After Anna

by Lisa Scottoline

  ‘Are you serious?’ Maggie asked, getting angry. ‘Are you saying you’re not responsible because she wasn’t a student here, technically, after the email?’

  Kathy interjected, ‘Roger, don’t you care about the fact that Anna is missing? We can get lawyers, too. You want the lawyers to battle it out or do you want to find Anna? And Jamie, too. Or do you want to be another private school that doesn’t protect its female students?’

  Roger bristled. ‘Ladies, as I have said, Congreve had no control or knowledge of Anna’s leaving.’ He turned to Maggie. ‘In fact, the responsibility for her departure lies completely with you, since you were the one who took her from campus, and though we –’

  ‘Now wait one minute –’

  ‘– understand your emotionality in the circumstances –’

  ‘You think I’m emotional?’ Maggie interrupted again, angry. ‘This is me, calm. You haven’t seen me emotional. Do you even have a heart? You’re going to blame me for the fact that someone took my daughter and impersonated her? You’re going to stand on some legal technicality so you don’t have to care about her?’

  Kathy nodded. ‘Yeah, Roger, I’m a teacher and I know you stand in the position of a parent here, in loco parentis. You’re responsible for her and you should be ashamed of yourself.’

  Roger picked up his legal pad, rising. ‘We have done everything that we are responsible to do and we will continue to do so.’

  Whitaker rose, his expression softer. ‘Ladies, I’m doing everything that I can reasonably do and so is my staff. But you have to understand, a snowstorm like this stretches everyone to the limit. Chief Vogel will get back to you at his earliest, I promise you.’

  Roger added, ‘Yes, he will, though I would caution you to remember that this is a missing person case that is almost eight months old. It is simply not going to be resolved tonight. My advice is to see if there are any rooms at the Congreve Inn, hunker down during the storm, and by the end of the week, I’m sure you will hear from the Chief. We gave him your contact information.’

  Maggie rose, fuming. ‘Thanksgiving is the end of the week. Nobody’s rushing around except to buy turkeys. It’s snowing. That’s what I’m hearing from you. Will you at least call Chief Vogel and tell him the information I gave you? Maybe he has some ideas or leads.’

  ‘Will do.’ Roger nodded.

  ‘Tonight? As if a life depended on it? Because it could. Did you even file a missing persons report or should I do that? Just tell me the process.’

  Roger pursed his lips. ‘The process is more informal than what you’re used to, in larger cities. We spoke with Chief Vogel, and you can follow up, but as I said, later. All of the area police are being deployed to deal with the snow emergency, and this matter may be dealt with after the storm, in just a day or two.’

  Kathy stood up, touching Maggie’s arm. ‘Honey, you know what? Maybe they’re right. Maybe we should just go to the hotel, check in, take a shower, and wait it out.’

  Maggie turned to her, confused. ‘Why should we let them off the hook? They have all the information. They’re barely lifting a finger, and that’s okay with you?’

  Kathy put an arm around her. ‘Maggie, listen. We’ve had a long day, and this has been upsetting. We can call the Chief after a good night’s sleep. I think we need to decompress and debrief.’

  ‘You do?’ Maggie asked, nonplussed.

  ‘Yep, let’s get Caleb and go.’ Kathy shouldered her purse and started shaking everybody’s hands. ‘Gentlemen, thank you so much. We know you’ll do your best to find Anna and that you’ll stay in touch with us.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Roger smiled tightly, shaking Kathy’s hand.

  ‘Yes, thank you.’ Whitaker shook Kathy’s hand, then offered his hand to Maggie. ‘Maggie?’

  ‘I’ll be damned if I’ll shake your hand!’ Maggie snatched up her phone and purse.

  ‘Gentlemen, thank you, bye.’ Kathy tugged Maggie from the office, collected Caleb from the waiting room, and hustled them all out of the Administration Rotunda into the cold and dark.

  ‘You want to go to the hotel?’ Maggie stopped her under the portico, zipping up her coat.

  Kathy looked back slyly. ‘How long have you known me, girl? I got an idea.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘Race me to the car.’

  ‘Me first!’ Caleb called out, taking off.

