The Anniversary (18 page)

ature. He checked the ordinary human impulse to reach down 27

and loosen it. His job was to protect the crime scene, leave every-28

thing as it was. The body had to stay as he’d found it until the 29

state police arrived.

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Then he noticed something else, and his body seemed to 31

clench. Her arm, it was something on her arm, a series of deep 32

gashes. All in a row. Orderly. Someone had taken their time. The 33

image was something that he’d seen before but only in a book, in 34

a homicide manual showing examples of serial killers’ work.

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A shiver passed through O’Hara’s body, and he felt a little lost.

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For the first time, it occurred to him that he’d never seen a corpse 1

before.

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Then he was back on his feet, pulling out his cell phone.

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Cutting his eyes away from the body, he placed the call to Dis-4

patch.

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Thursday, April 20

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After an exhilarating post-graduation trip to Europe, I settled into the
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training program at Lowell, Cafferty, a brokerage firm in Boston. It was
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there that I met Joe Flick. Right away, we knew we were soul mates. Both
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of us were marathon runners, and could think of no better way to spend a
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Saturday night than to search out great live music. Perhaps most impor-6

tantly, though, we discovered a shared obsession with Fresh Samantha’s
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Vanilla Almond Soy Shake! Last Christmas, we announced our engage-8

ment. If all goes as scheduled, we’ll be married by the time you read this
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and settling into our new apartment in Boston’s Back Bay.

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Callie looked up from the Fifth Reunion report she’d been 12

editing for the past two hours. She was awash in stories of prom-13

ising lives, a sea of self-congratulation. A bit cynically she won-14

dered how the reality measured up. These seamless records of 15

accomplishment, what did they leave out? She thought, too, of 16

the graduates who hadn’t sent in the survey, of those who’d pro-17

vided just name and address or hadn’t responded at all. Maybe 18

they’d tried to answer the questions, then finally given up, over-19

come with a sense that at age twenty-six they’d already lost the 20

race.

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Callie rubbed her eyes. Time for a break, she thought.

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Crossing through the reception area, she dropped a stack of 23

edited pages on Posy Kisch’s desk. As usual, Posy was on the 24

phone. She didn’t look up. Her hair, a purplish red today, almost 25

matched her lipstick. “So I was, like, no way. And he told me to, 26 S

like, shut up . . .”

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Martha was at her desk, typing away on something. She looked 1

up, slightly distracted, as Callie came through the door.

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“What are we going to
do
about Kabuki Girl?” Callie asked, 3

once she’d shut the door.

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Martha gave a helpless shrug. “What
can
we do?” she asked.

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“Anyway, it’s just for another month. Next year, maybe we’ll do 6

better.”

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Callie plunked herself in a chair. “Windham College. Where 8

the student rules. That should be the motto. Next year, we should 9

definitely insist that we at least get to interview.”

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“Yeah. I guess you’re right.” Martha took a sip of coffee from a 11

blue ceramic mug. “At least she’s here,” she said mildly.

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Callie rolled her eyes. “For once.”

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In recent weeks, Posy’s sporadic attendance had become even 14

more erratic. An overdue paper. A sick ferret. A malfunctioning 15

alarm. At this point, Callie didn’t even bother asking why she 16

hadn’t shown up. “Just call us if you’re not coming in,” she’d said 17

tiredly. Sullenly, Posy had said she would. Then she’d skipped 18

three days.

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“How’s she going to hold a job once she gets out of school?”

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“Thankfully, that’s not our problem,” said Martha.

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“I guess you’re right,” said Callie.

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A swirl of dark hair fell over Martha’s forehead, and she shoved 23

it back absently. She had square capable artist’s hands, the nails 24

clipped short. Along with her job at Windham, she worked as a 25

ceramic artist. She’d married young, divorced, and now had two 26

teenage kids. Martha seemed to take life as it came, and Callie 27

admired that.

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“So how’ve
you
been?” Martha asked after another sip of cof-29

fee. “I’ve hardly seen you this week. How was that Easter thing?”

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Callie felt a dip in her stomach. “Fine,” she said. “Fun.”

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“Anna doing okay?”

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“She seems to be. No recent explosions.”

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“And Rick?”

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“He . . . he’s
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she was far from feeling. In fact, things with Rick were compli-2

cated. She wasn’t sure where they stood. His proposal still hung 3

over them, a floating question mark.

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“He’s a great guy,” said Martha.

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“Yes,” said Callie. “He is.”

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As she met Martha’s serene blue eyes, Callie felt a twinge of 7

guilt. Why should she have Rick while Martha had no one? Cal-8

lie knew Martha was okay with it, that she didn’t need a man. At 9

the same time, she knew that her friend would be happier if she 10

had a partner. She’d answered the occasional personal ad, been 11

fixed up by friends, but except for a few amusing stories had little 12

to show for her efforts.

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Impulsively, Callie leaned toward her. “There’s someone I 14

want you to meet.”

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Martha raised her eyebrows, as if to say, “Shoot.”

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“He’s a cop, a friend of Rick’s. He lives in my neighborhood.”

