“It didn’t feel real,” Kate is quick to add. “That’s what I was thinking. And he was really calm, the way he was talking. He said he wanted money and Polly showed him her jewelry box. She had fifty dollars. That’s when he changed. His voice got harder and he told us not to scream or he’d slit our throats.”

“Then he started to tie up Polly and she was crying,” Gillian says. “He took pillowcases off the bed and put them over our heads. He tied us up after that. I said the cords were too tight and he loosened them a little and said he was sorry.”

“That’s when he said if we counted to a thousand, Polly would be back,” Kate finishes for her.

“But that didn’t happen?” the interviewer prompts gently.

“No,” Kate replies. “We heard the screen door slam and then we tried to get out of the cords he tied us up with. Gillian was stumbling around and trying to wake up Polly’s mom who was asleep next door.”

“We were both really scared,” Gillian says.

“Of course you were. Your friend had just been kidnapped. I think you’re very brave. And everyone in America is looking for Polly’s kidnapper from the description you were able to give the police. Millions of people watch this show. Everyone is trying to find Polly. Everyone wants her to come home.” Her face is the picture of somber hope, her eyes pointedly soft. “What can you tell America about who Polly was? How was your friend so special?”

“She’s really funny,” Kate replies, almost smiling for a split second. “Her favorite color is purple and she eats cinnamon toast every day after school.”

“She wants to be an actress,” Gillian adds. “She’s madly in love with Mel Gibson. There’s a poster in her room with these two black-and-white cats and a Dalmatian that says DON’T BE A COPY CAT. That’s her. There’s no one like Polly.”

—

After the interview, the usual number rolls across the screen for tips, then the tape goes black. My eyes shoot to Will. Even though I’m numb and hungover from our talk, my mind has begun to whir.

“This is exactly why we need this town meeting yesterday,” I say. “Cinnamon toast. Almost no one in town knows anything about Cameron. You can’t care about something you can’t picture.”

“Okay, sure. But listen. You know the actress Winona Ryder? Seems she’s flying to Petaluma tomorrow on Harrison Ford’s jet. I talked to Fraser and it seems she’s collected donations from a bunch of A-listers for a private reward if Polly’s found. Anna, it’s two million dollars.”

“What? That’s crazy! Even if they can get that kind of money together, why spend it on Polly? Why is Ryder so invested anyway?”