  Chapter Sixty-nine

  Noah, After

  Noah experienced the night as a horrible blur, COs running into the cell, taking the dead inmate away, locking down the cellblock, and taking him, Peach, and the other inmate into the security wing for questioning. Police and prison officials interrogated Noah for hours, and he told them what had happened, except about the contraband needle. He’d grabbed the needle off the floor during those first moments of confusion, palmed it, and dropped it in the hallway outside the cellblock.

  They finished questioning Noah by dawn, deciding not to write him up because they credited his account that he didn’t know about the fight or that their cell door was unlocked. He hadn’t been given a chance to coordinate his story with Peach, but they’d been in jail long enough to know not to snitch. The higher-ups knew that Noah had just arrived at the prison, which gave credence to his story, and they had an internal problem, since a CO must have intentionally left their cell door unlocked. Noah assumed it had been CO Evesham, unless a different CO had done it after he and Peach had fallen asleep. He’d heard the stories of guards who would leave a cell door unlocked at night, looking the other way so the inmates could fight, sell drugs, or have sex. In any event, it wasn’t his problem.

  But during the process, Noah had had the realization that he had no control over anything. He had always been the guy who had everything in control, even in medical school. That was what his notetaking had been about, and the belief that hard work would lead to success and happiness, as if to control the process was to control the outcome. But there was no logical relationship between process and outcome, in life. And it had taken everything that had happened to him to arrive at that understanding, starting with Anna’s moving in and ending at Graterford, being questioned about another life he hadn’t been able to save. But learning that lesson had cost him Maggie, Caleb, and his freedom.

  His family.

  By morning, Noah was permitted to shower and change, with a CO posted. But Noah didn’t trust even him. The COs would be no friends of his, now that he’d caused one of them to be disciplined or fired. He began to feel shaken by the violence he’d seen. He couldn’t get the images out of his head, and now that he knew he had no control, he felt even more vulnerable.

  He was escorted to breakfast late and hustled down the hall to the cafeteria. By then, the prison was no longer on lockdown, because lockdown at mealtimes was a logistical nightmare, since inmates had to be fed in their cells, requiring extra manpower that strained personnel and budget.

  Noah entered the cafeteria and joined the back of the line, grabbing a tray, plastic cutlery, and a napkin, glancing behind him, reflexively. The cafeteria was a long rectangle with stainless steel tables and the same grimy cinder-block walls. COs were stationed along the wall, entrance, and exit, and Noah guessed they had extra guards because of the murder, but it didn’t reassure him.

  The line shifted forward, and so did Noah, moving his tray along and eyeing the powdered eggs, gloppy chipped beef, and white bread. He lifted his plate and accepted the food, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see inmates beginning to notice him, their heads turning to check him out. Noah was willing to bet they knew more about the murder than he did. Only during his interrogation did he find out the name of the inmate who had been killed. Jeremy Black.

  Noah reached the end of the line, taking a carton of milk. He turned to the tables, which were beginning to empty, the inmates looking back at him as they left, their expressions hard. He spotted an empty table on the left, so he walked over, sat down with his tray, and dug into his eggs
, which were lukewarm and oversalted.

  Noah started on his chipped beef, and a brawny inmate sat down across from him with his tray. The man’s head was shaved and tattooed with tribal markings, and he had narrow-set brown eyes and a lower lip that jutted forward from an underbite.

  ‘Hey,’ the inmate said quietly.

  ‘Hi.’ Noah gulped down another forkful of chipped beef. The guards were looking over, their heads turning.

  ‘Name’s John Drover.’

  ‘Noah Alderman.’ Noah could see the guards coming over, but he didn’t understand why.

  ‘I know. You let my homie die.’

  Chapter Seventy

  Maggie, After

  ‘You’re so smart, Kath.’ Maggie rallied, steering the rental car toward the gate. The snowfall seemed heavier, the flakes flying into their headlights in the darkness.

  ‘I’m an educator, baby.’ Kathy cackled, thumbing through her phone, the screen illuminating her features from below.

  ‘That was fun!’ Caleb giggled in the backseat.

  ‘What’s your idea?’ Maggie asked Kathy, driving through the gate.

