The Anniversary (53 page)

hose,” he said.

30

On the other side of the one-way glass, Jamison shook his head.

31

“That was in the press,” he muttered. “Crain just picked it up.”

32

“You know the size?” Farrell was asking.

33

“Nah.”

34

“Brand name?”

S 35

“It wasn’t like I planned to wear them. I didn’t pay attention.”

R 36

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“Where’d you buy them?”

2

“Don’t recall. I’d had ’em a pretty long time.”

3

“Weeks? Months? Years?”

4

“Yeah.”

5

“Which one?”

6

“Don’t recall.”

7

From the other side of the one-way glass, Jamison shook his 8

head. “He hasn’t told us anything he couldn’t have read in the 9

papers. The stuff they held back — size, brand — he can’t answer 10

those questions.”

11

“Like he said, he might have forgotten,” said Lambert.

12

“Not him. Not those sorts of things.”

13

“But why would he lie?” Lambert asked. “Why confess to a 14

murder he didn’t commit?”

15

“He wishes he’d done it,” Jamison said. “That’s one explana-16

tion.”

17

From what happened next, it almost seemed as if Crain could 18

hear their conversation. Until this point, he’d stared at the floor 19

with occasional glances at Farrell. Now he turned toward the 20

mirrored glass, gazing straight at
them.

21

“I cut up her arms,” he said.

22

Jamison stared at him, the blood humming in his veins. For the 23

first time, Crain had offered a detail that only the killer should 24

know. They’d withheld the part about Diane’s arms for precisely 25

this reason. To have a way of distinguishing between true and 26

false confessions.

27

“Cut up her arms, like, how?” asked Farrell.

28

“With a knife, I ripped them straight up the insides, starting by 29

the hands.”

30

Lambert was slowly shaking his head, a look of wonder on his 31

face. “Jesus Christ, Callie Thayer was right. It was fucking Lester 32

Crain.”

33

Jamison didn’t say anything. What was there to say? He’d been 34

so confident that he was right, so certain of his theories. And 35 S

now? Now, what did he think? Again, he heard Crain’s voice. “I 36 R

ripped them straight up the insides, starting by the hands.”

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Could someone have leaked the information to Crain? Highly, 1

highly unlikely. But how else, unless he was the killer, could 2

Crain have known this fact? For the first time since his arrival in 3

Merritt, Jamison felt unsure. Had he let pride — arrogance —

4

blind him to the truth?

5

“What did you use to cut her?” That was Farrell again.

6

Crain grinned. He seemed in excellent spirits, sensing the stir 7

he’d caused. “You’re something else, you know that? Seems to 8

me I’ve given you enough to work with. I ain’t gonna say any 9

more.”

10

Farrell had taken a seat at the table. He was face-to-face with 11

Crain. “You give Diane any sort of warning? That you were gonna 12

kill her, I mean?”

13

“The note,” Jamison said softly. “That’s where he’s going now.”

14

Crain raised his hands. “You don’t understand English? I said I’m 15

done talkin’. You don’t believe I killed Massey? Fine. Let me go.”

16

“What about Anna Thayer? How come you didn’t kill her?

17

That’s not like you, Lester, not to murder and torture the girl.”

18

Crain’s eyes glistened, but he didn’t answer Farrell.

19

“Let’s talk about Kisch again. That college girl you killed.”

20

“I told you I’m done talkin’.”

21

Farrell stood up, stretched his arms, and yawned elaborately.

22

“That’s fine by me. I get overtime. I can stay here all night.”

23

Crain scowled and stared at the wall.

24

A minute or two, then Lambert said, “Looks like that’s all for 25

now.”

26

He turned to Jamison. “So what do you think?”

27

Jamison rubbed his chin. “I don’t know. There’s something . . .

28

I still don’t buy it, that Crain killed Massey.”

29

“But those gashes along her arms,” said Lambert. “How else 30

could he have known?”

31

“How long was the body left at the scene?”

32

“I couldn’t say for sure. But you know the usual drill. It 33

wouldn’t have been for long. Not long enough for Crain to read 34

about the murder and get himself to the island.”

S 35

“You know,” Jamison said slowly. “He could just be guessing.

R 36

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That’s how Gage cut the arms of his victims. He could have made 2

the leap.”

3

Lambert looked at him doubtfully. “So you still think we’ve got 4

two
killers, both of them obsessed with Steven Gage? One of 5

them copying his handiwork, the other claiming to?”

6

Again, the flicker of uncertainty. Was it possible he was wrong?

7

Years had passed since he’d retired. Had time dulled his instincts?

8

As if sensing Jamison’s hesitation, Lambert pressed ahead.

9

“We’ve linked Crain to the Kisch murder. We know that he’s 10

been active. I know what you said about Crain’s signature, but it’s 11

been a real long time. Maybe Crain’s an exception to the rule.

12

Most rules have exceptions.”

13

“I guess it’s possible,” Jamison said. It cost him some effort to 14

say that.

15

Lambert clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s all I wanted to 16

hear.”

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Wednesday, May 17

Ca l l i e woke up abruptly with a sense that something was 1

wrong. She jumped out of bed and ran to Anna’s room. Her 2

daughter was fast asleep. She knelt down beside Anna’s bed, 3

drinking in her presence. The pink cheeks, the rosebud mouth, 4

the faint soapy smell. Then, reluctantly, she pulled away. She 5

didn’t want to wake her.

