“Like I said, whatever you need to do.” He kissed the top of her head and took a seat across from her. It was as if this was something they did often.

Her tote bag was on the mismatched chair next to her. She immediately went into recounting her meeting with the woman named Tori. She described the rough sketches, too. “Wish I had brought them with me, but I do have this.” She put on the pair of latex gloves she carried and took the diary out of the plastic bag, followed by the note.

“How was her body language?” Gaines asked.

“She was nervous. Kept twisting her napkin. But she seemed sweet. Kinda innocent but troubled. There was a sadness about her. Something in her past is haunting her, and she has a lot to think about for her future.”

“About how old?”

“Late thirties I’d say.”

“When are you going to see her next?”

“Within the next two weeks.”

“I can hear your wheels turning,” Gaines teased her.

“Yeah. Yeah.” Luna smiled up at him. “But I would bet there is a link here. Somewhere.” She opened the diary, got up, and walked behind him. Leaning over his shoulder, she continued, “There are very few entries, but there’s a similarity in the scrawl.” Luna then went on to explain how she had tracked down the carnival company and narrowed down the time frame. “Ellie and I are going to go to the library this week and check the newspaper archives for fires that took place back then.”

“You are becoming quite the detective.” Gaines squinted at the note and the diary. “It’s really hard to tell. The R and the T look similar, but the diary is signed with a V. And the note is signed by someone named Tori.”

“Yeah, that’s one thing that is throwing me off.”

Gaines was reading her mind again. “Do you want me to recommend a handwriting analyst?”

“How did you know?” she asked coyly.

“I wouldn’t expect any less from you.” He grinned. “I have a guy in the office who does this for us. I’ll make a copy of both the page and the note.”

“Really?”

“For you? Absolutely. Besides, I know you won’t stop until you put it all together. I’m just trying to save you some time.” He gave her a wide grin. “And me as well.” He chuckled.

“You are the best!” Luna threw her arms around his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek.

“So, what are we having for breakfast?” he asked.

“Something easy. Scones?”

“You got it. We’ll grab some lunch later and take it to Freedom Park. How does that sound?”

“Sounds perfect, but it will have to do.” Luna was over the moon, and Gaines seemed to be traveling at the same speed of light.

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

The weekend wrap-up