  ‘Keep going, and I’ll fill you in. We need them to see us leave, in case they’re watching. Pull over anywhere when you get into town.’

  ‘Okay. I’m going to call Ellen.’ Maggie reached for her phone, pressed the number, and the call was answered. ‘Ellen?’

  ‘Yes, Maggie, hello.’ Ellen sounded more distant than she had earlier in the day.

  ‘Ellen, hi, we just came from the meeting, and I was surprised you weren’t there.’ Maggie drove ahead, and traffic had lessened as they passed the lovely homes. Nobody was outside snowblowing or shoveling in the frigid night.

  ‘Frankly, they asked me not to be. I probably shouldn’t be taking this call.’

  ‘I thought so.’ Maggie felt herself get angry all over again. ‘What’s their problem? You’re just trying to help. I appreciated how concerned you were when we spoke. Don’t they care?’

  ‘Yes, but unfortunately, legalities intervened. I think they’re realizing that they’ve been somewhat lax about security at the school. Our remote location lulls us into complacency. They’re very concerned about liability.’

  ‘I’m not going to sue anybody. I just want to find my daughter.’

  ‘I understand that, but their response is an institutional one. The board and the lawyers are advising them now.’

  ‘But I’m worried about Anna. Aren’t they?’

  ‘I really can’t say more. I should go. I wanted you to know that I care about Anna, and they’re going to do the best they can. I’ll make sure they do.’

  ‘Just let me ask you this, Anna’s friend Jamie Covington went missing from school too. Did you treat Jamie?’

  ‘I can’t answer that.’

  ‘Does that mean you did? It must.’

  ‘I’ve been asked not to speak with you directly. Roger wants the information to flow through him.’

  ‘Can you just text me Jamie’s parents’ contact information? I won’t say where it came from.’

  ‘No, I can’t do that.’

  ‘But I think Jamie was helped to run away by people named PG and Connie. Do you know them? I’m thinking they might know where Anna is. I keep thinking they’re connected because –’

  ‘Please, I shouldn’t stay on the line. Take care, Maggie. Good-bye.’ Ellen hung up.

  ‘Damn.’ Maggie ended the call and entered the town of Congreve, which was hunkering down for the storm. The shops had closed, switching their lights off.

  ‘Pull over here. It won’t be long before we go back.’

  ‘We’re going back?’ Maggie parked in front of a boutique with darkened windows. Snow hit the windshield, and the wipers flapped madly.

  ‘You’re darn tootin’.’ Kathy nodded, eyeing the phone. ‘We’re going to snoop around.’

  ‘Good, I say we start with Parker. Somebody has to be there.’

  ‘Agree, and look. This is a virtual tour of the school. It’s on the Congreve website.’ Kathy held up the phone screen, which depicted a bird’s eye view of the campus, with its classy brick buildings surrounded by lush green plantings, hedges, and trees.

  ‘Notice they don’t show it in winter.’

  ‘They’re not that stupid.’ Kathy swiped right, then left, navigating around the campus. Names popped up next to each building, with a description of its use. ‘See? Daley Auditorium, Palumbo Lab Center, the Janet Baker Library. Parker Hall.’

  ‘I know where Parker is. I was there.’

  ‘But do you know this?’ Kathy navigated to a white Victorian house with turrets, its eaves painted violet, lavender, and mint green. She read the pop-up description aloud, ‘ “This is Steingard House, home to the school’s award-winning poetry magazine, The Zephyr.” ’

  ‘Nice. I see how to get there from the entrance. Take a hard left and go straight.’ Maggie noted the street that ran in front of the Victorian house, which was on the far west side of campus. Dickinson Way.

  ‘We have to wait until the suits leave the Administration Rotunda. Whitaker and Amundsen live on campus, and the map shows their houses. They live on the east side of campus, near the lake.’

  ‘So they won’t see us. What about the security guard?’

  ‘We’ll make up something. Say I left something in the office or wanted to take a picture or something. We couldn’t look more harmless, two moms and a little boy.’

  ‘I’m not little!’ Caleb called from the backseat, and Maggie thought he heard more than she’d generally suspected.

