he didn’t do it.’
Aimee winced at each use of the word ‘if.’
‘Come on,’ I said. ‘It’s not like you haven’t considered the possibility.’
‘Assuming it’s crossed my mind, do you really think he could have taken Anna Kore?’
‘No, not unless he’s playing a high-stakes game by involving us, in which case he’s either ridiculously clever or he’s crazy.’
‘He doesn’t strike me as either. He is smart, but if he’s crazy he’s hiding it well. What?’
I had been unable to conceal a frown of doubt.
‘Crazy would be a strong word, but he’s a man living with the knowledge that he once killed a child. He’s been forced into a new identity, and he lives in an isolated community far from his original home. I think he’s functioning under immense emotional and psychological strain. He practically hums with tension. Do you know if he’s maintained any form of contact with his family?’
‘He says that he hasn’t. We know that his father is dead. He doesn’t know where his mother is. He told me that he lived with her for a time after his release from Berlin, but felt suffocated by her presence. He also believed that, for the purposes of inhabiting his new identity, it would be better if he had no further contact with his family. That’s not unusual. He’d learned to live without them for a long time, and a lot of prisoners have trouble adjusting to familial relationships once they’re released. It would have been even harder for Randall, as officially he was no longer even a member of his own family.’
‘That was some social experiment he and Lonny Midas found themselves involved in.’
‘You disapprove?’
‘No. I just don’t fully understand the thinking behind it.’
‘We should find out more.’
‘We will.’
‘And we’ve established that he’s not crazy, but under pressure he may buckle.’
‘Agreed,’ I said, reluctantly.
‘If he goes to the police, his old life in Pastor’s Bay will be over. He doesn’t want that. He wants to stay where he is, and live out his days there. As you said, he’s done his time. The law and society have no further hold on him in that respect.’
‘So he’ll stay quiet and hope that the girl is found?’
‘That will be my advice to him, for now. Meanwhile, you’ll look into who might be sending him these images, because you understand why it matters.’
She had me in a bind. Randall Haight had committed no crime in the state of Maine of which we knew. Haight was a client of Aimee’s, and I had tentatively agreed to work for her on Haight’s behalf. I was bound by issues of client confidentiality, to a certain extent, and it offered a degree of protection against being forced by the police to reveal details about my involvement, should it come to that. But I didn’t like the situation we were in. To protect Haight, we were concealing information that might be germane to the investigation into Anna Kore’s disappearance, even though there was no evidence to suggest a direct link between Haight and the crime beyond one of geographic proximity and the similarity in the ages between two of the girls involved. It was the grayest of gray areas, and I felt that Aimee was exploiting it.
‘Does it bother you?’ asked Aimee. ‘What Randall did, does it trouble you?’
‘Of course it does.’
‘But more than it should? Do you feel a personal animosity toward him because of the loss of your own child? I have to ask that. You do understand?’
‘I understand. No, I don’t feel excessive animosity toward him. He killed a child when he was a child himself, and I get the feeling he’s a bit of a creep, although I can’t say why. You know that I could walk out of here, right? Nothing to which I’ve agreed in this office is binding.’
‘I know that. I also know that you won’t walk.’
‘If you’re right, do you want to try telling me why?’
‘Because there’s another child involved. Because Anna Kore is out there
Aimee winced at each use of the word ‘if.’
‘Come on,’ I said. ‘It’s not like you haven’t considered the possibility.’
‘Assuming it’s crossed my mind, do you really think he could have taken Anna Kore?’
‘No, not unless he’s playing a high-stakes game by involving us, in which case he’s either ridiculously clever or he’s crazy.’
‘He doesn’t strike me as either. He is smart, but if he’s crazy he’s hiding it well. What?’
I had been unable to conceal a frown of doubt.
‘Crazy would be a strong word, but he’s a man living with the knowledge that he once killed a child. He’s been forced into a new identity, and he lives in an isolated community far from his original home. I think he’s functioning under immense emotional and psychological strain. He practically hums with tension. Do you know if he’s maintained any form of contact with his family?’
‘He says that he hasn’t. We know that his father is dead. He doesn’t know where his mother is. He told me that he lived with her for a time after his release from Berlin, but felt suffocated by her presence. He also believed that, for the purposes of inhabiting his new identity, it would be better if he had no further contact with his family. That’s not unusual. He’d learned to live without them for a long time, and a lot of prisoners have trouble adjusting to familial relationships once they’re released. It would have been even harder for Randall, as officially he was no longer even a member of his own family.’
‘That was some social experiment he and Lonny Midas found themselves involved in.’
‘You disapprove?’
‘No. I just don’t fully understand the thinking behind it.’
‘We should find out more.’
‘We will.’
‘And we’ve established that he’s not crazy, but under pressure he may buckle.’
‘Agreed,’ I said, reluctantly.
‘If he goes to the police, his old life in Pastor’s Bay will be over. He doesn’t want that. He wants to stay where he is, and live out his days there. As you said, he’s done his time. The law and society have no further hold on him in that respect.’
‘So he’ll stay quiet and hope that the girl is found?’
‘That will be my advice to him, for now. Meanwhile, you’ll look into who might be sending him these images, because you understand why it matters.’
She had me in a bind. Randall Haight had committed no crime in the state of Maine of which we knew. Haight was a client of Aimee’s, and I had tentatively agreed to work for her on Haight’s behalf. I was bound by issues of client confidentiality, to a certain extent, and it offered a degree of protection against being forced by the police to reveal details about my involvement, should it come to that. But I didn’t like the situation we were in. To protect Haight, we were concealing information that might be germane to the investigation into Anna Kore’s disappearance, even though there was no evidence to suggest a direct link between Haight and the crime beyond one of geographic proximity and the similarity in the ages between two of the girls involved. It was the grayest of gray areas, and I felt that Aimee was exploiting it.
‘Does it bother you?’ asked Aimee. ‘What Randall did, does it trouble you?’
‘Of course it does.’
‘But more than it should? Do you feel a personal animosity toward him because of the loss of your own child? I have to ask that. You do understand?’
‘I understand. No, I don’t feel excessive animosity toward him. He killed a child when he was a child himself, and I get the feeling he’s a bit of a creep, although I can’t say why. You know that I could walk out of here, right? Nothing to which I’ve agreed in this office is binding.’
‘I know that. I also know that you won’t walk.’
‘If you’re right, do you want to try telling me why?’
‘Because there’s another child involved. Because Anna Kore is out there
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