Eve smiled despite the tiny flutter of worry in her chest. Mia was healing. Getting better. The shadows were lifting from her eyes, replaced by something that looked an awful lot like hope.
She showered and dressed, then knocked on Lila’s adjoining door.
“Come in,” Lila called.
Eve pushed the door open to find Lila already dressed in jeans and a sweater, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, her face bright with the kind of energy that came from sixteen-year-olds who’d slept well and woke up ready to solve mysteries.
“Ready for breakfast?” Eve asked.
“Ready for detective work,” Lila corrected with a grin. “Breakfast is just fuel.”
They headed downstairs together, and Eve was surprised to see Brian waiting near the dining room entrance, his hands shoved in his pockets, a backpack slung over his shoulder, an eager but slightly anxious expression on his face.
He wasn’t in his work uniform. Just jeans and a hoodie, his hair still slightly damp from a shower.
“Brian,” Eve said warmly. “Good morning. Are you working today?”
“No,” Brian said quickly. “I’m off the whole day. I just... I came to talk to you both. If that’s okay.”
Lila’s eyebrows rose with interest. “Of course it’s okay. Have you had breakfast?”
Brian shook his head. “I snuck out early without having any. My grandmother would have a fit if she knew.”
“Then join us,” Eve said, gesturing toward the dining room.
They settled at their favorite table near the window, the morning sun streaming through the glass and casting warm pools of light across the polished wood. A different server appeared, not Brian’s usual colleagues, and took their orders with efficient professionalism.
Once the server had gone, Eve leaned forward. “So what do you need to talk to us about?”
Brian’s expression turned serious. Instead of answering, he countered with a question of his own. “Why were you so interested in William’s brother’s house in Circle Pond? And the people who used to live in William’s house when he was working away?”
Eve and Lila exchanged uncertain glances.
Brian caught it immediately. “Look, I’m not trying to trap you or anything. You can trust me. I just need to understand what’s going on.”
“We’ve known William for a long time,” Eve said carefully. “Of course, we’re interested in him.”
Brian didn’t look convinced. He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope, the kind that photo shops used for developed pictures, slightly worn at the edges and yellowed with age.
“This was my father’s,” Brian said, his voice softer now. “It’s how I got to know him and who he was, from when I was a little boy.”
Eve’s heart pulled for him. She couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to piece together a parent’s life through stories and photographs, to build a relationship with someone who existed only in memory.
“This one in particular,” Brian said, quickly flipping through the photos. He pulled one out and set it on the table between them.
Eve went cold.
Lila gasped.
The photo showed two children, maybe six or seven years old, standing beside a pond. A little boy with a gap-toothed smile and messy hair, his arm slung around the shoulders of a little girl with dark curls and bright, intelligent eyes.
“That’s my father when he was seven,” Brian said, pointing to the boy. “That’s his friend from next door.” He flipped the photo over.
On the back, in faded blue ink, was a date and two names:Pauland a second name that had been heavily blacked out with marker, then rewritten beside it in different handwriting:his best friend.
Eve’s senses went on high alert. “Why is the name crossed out?”
“I couldn’t ask my grandmother that question,” Brian said. “Because after you left yesterday, I caught my grandmother going through my drawers in my room. When I asked her what she was doing, she said that all the talk about Paul made her want to go through his photos again.”
