The Missing Page 0,62

Wendy Swanson? I’m calling from the Boston Crime Lab.’

‘Hold on.’

A thin, trembling voice came on the line: ‘This is Wendy.’

‘My name is Darby McCormick. I wanted to call and tell you how sorry –’

‘Are you the one who found my daughter underneath the porch?’

‘I am.’

‘Did you talk to Rachel?’

‘Yes, ma’am, I did. I’m sorry for your loss.’

‘What did Rachel say? Where was she all this time? Did she tell you?’

Darby didn’t want to lie to the woman, but she didn’t want to upset her even more. Darby needed Wendy Swanson to answer some questions.

‘Rachel didn’t say much. She was very sick.’

‘I saw the news story, the video footage, and I didn’t once think it was Rachel. The woman you found looked nothing like my daughter. I didn’t even recognize her. And I’m her mother.’ Wendy Swanson cleared her voice several times. ‘This person who took Rachel, what did he do to her?’

Darby didn’t answer.

‘Tell me,’ Rachel’s mother said. ‘Please. I have to know.’

‘I don’t know what happened to her. Mrs Swanson, I know this is a difficult time for you. And I wouldn’t be calling you if this wasn’t important. I need to ask you some questions about your daughter. The questions may sound odd, so please try and bear with me.’

‘Ask anything you want.’

‘Was Rachel ever in an abusive relationship?’

‘No.’

‘Would she have told you if she was?’

‘My daughter and I were very close. I knew all about Chad’s background, but he never hit her – he never even raised his voice. Rachel wouldn’t have put up with any of that. She had nothing but positive things to say about Chad. I think his ex-wife was a bit of a nut.’

‘Was Rachel ever assaulted by anyone?’

‘No.’

‘Did she ever tell you about being stalked? Was someone following her?’

‘No. If something like that ever happened, she would have told me. Rachel and Chad had a great relationship. They were going to get married. Rachel was… She was so smart, so hardworking. She paid her own way through college. She was taking out loans to go to law school. She never asked for anything, never got into any trouble. She was just a solid, well-grounded person.’

Wendy Swanson broke down. She spoke through her tears. ‘The police told me that when someone goes missing, if they’re not found in the first forty-eight hours that usually means they’re dead. After the first year, I started to accept the fact that Rachel wasn’t coming home, and that I may never find out what had happened to her. And then early this morning I get a phone call from a friend who works at the state lab and she says that Rachel was found in Massachusetts – was found alive. Alive. After five years. I got down on my knees and thanked God. And then I call to find out what hospital Rachel is in only to be told she’s dead. Rachel was alive all this time and I find out and now she’s dead and I didn’t… I didn’t get to talk to her. I didn’t even get a chance to hold my baby’s hand and tell much I love her and how sorry I am for giving up on her. I didn’t even get to say good-bye.’

‘Mrs Swanson, I’m –’

‘I can’t talk now, I have to go.’

‘I’m very sorry for your loss.’

Wendy Swanson hung up. Darby squeezed the phone and, without realizing it, looked up at her mother’s bedroom window.

Chapter 48

Darby stared out at puddles in what used to be her mother’s garden, where Sheila spent her time before she got sick. As she smoked, she thought about Traveler’s victims. Evan Manning said Traveler had selected them at random. If that was true, then it would be difficult to catch him. It was going to be difficult to catch him anyway, Traveler having thought through all the options, going to great lengths so he wouldn’t be found. Maybe he had already killed Carol and the others. Maybe he was driving away right now. No, don’t think about that.

A copy of every work email was automatically forwarded to her Hotmail account so she could access information from the road. Darby put out her cigarette and went inside, heading upstairs to check her computer. There was a message from Mary Beth regarding the crime scene photographs.

Mary Beth always took two sets of photographs – one using film, the other digital. Digital pictures were not admissible as evidence because they could be doctored. Mary Beth always took them