“I didn’t realize that Toby Wallis was one of the boys who’d been along on the trip when Austin went missing.” Toby was a ranger for the National Park System and currently based in Glacier National Park. He was married to a woman I went to high school with named Natalie, who, interestingly, went on to become a wildlife veterinarian.
“He was the youngest in the group. I think around four years younger than the others. To be honest, I’m not sure why he was even there. He might have come along with Josh Underwood. Josh’s mom used to babysit Toby when his mother was out of town.”
“So, you want me to do a story for the anniversary?” I decided to bring the conversation back around to the point.
“I do. Like I said, I want a real investigative piece. If you happen across new evidence or even a new theory, all the better. The anniversary of Austin’s disappearance is in April. This is February. I wanted to give you time to really dig into things. Maybe you can see if Cass can use his law enforcement connections to help you get the details you’ll need.”
Ah. Cass. I suspected that my relationship with Cass was the real reason Dex had assigned the piece to me and not Brock, but I’d take it. “Okay. I’ll get right on it. After, I finish the article you need by Thursday, of course.”
“There might be some documents in the library that might help as well. I know that a year or two after Austin went missing, some reporter came by and took a stab at figuring out what happened. He never did find his answers, but I’m pretty sure he turned all his notes and theories into a journal of some sort. If it’s still around, Hope will probably know how to get her hands on it.”
“Thanks for the lead. I’ll talk with her. Did you know Austin?”
He nodded. “I was supposed to go on that fishing trip, but my dad found out about my plans to cut school and put an end to things. At least he put an end to things for me. I often wonder if things would have turned out differently if I’d been there. Probably not, but I do wonder.”
“Since you knew Austin and were close to everyone involved, are you sure you don’t want to write the anniversary story yourself?”
He slowly shook his head. “No. I’ve already tried to find the clues that would lead to the answers we all need to make peace with the situation and move on. If you have questions I can answer, I will, but I really think the situation needs a fresh pair of eyes, and so far, I’ve been very impressed with your natural instincts.”
“Thank you. I can’t promise I can figure out the answer to a twenty-five-year-old cold case that no one else has been able to figure out so far, but I’ll do the best I can to provide you with an in-depth look at the situation.”
“That’s all I can ask for.”
I had to admit the story relating to the mystery of Austin’s disappearance had me intrigued. I’d only been seven at the time of the disappearance, but I could still remember the terror everyone felt when the boy went missing. When the sheriff was unable to find a single clue as to what happened to Austin, all sorts of tales and stories sprang up. Some said he woke early and went fishing, only to somehow be pulled into the lake, where he drowned. Others suspected he’d simply wandered away from the camp during the night and got lost. There were theories having to do with animal attacks, kidnappers, and even alien abduction, but to this date, no one seems to know what happened on that long-ago spring night.
Chapter 16
Wednesday
By the time Wednesday rolled around, some things were settled, and some things weren’t. Lissa had been arraigned and was awaiting trial. Cass had tried again and again to get her to recant her confession and tell him what really happened, but she flat out refused to cooperate.
Cass and I discussed the fact that the person who killed the men, assuming it wasn’t Lissa, would have to have been someone close to Lissa. Otherwise, why bother to protect this person?
Gabby was over the moon excited about her date tonight, and I was over the moon excited for her. I planned to head over to the bowling alley and play a few games around the same time Gabby had been told to show up. I figured I could watch the meeting of the matched pair from a distance, which would provide me with details for my story without actually becoming part of the story.
Cass agreed to go bowling with me, providing he didn’t have urgent business to attend to. Things had been quiet since Frank’s death, and I knew everyone in town was hoping it would stay that way.
“Morning, sweetheart, how’d you sleep?” Gracie greeted when I went down for breakfast.
“I slept really well, which is good since I have a busy day ahead of me.”
“I have fresh cinnamon bread to go with that coffee if you’d like.” Gracie offered as I poured my first cup of the day.
“That sounds amazing.” I glanced toward the kitchen counter. “It looks like you made enough to last weeks and weeks.”
“I’m planning to give a loaf to Paisley to take home when she comes over today, and I wanted to drop a loaf off for Ned and Nora.”
“How is she doing?” I’d been worried about the poor woman who simply couldn’t seem to catch a break.
“She’s doing better. A lot better, in fact. I spoke to her yesterday, and she seemed almost back to her old self.”
“That’s good.” I sliced off a piece of the bread. “I’m heading into town to take care of some errands. One of those errands is to stop by the library and talk with Hope about a new assignment I’m working on. I can drop off the bread for Ned and Nora while I’m there if you want.”
“Thank you, dear. That would be very helpful. You can take a loaf for Hope as well.”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”
“Will you be able to pick up Paisley from school?”
“I should be. My plan is to head into town this morning and do what I need to do. I’m going to pick up Paisley after that, and then Cass and I are going bowling this evening.”
“Sounds fun. I haven’t been bowling in years, but I go along sometimes and watch when Tom goes.”
“It’s for a story I’m working on, but it does sound fun.”
“The place used to be a bit of a dive, but the new owner has made a lot of upgrades.”
“New owner?” I asked.
“Gabe Crawford. He bought the place this past fall, and he’s already put in new ball returns and electronic scoreboards.”
“I know Gabe. He delivers newspapers to the merchants in town. I didn’t realize he owned a business.” I suspected that Gabby didn’t either.
“He told me that he’d worked at the bowling alley for a number of years, but he also had a part-time job in the mornings when the bowling alley was closed. The extra income allowed him to save for a down payment so he could buy the business from his old boss, and once he had that, he used the extra cash to make the upgrades on his list.”
Well, how about that? Maybe Gabe and Gabby were better matched than Gabby thought. I suspected Ms. Cupid knew that as well.
After I showered and dressed for the day, I headed into town. My first stop was the newspaper to drop off the article on the development issue, which was not only a day early, but pretty darn thorough if you asked me. After that, I planned to head to the library to meet with Hope about the groundwork for the Austin Brady article, and then I’d drop off Nora’s bread, have lunch with Cass, and still get to the school in time to pick up Paisley.
“This is exactly what I was looking for.” Dex grinned. “Darn, if you aren’t turning out to be one heck of an excellent reporter.”
“Thank you so much.” I beamed. I hoped he’d like it, but I wasn’t expecting this. “I really tried to give you what you were looking for.”