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Annie took the notebook and stuffed it in her backpack. “I haven’t been in the cabin since she was taken. I’m surprised it’s all still there. I assumed Max would have hauled it all away and redone it for guests. I gave him permission to do whatever he liked with it.”
“He cleaned it up, but that was all. It is a good, tight cabin—otherwise the rodents would have destroyed everything over the years. Max said it was dusty but intact.”
The thought of everything just sitting as they left it tugged at Annie’s heartstrings. Her parents’ things would still be there. The dishes and tableware would be the ones she ate meals with all those years ago. Even their toys would be in the closet.
She might have to check it out herself. Maybe it would bring back memories. But to do that, she’d have to be prepared to face Sarah, and she wasn’t quite ready for that. Not today.
She gave the older woman a quick hug. “Thanks, Anu. I need to run. I’ll let you know if I remember anything.”
Annie crossed the street to the jail. Maybe Tech foundsomething in the photo Jon took. The receptionist sent her to the war room, where she found Mason with his two deputies and several forensic techs.
Mason beckoned to her from the whiteboard at the front of the room. “I was about to call you. You don’t look any the worse for wear this morning.”
“I’m fine. Martha stuffed me with muffins and coffee so I’m set for the day.” She slid into a seat on the front row and exchanged pleasantries with the rest of the group.
“I was about to get started. The first order of business: We didn’t get much more detail about the photo of the men who boarded the boat. Shainya is sure the one man is Joel, so at least that gives us something to go on.”
Annie focused on the things Mason had written on the board. It was a list much like Daniel had insisted they create this morning. Mason had underlined Sean Johnson’s name, which she found interesting since he was dead and couldn’t be behind what they were dealing with.
She pointed to the board. “Sean Johnson?”
Mason turned back to the board. “Hear me out.” He drew lines with the marker between Sean’s name and those of Lissa Sanchez and Glenn Hussert. “We know he was connected to those two. And those two are connected to everyone else in some way. What if all this spirals back to Sean? Maybe what’s happening now is something Sean originally put into play. If we follow Sean first, maybe we can uncover what’s really going on. I admit it’s a long shot, but now that we have extra help, we can afford the personnel to explore the possibility while some of the rest of us dig in to people like West and Bell. And I’d like you to consider staying in town until we sort this out.”
Annie caught her breath at the idea that it all might lead back to Sean. And if so, did her sister’s presence here lead them somewhere closer to the truth as well? She dug in her backpack and pulled out the red notepad. “Sarah sent this to me through Anu, but I haven’t read it. It’s everything she remembered about Becky and the Johnson family.”
Mason took it and flipped the cover open to scan. There were two pages. He handed it to Annie without commenting. She scanned through the pages.
Becky was raped by her brother Mort when she was fifteen, which was the reason for the estrangement in the family. Their dad smuggled drugs in and out of Canada. Their mom left them after that, and Becky went to live with Clive and Sean. She had a baby from that attack, and the baby was stillborn. She got a job in a nursing home when she was sixteen and eventually moved away. She had diabetes and wouldn’t take her medicine, no matter how much I reminded her. I found her in a coma and called 911, but she was dead when they got her to the hospital.
Clive beat Sean from the time he was little, and he hated his dad. Becky once found him torturing a rat and ran to tell Clive about it. When Sean got beaten until he was unconscious, Becky blamed herself and vowed never to tell on him again. He could get her to do just about anything after that. She was always a little afraid of him.
When Annie finished reading, she glanced up at Mason. “A lot of violent dysfunctions in the family.”
“And threads of why Becky would do something like takingSarah. She probably wanted to replace the baby she’d lost. Serial killers usually start out torturing animals. I’d say we’re on the right track with focusing on Sean.”
And Annie would have to talk to Sarah about all of this. At least her sister was trying.
Sixteen
When the text came through with Olivia’s name, it was a stark reminder that Jon had done nothing yet about the problem back in Rochester.Please help me. The sun streamed through the parlor of the Blue Bonnet and washed out his screen, so he walked into the shadows nearer the fireplace.
He had to ask the investigator to exhume Tessa Abston’s body. It was the right thing to do. Annie was going to check out what the situation was in Minnesota, but with everything going on here, he was sure she hadn’t gotten that done. He didn’t want to prod her when someone seemed to be after her. He needed to handle this himself.
He stared at the number Olivia had texted again. It was the same detective he’d called when the news first broke. Ken Perry. The guy had been a suspicious jerk when they’d talked last. Would his attitude have changed any?
Sighing, Jon placed the call, and it was answered on the second ring. “Detective Perry.”
The gruff voice sounded the same, like he’d just puffed a pack of cigarettes. “Detective Perry, this is Dr.Jon Dunstan.”
“I wondered if I might hear from you. Rats fleeing a sinkingship and all that. I’m recording this conversation as I did the last one.”
Jon tensed and paced the parlor. “I don’t know what you’re referencing, Detective. Has something happened?”
“We arrested your former boss, and she tells me she’s ready to implicate everyone else.”
He should have taken care of this sooner. The delay wasn’t going to look good. Should he hang up and get an attorney?
No, he had nothing to hide.
