Say Goodbye

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

IT TAKES A LOT OF PEOPLE TO WRITE A BOOK. FIRST, there is my cute and adorable daughter. She helped inspire the book, mostly by becoming obsessed with spiders. Her newfound interest was kindled by neighbors Pam and Glenda, who gave her a set of fun-colored spider lights, then stoked by Paul and Lynda, who presented her with a tarantula roughly the size of a terrier. My daughter immediately declared the tarantula to be the mommy spider and set her up in our formal living room.

Once you’ve started living with a dog-size tarantula, a suspense novel is bound to follow.

Then there is fellow writer Sheila Connolly, who, upon hearing that I was working on a book involving spiders, offered her husband, an entomologist, to assist. Dave Williams is the kind of guy who once kept a black widow as a pet, so he was extraordinarily helpful. He not only sent me photos of brown recluse spider bites, but helped me track down an excellent article on body decomposition in outdoor hanging cases. Not everyone appreciates these things, but I learned a lot. Thanks, Dave!

Then there is my dear friend Don Taylor, who was so taken with my daughter’s hobby that he sent her several books on arachnids. We both loved the novels, though after reading Doreen Cronin’s Diary of a Spider, my daughter is also now into flies and worms. Thanks, Don!

Next up is dear friend Lisa Mac. I was bogged down one night trying to research on the Internet unusual ways to hide bodies (note to readers: search term “good ways to dispose of bodies” leads to some scary chat rooms). When I called Lisa to let her know I was running late, she literally screeched into the phone, “Stop, I have the perfect idea. I’ll be right there.” You know what, Lisa? You were right.

Then I must thank longtime friend and associate Dr. Greg Moffatt. When I mentioned I needed to come to Georgia to research a novel, he and his family rolled out the welcome mat. Now, most hosts will show you around town, but how many will take you crime scene shopping on Blood Mountain? Once again, Greg, you went above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you for a wonderful, if slightly different, Georgia tour.

I must also thank Supervisory Special Agent Stephen Emmett of the Atlanta FBI for helping me understand the Atlanta field office; Special Agent Paul Delacourt, who updated me on the post-9/11 bureau, and better yet, mentioned that the ERTs would be a perfect extracurricular for Kimberly; and finally Special Agent Roslyn B. Harris, senior team leader of the Atlanta Division Evidence Response Team, and Supervisory Special Agent Rob Coble who then graciously agreed to answer my multitude of questions regarding ERTs and the use of the Total Station. Of course all mistakes are mine and mine alone.

Forensic anthropologist Lee Jantz, from the University of Tennessee’s famed Body Farm, kindly walked me through the basics of an outdoor search and body recovery. Thank you also, Lee, for your research into fabric decomp and other little tidbits that I hope created one really creepy scene. Again, all mistakes-and fictional license!-are mine and mine alone.

Under care and feeding of authors: Thank you to my brilliant editor, Kate Miciak, and the entire Bantam publishing team, who make the real magic happen; to Meg Ruley and the entire Jane Rotrosen Agency team, who understand neurotic authors and, through their hard work, actually allow us to be slightly less neurotic; to Michael Carr, my first reader whose laserlike analytics shredded the original draft, left me cranky beyond words, and, of course, helped create a better novel (in return, I’m taking his wife to a spa and leaving him alone with four kids, hah!); to Kevin Breenky and the other nice folks at Jif for the care packages, kind notes, and shared smiles. To John and Genn from the J-Town Deli, whose daily supply of raspberry yum-yums kept me cranking through the late afternoons; to Larry and Leslie of the Thompson House Eatery, who graciously opened up their home for the book jacket photo shoot and, even better, fed us lunch. And to Brandi and Sarah for all the reasons they know best.

Finally, I owe a huge thanks to my husband. For years, I have praised the rich, chocolaty confections he has showered upon me during the final crush of deadline. This time, my husband went one better: He got me an out-of-the-house office. I told him he was nuts. Work is work, doesn’t matter where you do it. I am happy to report that in this case, the office made all the difference. So here you go, love, the three words all husbands would like to see in print: You were right!

(We will now resume our normal operating system.)

I hope Kathy Ransom, winner of the fourth annual Kill a Friend, Maim a Buddy Sweepstakes, enjoys seeing her daughter, Nicole Evans, immortalized as a Lucky Stiff. Likewise, I hope Beth Hunnicutt, winner of the Oregonian’s “Why I Should Be a Corpse in Lisa Gardner’s Next Novel,” finds satisfaction in her fictional death, given the genuine trials she’s survived in real life. And finally, thank you to Lynn Stoudt, whose generous donation to the Gwinnett County Library entitled her to be a character in this novel (one of my first living entries!).

For those of you wishing you could get in on the action, don’t worry: The annual Kill a Friend, Maim a Buddy Sweepstakes kicks off every September at www.lisagardner.com. Check it out and maybe in my next novel, you too can meet a grand end.

In closing, I would like to dedicate this novel to Jackie Sparks and the other staff members of Children Unlimited, Inc. Of all the novels I’ve written, this book is by far the most violent, and yes, it was difficult to write. I would like to tell you that the Burgerman is fictionalized, that his actions are nothing more than the warped product of my twisted imagination. Sadly, most of the information in those scenes came from true cases. The Burgermans of the world are real, and the damage they do is heartbreaking.

Which is why I am so grateful to the everyday heroes among us. People like Jackie, who, through early intervention services, child advocacy, and other programs, have dedicated their lives to helping kids. They provide the support, nurturing, and therapeutic services necessary for young lives to recover. They provide a voice for children whose fears often can’t be spoken.

Thank you, Jackie, for fighting the good fight. And thank you to all the early intervention services providers and child advocates out there, who understand that every child should be able to feel safe, valued, and loved.

Sincerely,

Lisa Gardner

Postscript

January 30, 2008

I started researching Say Goodbye in the fall of 2006, completing work on the manuscript in August 2007. Like most authors, I was grateful to finally complete a year-long project, and closed up my files without a backwards glance. Thus, I was dismayed to turn on the news the first week in January 2008 and hear that a young woman, Meredith Emerson, had gone missing while hiking Blood Mountain. Sadly, her body was discovered days later, a tragic end to a very promising life. I hope readers will understand that the fictional scenes portrayed in Say Goodbye were never intended to mimic any real world homicides, or exploit a genuine tragedy. My heart goes out to Meredith Emerson’s friends, family and community, now left to pick up the pieces.