“Stay here,” I say to Jamie. Then I shout “Hey!” and speed up until I’m right behind her.

Clara turns, and when she sees me, I know I have the right person.

She looks terrified.

Chapter 116

“Are you the girl on the phone?” I ask.

When Clara doesn’t answer, I say, “I think you are. I think you know something about the Magpie Man.”

She shivers and starts moving, fiddling with her keys as she does so.

I chase after her, touch her shoulder, and say, “Please…”

Clara spins around. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she says, then opens a gate, runs up the path, and stabs her key at the door.

She’s panicking, giving me just enough time to say, “I need your help.”

She turns around again, shakes her head, and says, “I’m sorry,” then opens the door and slams it shut before I can respond.

But I haven’t come all this way for nothing. I look back at Jamie, who is a few houses down, then walk through the gate and up the path and ring the doorbell. Clara doesn’t answer.

I’m certain this is the girl I’ve been looking for. So why won’t she talk to me? I need to know what she knows, so I go around the side, where a gate opens with a latch.

I’m trespassing now. I’m not solving a crime, I’m committing one. But I head toward the backyard, then turn and look through the patio doors, directly into Clara’s kitchen. It’s empty, and I look closer, staring deep into the house.

That’s when I see her walking straight toward me, and when she slides the door open, I try my best to smile, to make her know I’m here to help.

But she has a phone in her hand, and already dialing a number, she says, “I’m calling the police. Go away.”

“I need to know…did you message me? Did we speak on the phone? Please.”

Maybe she was messing with me, just like everyone else. Maybe she was trolling me in her own unique way, not thinking I would actually come looking. But when I see a tear creep down her cheek, I know it’s more than that.

“Just go,” she says, closing the door and locking it, pulling the curtains closed so I can’t see inside.

I walk back around the house and down the sidewalk and away.

“So?” Jamie says.

“She knows something. But she’s too afraid to say what it is.”

Chapter 117

Harmony has messed with my mind.

I daydreamed so long about my mother that it feels like I’ve lost her all over again, while Clara’s refusal to help means my sadness is mixed with anger. I feel ready to explode, and I don’t know what will be left when I do.