‘I’m sorry to wake you but I really need to speak to you.’
Don, still half asleep and not really taking in what was happening, said nothing as he moved over to one side of the bed and pulled back the quilt, inviting her to join him.
‘No, it’s not that, Don.’
She didn’t feel affronted – had it been under different circumstances she would probably have slipped into bed with him, but now she switched on his bedside lamp. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light.
‘I think I may have uncovered what happened to Mandy and where she’s buried,’ Anna said softly.
He went bright red, flipped the quilt back over the bed and scooted out the other side, grabbing his dressing gown from the end of the bed.
‘I’m sorry, Anna, forgot I was buck-naked. I was half asleep and didn’t mean to offend…’
‘I’m not offended at all. I’m the one who should be apologizing for waking you at this time in the morning,’ she admitted sheepishly.
Blane joined Anna, having had a quick wash and put on a track-suit, sitting down beside her on the sofa. She decided to get straight to the point.
‘At first, I wasn’t sure and I thought I might be imagining things, but I’ve been going over and over the case since I went upstairs. I’ve laid everything out for you to look at,’ she said and pointed to the map and case file papers covering the dining table. ‘Okay, here we go – are you ready?’
He smiled, nodding his head. There was something so girlish about her excitement, and he leaned back as she clapped her hands.
‘Right, I think that Jack Brennan killed Mandy Anderson, and his father Carl, having found out, either helped him dispose of the body or deliberately made sure the area where she is concealed was not searched.’
Don looked at Anna with surprise, yet he knew from her tone of voice and demeanour that she was being serious, as she seemed calmer and focused. He was certain she would not be making such a bold statement if she hadn’t found evidence to back it up.
‘You won’t believe this, but it was the song “Mandy” on the CD player. Jack was playing the same tune on the piano when I left him at the church. Something was niggling me about it, but I thought I was being silly and imagining things. I had to be sure before I said anything to you,’ Anna said, embarrassed, feeling she had let him down by not confiding in him at the time.
He sensed the unease in her voice.
‘Whatever your reasons were, I don’t care. All that matters is we trust each other. Never be frightened to tell me your thoughts,’ he said.
‘All right, well I might as well be honest about everything. I also overheard your conversation with Carl Brennan, but I didn’t know at the time who you were speaking to.’
‘I knew you had heard, the floorboards creak at the slightest movement so I knew you were up. I didn’t tell you that Carl was having a moan and overreacting because I didn’t want you to worry. He hugged her before continuing. ‘I have to say you were very good at not giving yourself away, you must have been very curious to know who I was talking to.’
Anna slowly eased back from his embrace, thinking that it was good that he could joke about her antics, but at the same time she needed to finish what she had started.
‘I think Carl’s reaction was a nervous one, plus he may have been fishing for information,’ Anna said as Blane put his arm around her shoulders, and asked her to tell him everything that had raised her suspicions about Jack and Carl. She dived back to the table to fetch her notepad, and then rejoined him beside the fire, taking a deep breath before taking her time to explain what she thought might have happened. She said that it was Jack Brennan’s birthday on the day Mandy disappeared and she suspected that the camera key ring and birthday card Mandy bought at the mall were for him. Not wanting to be ridiculed about the present, or associating with Jack, Mandy lied about choir practice as a cover to secretly visit him on her way home.