The Kidnapper's Wife

74. After

"I didn't install those." Connor says blankly, his expression one of pure indifference.

"Oh yeah? Well who else would have then?" I say before I realize what Connor's doing.

"The other man." I answer my own question.

"That's right." Connor looks at me evenly, "As I said, I hadn't been living in the cabin in weeks. Anna routinely entertained other men in there. As for what those other men...what Anna was...into...I can't say of course."

"So that's your story then. All those chains were there for...sexual reasons."

"I mean...what else would they be for?"

I glare at him. "So who are these other men exactly."

I can tell Connor is choosing his next words carefully. "I don't know." he finally says, but when I glare at him some more, he opens his mouth again, "What I can say is that, when I was preparing the cabin, I would, as you know, go up there when you thought I was on hiking trips. When I would go up there, I always wore a disguise. I established a new identity, from the start. I said I was Matt Lewis. I was down on my luck, had been laid off recently and taken around the block by the courts for child support. I bought a little hunting cabin because it was all I could afford, and after all, I didn't need much."

I nod, encouraging him to keep talking. He does, going slowly, making sure not to slip up his story.

"There was one thing though that I did want to splurge on, just a tiny bit. My daughter. Victoria's mother had taken her to live in Minnesota, but the court had granted her to me for a month, on her school break. She was at one of those alternative schools, where they do four 2 month sessions with a month off in between each one. They go January-February, and take 2 classes intensely, and then their off in March. Then they go for April and May, and are off for June. Her mother, I told people, is very progressive."

"I made sure to clock a lot of hours at the local bar as Matt. I wore my full disguise, makeup, wig, fake eyebrows and beard, and I even got a fake pot belly online so my body type was changed. As the weeks turned into months, I struck up some friendships in town. Eventually, I'd have some of the guys over for football nights, or poker nights."

"After I met Anna, I could even show them photos of Victoria. I used photoshop to alter Anna's appearance as well. I gave her short blonde hair and glasses. In some of the pictures, I photoshopped in a local Montana high school, and other Montana landmarks. When Anna and I ran away, the first thing I did was change her appearance to match Victoria's. I even got documents with the name Victoria Lewis and her picture. Victoria had just turned 15. When we got to our new hometown she showed all my friends her brand new learners permit in excitement. That way, if they ever started wondering if there was any way she could be Anna, they'd remember that Victoria had a learners permit, and there was no way she could be Anna Harris."

I stare at him, not wanting to admit how genius all of this was, but unable to deny it. "So that's how you got the other DNA into the house." I say out loud. "And that's how you tricked the local townspeople. You could even bring Anna out in public at first, they just thought Anna was your daughter, there on break from school."

Connor doesn't say anything, just looks at me. When he does speak, he's back to his story. "While Anna was there, some of the guys would drop by the house for our usual social events. For the first month, that was fine, Victoria was supposed to be there. But after that, it would have looked suspicious if Victoria was still there, and equally suspicious if I suddenly dropped off the social radar. I had to keep having the guys over, but Anna couldn't be there. She couldn't even be in the house, because I was afraid something would go wrong. So I had her play outside for a few hours during those nights."

Connor looks down at the table, not meeting my eyes, and speaks even slower, every word carefully measured. "The thing is, it was pretty cold out by then. And in the woods in the middle of nowhere, the nights are very dark. So Anna didn't much like playing outside. She got angry at me and refused to do it. So we had to come up with an arrangement."

"What arrangement?" I ask eagerly. But Connor doesn't say anything else, just looks at me carefully.

I realize he won't say anymore because it might incriminate him. I start to muse over the facts of the case that have been reported in the media until I reach the conclusion I'm looking for.

"The dog chain found on a tree a mile from your apartment. That's how you kept Anna outside. It had her DNA on it didn't it?"

Connor's eyes tell me I'm right, but he says "I have no idea what you're talking about. I never put Anna in a dog collar outside. She must have done that herself. Or one of the other men she entertained. Anna and I simply bargained with her favorite food: ice cream. She could have ice cream if she played outside for 3 hours. It was as simple as that."

"Oh Connor." is all I say, picturing Anna chained to a tree in the 15 degree temperatures Pennsylvania experienced at night in December.