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“Fifteen minutes, maybe a little longer. I make it a point to get to my properties early, so I can check for vandalism, plus any damages that aren’t on the sell sheet. Did I tell you that?”
“Yes, sir, you did.”
“So do you think you’ll find her? Any leads? Are you hot on the trail?”
Holly tells him it’s too early to be sure of anything. Rafferty begins telling her that if she ever has real estate needs herself, this is a prime time to buy and he has a wide selection, both business and residential. Before he can get too far into his spiel, she tells him she has another call coming in and has to take it. Actually she has to make one, to the library at Bell College.
My mother lied. Uncle Henry did, too.
She shuts that down and makes her call.
2
“Reynolds Library, Edith Brookings speaking.”
“Hello. My name is Holly Gibney. I’d like to speak to Lakeisha Stone, please.”
“I’m sorry, but Lakeisha has gone north to spend the weekend with some friends. Swimming and camping in Upsala Village. I should be so lucky.” Edith Brookings laughs. “Can I help you? Or take a message?”
Holly happens to know Upsala Village, a rural community that’s home to lots of Amish. It’s no more than twenty miles north of her mother’s house, where she’ll be tomorrow. She might be able to talk to Lakeisha up there. Tomorrow afternoon, if inventorying the house doesn’t take too long, Sunday if not. In the meantime, perhaps the Brookings woman will be able to help.
“I’m a private investigator, Ms. Brookings. Penelope Dahl—Penny—has hired me to look for her daughter.”
“Oh, gee!” She sounds less professional now, and even younger. “I hope you find her. We’re worried to death about Bon!”
“Could I come up to the library and talk to you? It won’t take long. Perhaps if you have an afternoon break—”
“Oh, come any time. Come now, if you want. We’re not busy at all. Most of the summer sessions have been canceled because of the, you know, the Corona.”
“That’s great,” Holly says. “Thank you.”
As she pulls out onto Red Bank Avenue, she takes another look at that big rock with its view of the street and the drive-in screen a mile or two away. She wonders if Pete Steinman, aka Stinky Steinman, sometimes visited it. It wouldn’t surprise her.
3
At the Reynolds Library, Holly gets both Edith Brookings (“Call me Edie”) and Margaret Brenner, another of the assistant librarians Penny mentioned. Edie is womaning the main desk, but says they can go in the reading room, where she’ll be able to see anyone who has a question or wants to check a book out.
“I wouldn’t dare if Matt Conroy was here,” Edie says, “but he’s on vacation.”
“Mad Matt,” Margaret says. She pulls a face and they both giggle into their masks.
“He’s not really mad or anything,” Edie says, “but he’s kind of a pill. If you talk to him when he comes back, please don’t tell him I said that.”
“Puh-leeze,” Margaret says, and they do their giggling thing again. When the cat’s away the mice will play, Holly thinks. But there’s no harm in these mice; they’re just a couple of nice-looking young women who have had something interesting turn up on an otherwise sleepy day at work. Unfortunately, they know very little about Bonnie Rae, except she broke up with her boyfriend, Tom Higgins.
“Anything else, you’d have to ask Keisha,” Margaret says. “They were tight.”
Holly plans to do that. She asks for Lakeisha’s phone number and Edie gives it to her.
“Did Bonnie say anything about leaving town?” Holly asks. “Maybe just in passing, like wouldn’t it be nice?”
The two young women look at each other. Margaret shrugs and shakes her head.
“Not to me she didn’t,” Edie says. “But you have to understand that Bonnie keeps pretty much to herself. She’s nice, but not what you’d call a sharing soul.”
“Except for Keisha,” Margaret says.
“Yes, except for her.”
