...And Never Let HerGo

they had to talk to the police. They had to do everything they could to try to find Annie. Perhaps then, they could sort out the secrets of her life.
    I T was sometime after midnight that first night when Colonel Alan Ellingsworth, the superintendent of the Delaware State Police, was notified that one of Governor Carper’s secretaries had apparently vanished. Ellingsworth phoned Lieutenant Mark Daniels at home and asked him to respond to 1718 Washington Street to assist the Wilmington Police Department in whatever capacity might be needed.
    Daniels was a nineteen-year veteran of the Delaware State Police and was currently the administrative lieutenant in their Criminal Investigative Division in New Castle County. He and DSP officer Steven Montague joined Wilmington detective Robert Donovan at Anne Marie Fahey’s apartment.
    It was apparent that the missing woman’s sister and her friends were terribly worried. Some people vanish on a whim, but this didn’t sound like that kind of a disappearance. The investigators listened carefully as Kathleen Fahey-Hosey, Mike Scanlan, Jill Morrison, and the Columbuses reviewed their last contact with Anne Marie. What it came down to was that no one had actually seen or talked to her since Thursday afternoon.
    Jill and Ginny said that Anne Marie had worked in the governor’s office from 7:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. “She had an appointment with her psychiatrist at five,” Jill explained. “And she was going to take Friday off.”
    Jill recalled that Anne Marie had been in good spirits, and was looking forward to Friday. She was going to have a day all to herself, be babied with a pedicure and a manicure, and then take a book to Valley Garden Park and just relax.
    If Anne Marie had special plans for Thursday night, none of the witnesses knew about them. Lieutenant Daniels asked if anyone had listened to the messages on Anne Marie’s phone.
    Jill told him that she and Anne Marie both had Bell Atlantic’s“Answer Call” on their phones that recorded incoming messages. When Kathleen had picked up Annie’s phone, she heard a steady beep-beep-beep, and Jill said that meant there were waiting messages.
    “I know her code,” Jill said. Daniels nodded, and Jill punched in Anne Marie’s code so the detectives could listen to incoming messages. Maybe the answer lay there, although it seemed an intrusion, once more, into her privacy—the privacy that meant so much to her.
    The outgoing message was so familiar to most of the people in the room. Now, hearing Anne Marie’s voice with her lilting greeting made their hearts skip a beat. They listened, wanting to find answers but afraid of what they might hear.
    The first four messages had come in before they lost touch with her. The others only confirmed how long she had been gone. They had begun on Thursday night, June 27, 1996.
    R ECORDER : Fifth saved message.
    M ICHAEL S CANLAN : Hey, Annie, remember me? I’m going to a little cookout thing for our interns. I’ll be home around nine. Give me a holler. I’ll talk to you when I get home. Thanks. Bye.
    R ECORDER : Sixth saved message.
    M ICHAEL S CANLAN : Hey, Annie, it’s almost nine-thirty and a couple of us are headed out to Kid Shelleen’s on the way home. I wanted to know if you wanted to step over and join us. I will call you before we head over there and see if you are back.
    R ECORDER : Seventh saved message.
    M ICHAEL S CANLAN : Hey, Annie, we’re headed over to Kid Shelleen’s right now and it’s about a quarter to ten, so if you could stop by, that would be awesome. If not, I’ll talk to you later. Bye.
    R ECORDER : Eighth saved message.
    M ICHAEL S CANLAN : Hi, Annie, this is Mike calling. It’s around two-fifteen
[Friday].
Give me a call. . . . Let me know what you’re up to? See ya.
    R ECORDER : Ninth saved message.
    E ILEEN W ILLIAMS : Hi, Annie. It’s Ei. I was just calling. It’s Friday around three-thirty. I was calling to see what you were doing tonight. I thought maybe we could get together. Give me a call? Bye.
    R ECORDER : Tenth saved message.
    J ILL M ORRISON : Hey, girl, give me a call when you get in? I’m at work right now at three after eleven
[Saturday morning].
I’ll probably be here until one, and then I’ll be home afterward. I need to ask you a question. Thanks. Bye.
    R ECORDER : Eleventh saved message.
    M ICHAEL S CANLAN : Hey, Annie. It’s Mike. It’s Saturday morning. Give me a call. Bye.
    R ECORDER : Twelfth saved message.
    K