‘What’s happened to my dad?’
Blane took Jack through to the living room and told him that his dad was fine but asked if he knew where he was. Jack said he didn’t but he’d gone out early in his Park Ranger’s truck. Blane knew that as Carl Brennan would never run off and leave his son, they could just sit and wait for him to return, but he and the Sheriff agreed it was better to be safe than sorry and put out an APB on Carl. They also knew that legally they were treading a fine line by questioning Jack, but they needed to trace Carl Brennan quickly.
Blane sat Jack down and calmly explained that the District Judge had said that they could search the house and cars and held up the warrant.
‘I haven’t stolen anything,’ Jack said defensively.
‘It’s not about stealing things, Jack, it’s about the day Mandy disappeared. Did she come here with a birthday present for you?’ Blane asked.
‘No.’ Jack sucked in his breath and bit down on his lips in a childlike manner.
‘Is that the truth, Jack?’
‘Yes, you can ask my dad, he’ll tell you it’s the truth. It’s the truth, honestly that is the truth.’
The Sheriff was outside putting out the APB when Anna noticed that there was a kitchen to her left, which led her to wonder if there was a door that led out to the garage. Indeed there was and it was open. The garage was huge and would comfortably hold four cars. There was a sink in one corner next to a washing machine and dryer, and a door to the rear garden. Next to this was a wall rack with a range of neatly assembled garden tools hanging from it. There was one car, an old red Ford Fiesta, which was in good condition and well polished. Anna looked through the passenger window and was astonished by what she saw. The car keys were in the ignition and dangling from them was a tiny digital camera.
As Anna returned to the living room it was clear that Blane was becoming frustrated at his lack of progress with Jack.
‘That’s a lovely looking car in the garage, beautifully polished. Is it yours, Jack?’ Anna asked.
‘Yes, ma’am, my dad bought it for my sixteenth birthday and taught me to drive in it.’
Anna held up the Fiesta’s car key while hiding the digital camera in the palm of her hand. ‘I found this on the garage floor.’ She paused as Jack peered at the key.
‘That’s the key for my car,’ he said.
Anna let the camera fall from her palm and it swayed like a pendulum, yet Jack didn’t bat an eyelid or even break his eye contact with her. She thought this strange, particularly if Mandy Anderson had bought it for him. Blane glanced at her, as she moved a fraction closer to Jack, whose big raw hands clenched and unclenched.
‘Where did you get the lovely little camera?’ Anna asked.
‘I found it,’ Jack said, now avoiding eye contact and looking worried.
‘Mandy gave it to you on your birthday and told you not to tell anyone, didn’t she, Jack?’ Anna asked with a cheeky smile.
Jack smiled back and nodded. ‘Promise you won’t tell my dad, or he’ll be upset with me again.’
‘Yours and Mandy’s secrets are safe with me and Don. I bet she gave you a birthday card as well?’
‘Yes, she did,’ Jack said proudly.
Blane smiled at him. ‘Have you still got it?’
Jack leaned forward to Blane and whispered, ‘I hid it from my dad but you can see it if you want. It’s signed, she signed it, because it is very special, she signed, “Love Mandy”.’
‘It must have been a wonderful surprise when Mandy came round with a card and present?’
Jack looked away from Blane and shook his head firmly.
‘No, she’s never been to my house, not ever. You can ask my dad.’
Blane kept his voice relaxed and smiled, saying he’d love to see the birthday card.
‘Okay, I’ll go and get it for you,’ Jack said and dashed off upstairs.
Anna was surprised that Blane hadn’t followed up on Jack’s obvious lie and was about to ask why but he preempted her.
‘Jack doesn’t think he’s lying because he’s erased the memory of Mandy ever being here that day.’
‘But why be so open about the camera and card?’ Anna asked.
‘Because you were right, Mandy wanted it to be kept a secret. To Jack they are precious keepsakes that it would seem even Carl doesn’t know about.’
Anna agreed but was still confused as to whether or not Carl was involved.
‘Jack knows right from wrong and is not a habitual liar,’ Blane insisted. ‘He and Carl may not have spoken about Mandy since the day she went missing, but they certainly did yesterday as Carl’s phone call last night revealed.’
‘So you think that Jack telling his father about meeting me may have relit the fuse,’ Anna said.
‘And it made Carl twitchy – his call was really a fishing expedition to see what was happening.’
Jack came back into the room and proudly presented the birthday card to Anna to look at, childlike and smiling as he tapped the card in his hand.
As he did so, Blane spoke to Sheriff Mitchell, and quietly suggested that Jack be interviewed at the station by a forensic psychiatrist, who might be able to jog his memory into recall, without causing an emotional breakdown.
It was a sad moment as Jack was driven away in a patrol car. He was still smiling happily, but only because he had no real understanding of what was happening to him.
‘Any luck with Carl’s whereabouts?’ Blane asked the Sheriff as they stood in the driveway.
‘Not as yet – they put out calls over his car radio but either it’s switched off or he’s deliberately not answering.’
‘Shit. Carl’s gone to dig her up. The tool rack in the garage – there was no shovel!’ Anna exclaimed.
‘Then he has to be at the area that he made sure was never searched,’ Blane said. ‘Okay, let’s go.’
The three of them were in the Sheriff’s car in an instant, driving at high speed down the I-95, magnetic blue light flashing and sirens on. Sheriff Mitchell recalled that there was a single dirt track road into that section of woodland and it was a mile long with a dead end, so if Carl Brennan was there he would have to come back out the same way.
It was about three minutes more before they reached the location. As they drove slowly down the track they caught sight of a Ranger’s truck in the distance, at which point the Sheriff took out a pair of binoculars to get a closer look and confirmed that it was Carl Brennan’s. Turning the binoculars towards the woods he reckoned that he could just about see the figure of someone walking back towards the truck carrying what looked like a black trash bag. Mitchell turned off the patrol car’s engine and said that it was best to get out and approach on foot.
As they got closer to the vehicle a man came out of the woods, but he wasn’t carrying anything. He was tall and dressed smartly in a park ranger’s tapered grey shirt, green trousers, matching arrowhead tie and brown felt hat. On seeing them he smiled, waved and started to walk along the dirt track in their direction. Blane muttered to Anna that it was Carl Brennan, and positioned himself in front of her, saying she was to stay behind him. Anna could see that he had his right hand behind his back and was carrying a small Glock pistol, concealing it from Carl’s view. Simultaneously, Sheriff Mitchell put his hand down to his right side, unclipped his holster and gripped the gun, ready to use it if he had to. Although Carl Brennan wore a holster and firearm, his hands were loosely by his sides as he approached them.
Anna started nervously as the man suddenly raised his right hand slowly upwards, thankfully past his sidearm to his hat, which he lifted and doffed politely.
‘Hiya, Sheriff, Don, everything okay?’ Carl said and placed his hat back on his head.
‘What you doing out here, Carl?’ Sheriff Mitchell asked.
‘I had a tip-off about some poachers out looking for black bears, so I came to check it out,’ Carl answered.
‘Where’s the black bag you were just carrying?’ Sheriff Mitchell asked.