  ‘And the lawyer, I doubt he lives on campus.’

  ‘No, he lives under a rock.’ Kathy looked up. ‘But he has to drive by us when he leaves. This is the only street out of the school, right?’

  ‘Right. When he drives by, the meeting is over. The lawyer is always the last to leave.’

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘I learned it at work. Once the lawyer leaves, the conversation isn’t privileged anymore, so the meeting’s over.’

  ‘Whoa.’

  ‘I know things, too,’ Maggie said, checking the rearview.

  Maggie, Kathy, and Caleb hurried up the path to the front door of Parker Hall, which had been salted and shoveled, leaving drifts almost waist-high on either side of the sidewalk. They had waved their way past the security guard at the gate, who must have recognized the car from before and hadn’t even bothered to open the window, maybe because of the snow.

  Maggie remembered Parker Hall, a lovely brick mansion, and there were plenty of lights on inside, so some of the Parkers must have been home. Maybe somebody could help them. They reached the covered entrance doors, which were wood with small glass windows, and through them they could see an entrance hall with Shaker benches, brass floor lamps, and another Oriental rug in front of a curving paneled staircase.

  ‘Somebody’s home.’ Maggie knocked again.

  ‘Is there a Housemaster or something like that?’

  ‘Yes, I think so.’ Maggie knocked harder, then looked around for a buzzer or intercom, but there wasn’t one. She looked over at a lit window on the first floor, but she couldn’t see inside because the shade was pulled down. She made a megaphone of her hands and shouted, ‘Hello, on the first floor, can you come to the door? Please?’

  ‘Hey look!’ Kathy said, and Maggie turned to see a young student in Congreve sweats, padding into the entrance hall in moccasins. She wore hip black glasses, and her hair was up in a long ponytail.

  Maggie called to her, ‘Please let us in, we’re two frostbitten moms! And a big boy!’

  The student came to the door, opening it with a smile. ‘Are you parents or something?’

  ‘Yes, hi, I’m Maggie Ippoliti, and this is my son Caleb and best friend Kathy. We’re from Pennsylvania, and my daughter lived here. Her name was Anna Desroches. Is Anna Desroches.’

  ‘I’m Madison Leone. What’s the problem? Did your car break down?’


  ‘No, but to make a long story short, my daughter went missing last year and we’re looking for her. She lived here. Did you know her?’

  Madison frowned, buckling her smooth forehead. ‘No. What class was she in?’

  ‘She was a junior last year.’

  ‘Oh, I wasn’t here then. I transferred in this year.’

  ‘Do you know anybody who can help us? I just want to ask a question or two. We’re trying to find her.’

  ‘I would have told you that Kurt and his wife can help you. He’s our Housemaster. But he and his wife went away for Thanksgiving. I’m taking care of their cat.’

  Kathy interjected, ‘We’re working with Morris Whitaker on this, so it’s okay.’

  Madison nodded. ‘Right, I know what you’re talking about. They were here today, talking to Sofia about Anna. Sofia lived upstairs, next door to Anna. I know about it because I heard them talking. My room is on the first floor, right over there.’ She pointed. ‘I hear everything. That’s how I heard you knocking.’

  ‘Oh.’ Maggie realized that Sofia must have been the student who told Whitaker that the imposter had posed as a paralegal. ‘Is Sofia around? Maybe we can talk to her.’

  ‘No, she left for the holiday.’

  Maggie wanted to pick Madison’s brain, too, just in case. ‘If you’re new, you didn’t know Jamie Covington, did you?’

  ‘No, that name doesn’t sound familiar.’

  ‘Do you know if a girl named PG lives here? Or Connie? These were friends of my daughter’s.’

  ‘No, I never heard of them.’

  ‘Do you know who else we can speak to? Anybody who might know Anna, Jamie, PG, or Connie?’

  ‘Sure, hold on.’ Madison took a phone from her sweatpants pocket and thumbed in a text. ‘I’m asking Genevieve, she’s a senior. She’ll be right down. She knows everybody.’

  ‘Great, thanks.’ Maggie turned to the staircase, and in a few moments, a short African-American student in a red sweater and jeans descended and approached them.