“How and why Annie Little’s body got from the Mercer prison dining hall to an unmarked grave in Huron County.”
“Yes, why indeed?”Doris muses.
“And do you know why Radcliffe ended up in the prison?”Rachel asks.“Was that before her time with you at the magazine, or…?”
Doris lets out a low sigh.“Emily was at the Mercer prisonbecauseof her time atChatelaine.”
“I’m sorry?”
“By her own request,” Doris says.“I allowed her to go undercover at the Mercer in 1961, to help uncover the truth of the deplorable conditions of the place.”
Rachel’s brows pop up.“Really.How long was she there?”
“Over six months.Longer than she was meant to, but that’s a whole other story.At any rate, we published her piece in early ’62, and it led to a grand jury investigation that shut the place down.There were court cases, lawsuits, all sorts.Total scandal.And it was all down to Emily and the women who helped her.Including poor Annie Little, God rest her soul.”
Rachel scribbles her notes hastily.“There’s a grand jury report?”
“Yes.And I can send you a copy of Emily’s article, too, if you’d care to see it.”
Rachel nods to herself, makes another note.“Yes, please.And Ms.Anderson, what did you mean when you said it’s a ‘whole other story’ why Radcliffe was at the Mercer for so long?”
Another long pause.“That’s Emily’s story,” Doris finally says, her voice softer now.“It’s always been Emily’s story.You shall have to hear it from her.”
TORONTO—JULY, 1996
“Good morning, Detectives.”Emily Radcliffe stands on the porch of her large brown Tudor-style home on Whitehall Road in Rosedale.Rachel and Stevens shut the car doors and walk up the handsome flagstone path.
She’s an average-sized woman with mid-length greying hair pulled back in a low ponytail.Her lips are painted, but she wears no othermakeup, and is dressed in a neat beige sweater-set and slacks.Her hands are on her hips, giving the strange impression that they’re late, though in actual fact, they’ve arrived six minutes ahead of their promised time.
“I hope you both like coffee,” she says, and turns toward the front door, leading them into a large tiled foyer with a tasteful chandelier overhead.It’s so clean and tidy that Rachel fights the urge to remove her shoes, and shakes her head at Stevens when he looks as though he’s about to.They’re police.Not guests.
“Come on through into the sitting room,” Emily says, settling herself on a large rose-coloured wing chair and gesturing Rachel and Stevens to the sofa across from her.Her handshake is strong, especially for a woman her age.But Rachel recognizes the signs in her ragged fingernails, the sweat around her hairline.The pristine surroundings are a coping mechanism for what lies beneath.
“Now then,” Emily says.“Doris told me everything you talked to her about.”She clears her throat.“That this maybe has to do with Annie.That you might have, uh, found her body.I didn’t know she was missing.Anyway, I’m happy to assist where I can.”She leans forward, pouring them each a coffee from a French press.The liquid agitates a little in the carafe as her hands tremble.
Rachel accepts the drink, then gets straight to the point.
“Yes.We’re investigating a woman’s body that was uncovered in an unmarked grave in a cemetery up in Huron County.Through forensics and some cross-referencing, we narrowed it down to five possible women.Including you.”
“Not me,” Emily says, with the ghost of a smile.
“No, ma’am.”
She breathes deeply.“But you think it’s Annie.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Rachel watches Emily’s hands, one balled into a fist as she massages the knuckles with the other.There’s a plain gold band on her ring finger.She blinks several times.“How, uh—” She clears the rasp from her throat.“What happened?”
Rachel glances at Stevens, gestures that he should take the lead on this one.She wants to focus on Emily’s body language.He sits forward on the couch.
“By process of elimination, Annie Little is the only possible ID for this Jane Doe.But we’re still trying to figure out how she ended up there.”
“Huron County, you said?”Emily asks him.
“Yes.Did you know that she was born in Goderich?That’s the city listed on her birth certificate.”
Emily shakes her head.“I didn’t know that.She told me she was from a small town, but I never knew the name.She talked about strawberry fields nearby, and growing up there with her parents.”She blinks hard again, glances at the end table, and plucks a pre-emptive tissue from a box.
