Free Polar (Book 1): Polar Night by Julie Flanders Page A

aware of, anyway.”
    “What about the winter solstice celebration that year? Was Anna involved in it?”
    “You mean did she work there?”
    “Any involvement, really. Work, volunteer…”
    “No, she wasn’t working anywhere at the time because she was busy with her studies.”
    “What about the studies? Did she mention anything new at college?”
    Marilyn shook her head. “No. But you would be better off talking to her friends. They knew more about what she was doing at college than we did.”
    Danny nodded. “I’ve no doubt of that. That’s the way it works at that age, isn’t it?”
    “Most definitely.”
    Danny sat forward in the plush armchair, his elbows on his knees. “Could I take a look at her things? I know it’s been a while but…”
    “We still have all of Anna’s things,” Marilyn said, interrupting Danny. “You’re more than welcome to look at anything you think might help.”
    Marilyn stood up from the couch and motioned for Danny to follow her. “Let me just show you her room.”
    Danny got up from his chair and followed Marilyn, feeling a twinge of guilt that his request to search Anna’s belongings may have given her mother a false sense of hope. It was impossible to miss the sense of eagerness in her voice and on her face as she led him to her daughter’s room.
    “We haven’t changed anything,” Marilyn said as she turned on the overhead light in the room she hoped would one day welcome her daughter back to it. “All of her things are here.”
    “Anna lived with you while she was in school, didn’t she?” Danny asked, searching his memory for the details of Anna’s case. “She didn’t live on campus?”
    “That’s right. She lived here with us to save money.”
    Danny glanced around the room at the double-bed with a navy blue comforter and an assortment of blue and white pillows and a large mahogany desk filled with books and writing utensils. A laptop lay closed on top of the desk, and Danny knew from the case notes that his predecessor had involved the department’s computer forensic experts to go over every detail of the laptops’ contents, to no avail. Above the desk, Anna had hung a UAF Nanooks banner, proudly displaying the school’s traditional blue and gold colors.
    “Anna is an athlete,” Marilyn said from behind him. “She runs cross-country.”
    Danny wondered if Marilyn would ever be able to refer to her daughter in the past tense. He knew all too well how difficult that was.
    “Do you mind if I look through her desk, Mrs. Alexander?”
    “Of course not. As I said, you’re more than welcome to look at anything. I’ll leave you to it.”
    Danny sat down on the Nanook cushion that lined the desk chair, and grabbed a pair of latex gloves out of his coat pocket. Regardless of how old this potential evidence was, the last thing he wanted to do was spoil it.
    Rifling through the top drawer of the desk, Danny found what he supposed was normal for any college age girl. Her cell phone, which was almost certainly her prized possession and had been searched by the same forensics team that had searched her laptop, photos of a smiling Anna with friends, ticket stubs from movies and concerts, and various pens and colored pencils all fought for space in the drawer. Danny found nothing of interest.
    He moved on to one of the side drawers and came upon notebooks with scribbled class notes mixed in with high school yearbooks and a few dog-eared paperbacks.  It was apparent that Anna had not been a particularly organized person. Danny liked that about her. He opened another drawer and found a brown leather journal tied closed with a long strand of multi-colored yarn.
    Danny picked up the journal and gingerly removed the yarn. He opened the pages to reveal Anna’s flowery penmanship, full of exaggerated loops and crossbars. He didn’t remember anything in Cobman’s notes about a diary, but perhaps that was because he hadn’t believed it contained anything