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Briefly she described Tod Carver. Martha seemed interested.

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“Rick thinks he’s still not over his ex-wife. But you have to start 19

somewhere. He has two kids, both pretty young. Is that a prob-20

lem?”

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“Nope.”

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Callie smiled. “Okay then. I’ll talk to him this week. I could 23

have you both to dinner.”

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A knock on Martha’s closed door, then Posy poked her head 25

in. There was something eerie about the makeup covering the 26

fresh young face. Not for the first time, Callie wondered why she 27

did this to herself. A desperate bid for attention, or did she just 28

like how it looked?

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“A guy named Nathan’s here to see you,” Posy said to Callie.

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Nathan.
Callie groaned to herself. She’d half forgotten their 31

plans. Nathan had called early this morning to ask if she’d have 32

lunch. She’d begged off, saying that she was too busy but finally 33

agreed to coffee.

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“He says you’re expecting him,” Posy said.

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“Thanks. I’ll be right out.”

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Posy closed, almost slammed, the door. The office reverberated.

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“You could always say no,” Martha mouthed, as Callie stood to 2

leave.

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“Why didn’t I think of that?” Callie whispered. “Next time, 4

definitely. Hey, are you through with the
Globe
?”

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“Take it,” Martha said.

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Callie grabbed the paper from a bookcase and went out to 7

meet Nathan.

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He was standing next to Posy’s desk, all gangly arms and legs.

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He shifted from one foot to the other, his eyes trained to the floor.

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As Callie approached, his head jerked up, and color flooded his 11

face.

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“Hi, Callie.” He seemed on edge, more so than usual.

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Callie made a quick decision.

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“Nathan, I’m really swamped today. I don’t have time to go 15

out. If you want, we can have a cup of coffee here. Then I’ve got 16

to get back to work.”

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At first she thought he was going to object, but he seemed to 18

think better of it.

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“Okay,” he said, with an awkward shrug. “Let’s just stay here 20

then.”

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As she handed Nathan a mug of coffee, Callie noticed Posy 22

watching. In the place of her usual bored detachment was an al-23

most avid interest. For an instant, Callie wondered what Posy 24

was thinking. Then Nathan started to talk.

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They carried their coffee into Callie’s office. She didn’t close 26

the door. Directing Nathan to the visitor’s chair, she sat behind 27

her desk.

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“Did you miss me?” Nathan asked, once they’d settled in. He 29

was looking at her intensely, an odd smile on his face.

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“Miss you?” Callie said lightly. “I didn’t know you were gone.”

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His smile turned petulant. “I was sick. I had the flu. Didn’t you 32

see that I wasn’t in class? I usually sit with you.”

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“I’m glad you’re better,” Callie said.

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Nathan didn’t answer. Now he was looking around the room, S 35

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as if preoccupied. “I saw this great video the other night, this Nazi 2

propaganda film. Incredible pictures of Nazis kissing babies. Lots 3

of stuff like that.”

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Callie stared at him. Had he always been this creepy? When 5

they first met, she’d thought he was strange but sweet. Now he 6

just seemed strange.

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“That doesn’t sound like it’s up my alley,” Callie finally said.

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Ten minutes later, when they said good-bye, Callie felt a vast 9

relief. She stood in the doorway of the office suite until he turned 10

the corner.

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As Callie headed back to her office, Posy asked, “Who was 12

that guy?”

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“He’s a junior,” Callie said. “His name’s Nathan Lacoste.”

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“How do you know him?”

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“He’s in one of my classes. What’s with all the questions?”

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Posy was blushing now. “Nothing,” she mumbled, ducking her 17

head. “I was just wondering.” Beneath the thick layer of white 18

pancake, her face was a mottled pink.

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Posy was interested in Nathan! Callie almost laughed. Nathan 20

and Kabuki Girl. What a perfect pair. At least it was something 21

to keep in mind if Nathan showed up again. Who knew? Maybe 22

it would even work. Maybe they’d be good for each other.

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Back at her desk, Callie launched into the next stack of ques-24

tionnaires.

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After graduation, I moved to New York, where I worked as a paralegal
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at Cravath, Swaine & Moore . . .

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God, it was all too tedious. She grabbed the newspaper she’d 30

snagged from Martha and skimmed the front-page headlines. She 31

wouldn’t mind seeing a movie this weekend, though not the one 32

Nathan had mentioned. She flipped through the newspaper’s sec-33

tions, searching for the listings.

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Diane Massey

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The name jumped from the page. For an instant, she thought 36 R

she’d imagined it, but another part of her knew. Blood rushed to 1 0 2

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Callie’s head. Her heart began to race. Deep inside her, a voice 1

was saying,
This is what you’ve been waiting for.

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For a moment, the name seemed to float, unattached to anything 3

else. Then, slowly, her focus widened, and she could read the sur-4

rounding words. MYSTERY DEEPENS IN CRIME WRITER’S

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DEATH. And beneath the boldface headline, in smaller type: 6

diane massey led quiet life in final days on island.

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She read through the article quickly once, then again more 8