6

Heading back to her own room, she felt anxious again. She 7

knew that Anna was safe in bed.
What was wrong? What was it?
It 8

wasn’t even five yet. She had to get some sleep. But just as she 9

climbed back in bed, the answer suddenly hit her. The reporters’

10

phone calls from yesterday. That’s why she felt so anxious. Had 11

her silence managed to stop them, or had they run with what 12

they had?

13

Her Walkman was still on her desk, where she’d left it early 14

Sunday morning. She pulled on the headphones and turned the 15

dial until she found the news. The announcer was talking about 16

UMass budget cuts. A good sign, she thought.

17

Still in her nightgown, she walked downstairs to make a pot of 18

coffee. The radio voice became a distant buzz, a backdrop to her 19

thoughts. Anna hadn’t been to school this week. She’d be falling 20

behind. Callie made a mental note to get homework sent home.

21

She was filling the coffee pot with water when she heard the 22

words
Lester Crain.
The container dropped from her hand with a 23

thud and rolled in the sink.

24

“According to state police, Crain was picked up on I-91 after 25

running a traffic light. His capture brings to conclusion a man-S 26

hunt that’s lasted for close to a decade. Crain escaped from a Ten-R 27

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nessee prison while awaiting retrial for the torture-murder of a 2

Tennessee teenager. State police detective Ed Farrell says there is 3

substantial evidence linking Crain to the murder of Windham 4

sophomore Posy Kisch. The young woman’s body was found early 5

Sunday morning near the Connecticut River. Meanwhile, police 6

are also exploring the possibility that Crain was behind the Sat-7

urday night kidnapping of ten-year-old Anna Thayer. The Mer-8

ritt fifth grader was released unharmed the following day.”

9

Leaning against the counter, Callie took deep breaths. Her 10

thoughts were spinning wildly.
They got him,
was her first thought.

11

But with the euphoria came something else, a devastating knowl-12

edge. The child she loved beyond everything had been in this mon-13

ster’s hands. The thought was obscene, unbearable. She couldn’t 14

comprehend it.

15

By the time she could think clearly again, the announcer had 16

moved on, something about renovation plans for the Merritt 17

public library. Callie found Lambert’s card where she’d stuffed it 18

in her wallet. She pulled off the headphones, closed the door, sat 19

down, and dialed his number.

20

He picked up on the second ring.

21

“Is it true?” she demanded. “I heard the news. You captured 22

Crain?”

23

“I was about to call you,” he said. For the first time since they’d 24

met, Lambert sounded tired.

25

“So it’s over now?” Callie pressed. “I mean, he’s the one?”

26

“We’ve linked him to Posy Kisch’s murder. We don’t know if 27

he kidnapped Anna.”

28

The world seemed to tilt.

29

“But . . . I don’t understand,” said Callie. “I mean, how could it 30

not
be him? Two attacks right here in Merritt. The whole con-31

nection to Steven.”

32

“We’ve got some . . . complicating factors.”

33

“Did you
ask
him about Anna?”

34

“Yes.”

35 S

“What did he say?”

36 R

“I can’t tell you that.”

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“What do you mean, you can’t tell me? My God, I’m her 1

mother.”

2

“Ms. Thayer, this is an ongoing investigation. As soon as we 3

can make anything public, I’ll be sure to let you know.”

4

“So what you’re saying” — she picked her words carefully —

5

“is that the kidnapper may still be out there.”

6

“It’s possible,” Lambert said. “We just don’t know.”

7

“What about Diane and Melanie? What about the notes we 8

got? I mean, how could there be two different killers, both with 9

ties to Steven? Unless . . . unless they’re working together. Is that 10

what’s going on?”

11

“Ms. Thayer, I’m sorry, but I can’t say anything more. I prom-12

ise to contact you just as soon as we know something.”

13

“And until then?” Callie asked angrily. “Until then, what do 14

we do?”

15

“We have you under twenty-four-hour surveillance. You’ll be 16

perfectly safe.”

17

“But how long? How long will it be like this?”

18

“I wish I could tell you that.”

19

20

It was after ten when Anna, still in her pajamas, finally straggled 21

downstairs. She plunked herself down at the kitchen table, with 22

a mumbled “G’morning.” Callie poured Anna a glass of orange 23

juice along with one for herself. She’d have liked one more cup of 24

coffee, but she’d already finished the pot.

25

“I thought I’d make pancakes,” Callie said brightly. “How does 26

that sound to you?”

27

Anna rubbed her eyes. “I’m not really hungry,” she said.

28

“You want some cereal? A scrambled egg?”

29

“Maybe a piece of toast.”

30

Callie almost said, “You have to eat,” but managed to stop her-31

self. In the big picture, what did it matter if Anna ate breakfast 32

today? She stuck two pieces of bread in the toaster and found 33

some strawberry jam. Outside, a thick gray cover of clouds hung 34

low in the dusky sky. The air was heavy with humidity. Another S 35

storm on the way.

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When the toast popped up, Callie spread it with jam and 2

handed the plate to Anna.

3

“You sure you don’t want anything else?”

4

“Not right now,” said Anna.