Page 140 of After Anna

“Thank you.” Maggie sipped her coffee, served in a blue Congreve mug. “I’ve been racking my brain myself and I think I have some things figured out.”

“Really, what would that be?” Whitaker cocked his head, and Maggie launched into an explanation, including the notes with Jamie they had found in Anna’s textbook, about PG and Connie buying the bus ticket for Jamie, and even about Samantha’s disappearance at Lower Merion.

“Of course,” Maggie finished by saying, “my main concern is that Anna’s missing and has been missing since April.”

“That’s our primary concern as well.” Whitaker nodded quickly.

“Did you know Anna?”

“Somewhat. She was on the quiet side, so perhaps I didn’t know her as well as some of the more extroverted students.”

“Do you know anybody in the student body who looks like Anna?”

“Not offhand.” Whitaker nodded, this time in the direction of the lawyer. “Roger, why don’t you take the reins?”

“Of course. Maggie, thank you so much for this information.” Roger flipped a page of a legal pad on which he had been taking notes with a gleaming Mont Blanc pen. “Here is the chronology we have, from Ellen.”

Maggie got her phone to take notes, and so did Kathy.

“As you know, your ex-husband Florian Desroches was killed in a plane crash on March 8. Ellen saw Anna for her weekly appointments, on Mondays, except for Monday, March 13 because Anna was at her father’s funeral in France. The last time Ellen saw Anna was April 3, because of Passover and Easter Monday. So we don’t know when Anna went missing exactly, but we know that it had to be after April 3. I strongly suspect it was during Spring Break.”

Maggie tapped it into her phone. “Okay, and just so you know, the imposter called me on Easter Sunday, April 16, and I met her for dinner on Friday, April 21, and brought her home on April 22.”

“Thank you, I’ll make a note of that.”

Maggie blinked. “Maybe you can fill in some other dates for me. When did Anna return from the funeral in France?”

“We received a call on Thursday morning, March 9, from a French lawyer representing your ex-husband, notifying us of his death.” Roger flipped back through his notes, then consulted a page. “We summoned Anna out of class and notified her. She left school the same day, on Thursday, March 9, and she returned to campus on March 15.”

“And she went to class as usual at least until Spring Break, which was April 10 through April 18?” Maggie had looked up the school calendar on the website.

“Yes, though during Spring Break, she doesn’t go to any regular classes.”

“But she boarded here, so she was still here. Have you asked the other students who board?” Maggie thought for a minute. “The imposter told me that the boarders live in Parker Hall and that they’re made fun of, because they’re parked there. So I wonder if any of them stayed during Spring Break. Maybe they’d remember seeing Anna that week. They must’ve. Did you speak with them?”

“We attempted to, however, we want to keep this discreet, as I’m sure you understand. There’s no reason to alarm the students or the parents.”

Maggie blinked. “I think there is, for sure. They should know if someone is preying on the campus.”

“But there’s no evidence of that.”

“Anna may have been abducted.”

“Or she went missing, and that was almost eight months ago, it’s being investigated, and there’s certainly no immediate danger.”

Maggie worried they were being dismissive. “Have you had a student go missing since Anna?”

“No.”

“What about a student running away?”

“No, and this week, most of our students have already left for Thanksgiving break, which is until November 27. Thanksgiving is Thursday, the twenty-third, and classes ended today.”

“But what about the ones who haven’t? I can’t believe that they all go away for Thanksgiving, especially not international students. Or maybe they couldn’t get out because of the storm? Maybe their flights were delayed or canceled?” Maggie had questions and felt like she wasn’t getting answers. “And what happened to Jamie Covington? Have you been looking for Jamie as well? Or was she found? Did she go home? Was it foul play?”

Roger shook his head. “To the best of our knowledge, Jamie hasn’t returned. Her parents consider her a runaway. They do not suspect foul play.”

“And what about PG and Connie, who bought the bus ticket for Jamie? Could we find them? Do you know who’s nicknamed PG?”