"There's some concern about the ex. That he was a pretty bad guy," I told them. "But she never gave them his name or any info about him, so we have no way to check."
The twins rolled their eyes simultaneously.
"Please," Austin said.
Within a few minutes, he had an array of photos up on the screen.
"Social media," Dallas put in. "But this guy is definitely hiding something. See how he never quite faces any of the people taking the photos? Always wearing a hat. Never even a real view of the side of his face."
"Even in those two selfies Katherine took of them, he's wearing a hat and glasses and turning away," I said. "I don't like selfies myself, but this seems deliberate. It's impossible to get the slightest clue of what he looks like."
"Definitely deliberate," Austin agreed. "She scrubbed her social media presence, too. These are shadows I picked up from her old accounts."
"Run a trace with the 6500XK?" Dallas asked his brother.
"The what?"
"New program we're working on," he said absently. "I could explain it, but?—"
"Then you'd have to kill me?"
He grinned. "Nothing so dramatic. I could explain it, but you wouldn't understand a word."
"Fine." I unwrapped the last six cookies, took two, and slid the others across the picnic table toward them. "Eat up and let me know if you find anything out. There's the boat coming back. Are they supposed to go that fast?"
The twins glanced up and shot up off the bench, mouths open.
"Shelley's going too fast!"
"She's going to hit the dock!"
Before we could move to intercept the bodies that were almost certainly going to be flung out of the boat, Shelley, laughing like a loon, slowed down at the last possible moment. Then she pulled up to the dock as smoothly as if she'd been doing it for years.
"That girl is going to be the death of me," I muttered, clutching my head.
"Girls." Dallas shook his head. "When our sister was little, she built a rocket and set it off in the backyard."
"That sounds pretty normal," I said. "Dave and I built a model rocket when we were kids and set it off at his place. Eleanor made us cookies and lemonade."
The brothers gave me identical looks of exasperation. "Louise built a five-foot-tall rocket and sent it practically into orbit. When it came down, it set the neighbor's house on fire."
I blinked.
"She works for NASA now, though, so it all worked out," Dallas said, grinning.
"Maybe Shelley will be a zookeeper," Austin said hopefully. "Remember the reindeer she made fly?"
"I'll never forget the reindeer," I said glumly, watching her carefully tie the mooring lines to the cleats on the dock to secure the boat.
"Hey. We're going to take this search home to our real computers. We'll find out what we can about Katherine Sampson and get back to you later today."
"I really appreciate it. And bill me. Bill me extra, even, for moving me to the top of whatever wildly busy workload you have."
Dallas punched me on the shoulder. "Shut up."
"Okay, but barbecue at our place soon, okay? I'll load you up with steaks."
"And pie?" Austin asked hopefully. Everybody in Dead End knew how good Tess's baking was.
