“And you don’t think there’s any possibility the note was legitimate? I understand that he’s your son, but kids don’t always tell their parents everything. If he was having second thoughts about his career, maybe he wanted to work it out on his own.”
“No, he was very excited about being a reporter, and he even said that he was working on some big story, but he wouldn’t tell me what it was. Being a newspaper reporter had been his dream his whole life. And we talked all the time. We talked the night before he disappeared, and he was in a great mood. When he disappeared, I came here from Cleveland, where we’re from, and filed a missing person’s report, and they acted like I was over-reacting. Then I went and looked at his apartment. Somebody had searched it. There were rugs pushed back, chairs knocked over. I asked his landlord, and he said that he’d heard someone breaking in there and chased them off with a shotgun, but he didn’t get a good look at them. I told the sheriff’s department, and they said that somebody had probably broken in because they knew it was vacant now. What I think is, someone kidnapped him, and they broke in because they were looking for something.”
Coral frowned, wondering if the woman was just a stressed-out parent or if there was something more going on.
“I found out more,” Molly said, running her shaking hand through her hair. “I found out that two other people from Blue Moon Junction have disappeared recently. Did anyone tell you about that?”
“No,” Coral said, perking up. Now this sounded like a story. She glanced across the room, and saw the publisher, Mr. Brewster, in his office, waving at her. He was making some kind of hand gesture at her. He was circling his finger at his temple, indicating the woman was crazy.
“David Bollinger was out of town on a business trip a few weeks ago,” the woman said. “His wife reported him missing. The police say that it’s because he and his wife were going through a rough patch, and he just wanted to disappear and start over – but he’s got two teenagers in high school. Would he just completely disappear like that, without saying goodbye, when he could easily have filed for divorce? It was his teenaged son who filed the missing person’s report. And then Marie Kirby, a schoolteacher, went on a backpacking trip to Europe recently and her family lost all contact with her.”
“How did you find this out?”
“Because I’ve been staying in town ever since my son’s disappearance, asking all around,” the woman said. “I talked to both of these families and they say that this is completely out of character for these people to disappear. Just like my son.”
“My sister, Ginger, has some psychic powers. She works with the sheriff’s office here as a Certified Post Death Communicator. Was she called in on any of these cases?”
The woman shrugged wearily. “The police told me that she was. According to them, she said that my son was still alive. I spoke to the families of the other missing people. She also did not find any indication that they were dead.”
Coral wished she could ask Ginger about it. Unfortunately, the tropical island where Ginger and Marigold were basking their big pregnant selves did not have cell phone service.
“Well, I will say this, Ginger is excellent at what she does,” Coral said. “She’s never made a mistake. If they were dead, she could sense it.” Ginger’s power was the ability to communicate with the recently deceased. If she handled an object that they’d recently handled, or went to their home or any place that they’d spent a lot of time, she could gain access to them and speak to them before they died.
“Then where is he?” Molly pleaded. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“I’ll go to the sheriff’s office and ask if they’re making any progress,” Coral promised. “I’ll ask them about the other disappearances as well.”
Molly wrote down her phone number. “Will you call me as soon you find out anything?”
“I will,” Coral promised.
After Molly left, Frederick glanced over at her. “Just so you know, I’ve heard about that woman. She’s apparently nuts.”
“There’s something…” Maybelle shook her head. “Something about those two other people who disappeared, that’s nagging at me. It’ll come to me.”
Blanche nodded. “I hate to admit that the old prude is right, but I guess there’s a first time for anything. There is some connection between the two, I just can’t quite recall what it is at the moment.”
“Old prude? I’m not too old to whip your hiney, you senile hussy,” Maybelle snapped.
“I’m sorry, what did you say? It’s hard for me to understand you when your dentures get loose like that.”
Maybelle shot out of her chair. “Every one of my teeth are original, and you know that, you old witch!”
Coral leaped up. “Ladies! We’re all on the same side!” They both turned to look at her, and she tried to think what side they were all on. “The side of truth, journalism, and the American way,” she finished quickly.