Ryder Strong (38:37)
That makes me think that he was 37. Or I don't like about to turn 37. And maybe he's married. Maybe he would lose his job. Maybe he's a teacher. Halloween night, Anna and Mick have their fight. The mean girls are mean. And Anna makes a decision. It's time for Operation Van Gogh. But she still pages Mick. Yeah, I don't know about that. Maybe she's torn. Should she get back together with Mick or run away with this other guy? Maybe she's hedging her bets because the guy might not go through with Operation Van Gogh. Either way, yes, she pages Mick. But then she changes her mind and she meets up with this other, other guy. He picks her up before Mick gets the pay phone. Or they meet somewhere else entirely. And maybe they start Operation Van Gogh. Maybe he helps her get to the airport to fly away somewhere. Or they fight and she threatens to tell everyone about their affair, which would ruin his life. Maybe he kills her to cover up the affair. He hides her body. He drives Tony down to the Kelty lot. Makes it plausible that Anna just ran away. Now, all that is pretty much what I was thinking anyway when I was focused on Mick. But here's what's new. Three years later, 1998. The guy got away with it. Anna's gone. The case is cold. Life has moved on for everyone. But he's still in town. He is? Yeah. He's still potentially in Laney's life. He could be a friend of the family. He's still teaching. And losing. And behold, here comes Willow, a new young trainer girl. This is gross. I know. But it's a pattern, right? If this guy's got a thing for grooming young girls, what are the chances that he would do it more than once? High, I guess. Now it's 1998, and Willow, like her sister, is in a secret relationship. And Willow can't tell anyone. Not her mom, not us. Why not? The same reasons Anna didn't tell anyone. He's older, he's inappropriate. He's maybe still a teacher, still married. Jesus. Do you remember Jacob Wyman? No. The English teacher? I Never had him. But there were kids who loved this guy. He was one of those dudes that was like one of the kids to call him by his first name. Not Mr. Wyman, but Jacob. Oh, was he the one that took kids camping? Yes, exactly. Exactly. The senior trip. Jacob's senior trip. Okay. Who's that? He was a teacher at Annalee. Did he ever come up? No, but hold on, I'm gonna search the archives. Monica still had access to the back articles of the Press Democrat. Oh, there's a lot. I mean, these are boring mentions. Assemblies, football games, direct to school play one year. Oh, okay. There's an article about Harry Potter. He's quoted. It was 2001, remember? There was a backlash to Harry Potter, that the books were promoting witchcraft. We don't give kids enough credit, says Jacob Wideman, an English teacher at Annalee High School. I'd rather kids explore things dark or risky things in fiction. I encourage them to read whatever they enjoy. Horror, crime, any genre. Yeah, Anna had a copy of Stephen King's Hit. His stance, though, isn't without controversy. Wyman landed in hot water last semester when several parents noticed he had included the novel Damage by Josephine Hart on his fall reading list. I could see their concerns. Wyman said he ended up dropping Damage from his syllabus. I don't. What is this book? Damage? Yes. Damage by Josephine Hart is a psychological thriller centered on a respectable British politician, Dr. Stephen Fleming, whose life spirals when he becomes obsessively and destructively involved with his son's fiance, Anna. Are you kidding me? The character's name is Anna. Forbidden Desire, Secret Affair, an older man and a younger woman. I. I haven't read it. I haven't read this, but it sounded familiar. I thought maybe because it was a bestseller, because there was a movie made, but actually it was familiar for another reason. What's this other note here? Weeks ago, I had been requesting items one by one from the evidence catalog at the sheriff's department. Damage. Heart spelled H A, R, T. That might be a note that the book is damaged or could be a type of damaged art. I needed to see that book. That night in Denver, I could barely sleep. This felt like enough to bring to Greer and Lachlan. They could open up the evidence locker and see for themselves. I compiled my clip so I could call the sheriff's department in the morning. But when I woke up, I got a call from my brother. Hey, what's going on? Hey. So the sheriff's department is here. He was calling from my parents house. What yeah, they have a warrant and they're searching the house. They're going through all the closets and outside. It's like, hold on, hold on, hold on. I don't understand. What are they? What are they looking for? Guns. The Red Weather is an iHeart podcast hosted by Rider Strong. Sound engineering, editing and mixing by Bo Milkus Produced by Tess Bartholomew executive producers at iHeartRadio Trevor Young and Matt Frederick Associate Producer Bo Milkus Original score by Kyle Morton if you're enjoying the show, please remember to leave a review and rating. Thanks for listening.
