“What about all the artifacts that were down here? Did anyone know about them?” Danny asked.

Mandy lifted a shoulder and moved up two more steps. “Sure, everybody knew about Aaron’s collection. He had a degree of some sort in Celtic history. Collecting artifacts from Scotland was his hobby. That’s where he was born.”

In that light, Danny supposed it didn’t seem strange at all.

“I’m getting out of here.” She tripped up the stairs.

Danny swept his light over the space one last time. The beam settled on a dark discoloration on the floor beneath the far window. He walked over. The window was cracked an eighth of an inch open. The lock was busted. Water had dripped onto the cement, and mold had grown over the winter.

Was the window jimmied before or after Nathan disappeared? If it happened over the winter, who had broken in and why? The answer could be as simple as a vagrant looking for a dry place to weather a storm. Or Nathan could have returned.

Danny went upstairs at a jog. He couldn’t get out of the cold, dank cellar fast enough. The patio door caught his eye. He walked out back to the broken basement window and shone his flashlight on the shaded frame. Definitely jimmied from the outside. He swept the beam over the surrounding area. Something was crushed between the cinder block foundation and the weeds that grew around the building. Danny stuck his finger in the mud and pulled it out. He put it in the palm of his hand. A faded white lollipop wrapper.

Ray?

He remembered a flash of his first night in town. He’d seen someone in the alley next to the diner. Could that have been Ray? What would he be doing in the vacant restaurant?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Feeling trapped, Mandy scurried out of the basement. Above ground, she rubbed at a tight spot in the center of her chest. Under her sweater, her skin was clammy and damp. She could barely draw a full breath.

Just a few more minutes, then she could get out of here. What else needed to be searched? The steps leading to the second floor pulled at her gaze. Mandy crept upstairs alone. She stuck her head in the first room. Dirty clothes and used plates vied for surface space, and the air smelled of many, many things gone sour. Evan’s room, no doubt.

The next door led to a spartan space. Nathan’s uncle’s room? Shelves and surfaces were bizarrely bare. The police had taken most of Aaron’s personal possessions. Small picture frames lay on their backs, the photos removed. Mandy walked to the dresser and opened a drawer. Sweaters. She looked in the other drawers. More clothing. The closet held pants and jackets. Nothing unusual. A few boxes sat on the floor, the tops off-kilter, summer clothes hanging over the sides.