I kept my own separate notes during the investigation, and from 1979 to 1983 I would imagine the man I called the Witch of November. This was not the man who took Donna; he was Christopher Nance, and he had an extensive history. Veteran of Korea, long-time resident of NYC, roving working man. Publicly, the authorities assumed he took Donna out of some twisted desire for revenge or to make a point. He made for a perfect scapegoat, too easy an answer.
Privately, when I autopsied him and involved myself in the investigation, the authorities had screwed up and knew it. They assumed he took Donna into the woods. We should have thought to look to the bay. I had been expanding my horizons, becoming more cultural and worldly as a student is wont to do, and was struck by this failure and the grim truth that the sea never gives up her dead. His body had been put on display with markings and cuttings. And Nance had been found before Thanksgiving.
Hence, the Witch of November. Though I never said it aloud to them.
What a strange, sad hope I had at the time. I didn't try to get my parents on board, I kept it all to myself. All I had was the work, my studies, music and the desperate fear I might never recognize Donna if she had been alive all these years.
In May of 1983 I put her memory to rest for good, along with three bullets in the head of the Witch of November, his body in the bay, and everything he owned in a locker. He was in no state to answer my questions. I had to do my own research.
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