“From what I can remember, it happened at a large mobile-home community. Some people called it a trailer park, but it was a little nicer than most. The boy was supposed to be looked after by his sister. But when the fire department and police arrived, it was only the boy who was there. He suffered third-degree burns on the side of his face and neck.”

“What happened to the sister?”

“No one knows for sure.” The librarian leaned in farther. “I don’t like to gossip, but from what I was told, the mother was a terrible drunk and the father was always on the road. Truck driver, I believe.”

“And the sister was nowhere to be found?”

“That sounds very suspicious.”

“That’s what they thought at first. But the boy said it was a candle that set fire to the drapes. He ran from his bedroom to check on his sister and the flames got his shirt and his hair. Poor thing.”

“Then what happened?” Ellie and Luna asked in unison.

“The state took the boy and put him in foster care.” The librarian shook her head.

“So no one knows what became of the boy or the sister?”

“I’m afraid I can’t help you there, and since then all the mobile homes got wiped out in a flood, and the land was cleared. There’s a big-box store there now.”

Luna was feverishly writing everything down. “Do you think it was covered by one of the newspapers?”

“I know it was. It was one of those incidents that left a lot of questions. There are probably a few articles about it, but like most stories, they eventually get boring, and the press moves on to something else.”

Luna reached over and patted the woman’s hand. “You have been extremely helpful. We are going to grab some lunch. Can we get you anything?”

“Oh no, I’m fine. I brought my lunch. Will you be coming back?”

“Yes. I want to find out everything I can about the fire.”

“Any particular reason? You said you were doing research,” the librarian asked.

“It has to do with an old mysterious trunk. We’re trying to put the pieces together.”

“Sounds intriguing. If I think of anything else, I’ll let you know when you come back.”

Luna and Ellie got up, thanked the woman, and scurried out the door.

“Can you believe that?” Luna was all atwitter.

“When you get a feeling about something, you are on the money, honey.” Ellie put her arm around Luna.

“I don’t know why it hadn’t occurred to me to ask her when we first got here. Librarians know everything!” They linked arms and practically skipped to the local tap house.