“But they never found him,” I pointed out.
He slowly shook his head. “No. They never did.”
“So why didn’t you tell then? After he wasn’t found?”
“It seemed too late by that point. We’d all already talked to the cops and the search and rescue team, and we’d all lied by that point. We all told the adults that Austin had simply disappeared, and we had no idea when or why he’d left the camp. Bobby waffled a bit, but Colin made sure he would keep quiet. The longer the lie was out there, the easier it was to convince ourselves that the lie was the truth.”
I guess that was common psychology. The longer you hang onto a lie, the more real it becomes until, at some point, you forget altogether that the truth you think you know started out as something you simply made up.
“So, what do you think happened to Austin?” I asked.
Larry shrugged. “I really have no idea. Yes, he was freaked out when he ran into the woods. He really did seem to think this huge bear, Bigfoot, monster, or whatever he saw was after him. But even if he would have run and hidden, he would eventually have come down from the trip Colin sent him on and found his way back. Even if he would have fallen and gotten hurt, he would have been found. Heck, even if he’d fallen and died, someone would have found his remains. The fact that he was simply gone never made sense.”
I had to admit that even with the help of a hallucinogen, it didn’t make any sense that neither Austin nor his remains were found.
“So, you really don’t have any idea what happened to Austin after he ran off?” I asked, mostly to clarify.
“I really have no idea what happened to Austin after he ran off.”
I glanced at Dex. His complexion had gone pale. I could see that this bit of news had affected him deeply. After a few minutes, Dex spoke up. “It sounds as if it was Colin who gave Austin the hallucinogen and made sure that everyone kept quiet. Bobby was shot this past Sunday. Do you think it’s possible that his conscience finally got to him and he’d decided to tell the authorities what really happened, so Colin shot him before he could give the secret away?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. When I heard what happened, that thought did cross my mind. I guess Colin has the most to lose since he was the one who actually drugged the guy. The rest of us simply didn’t tell anyone what we knew. Having said that, I want to assure you that I have no proof or evidence of any sort that Colin killed Bobby. I wouldn’t even know that Bobby was dead if Deputy Wylander hadn’t called me to ask me some questions and get my alibi.”
“I want to thank you for speaking to us today,” I said. “You really have been very helpful, and I promise to keep your name out of any article I write relating to the disappearance.”
“I appreciate that.”
Dex and I left shortly after. Initially, we drove in silence, but eventually, I asked the question on my mind. “What do you make of all that?”
“I’m not sure. I can’t believe that Colin gave Austin a hallucinogen without his consent. I mean, he was just a kid and probably did mean for it to be a funny prank. I doubt he had any idea what would happen. But still, that was a twist to the story I really hadn’t seen coming.”
“Something had to have happened to Austin after he ran off, but what? I agree with Larry that even if he’d suffered an accident due to his mental state, his remains would have eventually been found. How does someone simply vanish?”
“Good question.” He slowed down as he approached the car in front of him. “What are you going to tell Cass?”
“I’m going to tell him the truth. I won’t mention Larry’s name, but he’ll figure it out. I trust Cass. He’s not going to arrest Larry for keeping a childhood secret that he probably only agreed to keep due to peer pressure. I’m sure he’ll handle the situation with the care it deserves. I mean, he certainly can’t prove any of this. Even if he confronts Colin, all Colin has to do is insist that Larry is lying. No one is alive who can corroborate it. Josh and Bobby are dead, and based on what we’ve been told, Toby was never in the mix, and, of course, Austin is missing and probably dead.”
“Yeah,” Dex agreed. “Going at Colin head-on is not the way to the truth. Cass will need to prove Colin’s guilt another way. I really don’t think the guy is the sort to ever admit to wrongdoing, no matter how much pressure is applied.”
Chapter 11
Dex dropped me off back at the house, which I found empty. There was a note from Aunt Gracie saying that she wasn’t sure what time I’d be home, so she planned to pick Paisley up from school and take her to a town an hour to the east to pick up some fabric for their next project. I usually picked Paisley up on Wednesdays and gave her a piano lesson, but the trip to Steamboat Springs had taken longer than I’d anticipated, so I could see why she might have assumed I wasn’t going to make it back in time to fulfill my normal obligations.
Her note also said that she and Paisley would just grab dinner while they were out and that Tom had headed over to the lodge to spend time with friends, so I was on my own for the evening meal. I supposed that worked out just fine with me since I planned to call Cass and see if he wanted to get together. I had things to share with him, and I suspected he might have things to share with me.
I figured that Cass might be busy, so I simply texted him and let him know I had news, and he could call me at a convenient time. I then headed up to the attic with Alastair on my heels. I wanted to jot down a few notes for my article on Austin Brady while my conversation with Larry was still fresh in my mind. It was going to be tricky telling the story I had to tell without betraying Larry’s trust, but I was an intelligent woman. I was sure I could figure out a way.
I sat down at my desk and logged onto my computer. I opened the drawer of the desk to look for a pen while it was booting up. The tray that held my pens was empty. It seemed like I managed to misplace an inordinate number of pens. I looked at the cat who was forever knocking them off the desk and batting them around the room. “What did you do with my pens?”
“Meow.”
“Don’t meow me. I left two pens sitting on top of this pad when I last left the room, and now they aren’t anywhere in sight. I suspect that you might know something about that.”
“Meow.” Alastair trotted across the room. He squeezed into the opening where the intake for the old heater used to be before Aunt Gracie replaced the unit with a more efficient model. It was a small opening that barely looked large enough for the cat, but Alastair found a way to squeeze through.
After a moment, a pen slipped out from the opening and slid across the room. Alastair came trotting out behind it. I bent down and picked up the pen. And then it hit me. What if the reason the search and rescue team couldn’t find Austin was because he’d hidden somewhere that would have been accessible to a twelve-year-old but not an adult? I glanced at the magazine I’d left on my desk.
I took out my phone and texted Cass again. “I know I just texted and said to call me whenever, but I had a thought. Perhaps a relevant thought. Call me as soon as you can.”
Two minutes later, my phone rang.