“Because we showed you five pictures of it.” Emma waved her phone.
“You could’ve dressed up a Halloween decoration.” His voice was thick with suspicion. “You could be playing me right now.”
Acting on instinct, Opal grabbed his hand.
“Your fingers are trembling,” Logan said, surprised. He didn’t jerk away.
“Because I’mscared, Logan.” She let go and looked at the others. “We all are. This isn’t a joke.”
Emma nodded. Tyler dipped his chin in assent. Even Nico muttered, “It’s true.”
Logan’s lips tightened. His gaze shifted to a point beyond Opal, as if he were arguing inside his head. Then he exhaled slowly, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. “Okay. What should we do next?”
“Let’s look up these jacket people,” Emma said. “Maybe one went missing.”
“Fine. But only Opal and I touch the files. Everything has to go back exactly like it was.”
“Sounds good to me,” Nico joked. “I wouldn’t want to leave any fingerprints.”
“Your fingerprints are all over this place,” Logan snarled. “You and your dad’s.”
Nico’s head dropped. Emma put a hand on his arm.
“Andawaywe go,” Tyler mumbled under his breath.
Opal had to hand it to the HR department—they kept excellent records. Each file had a picture clipped to it. Logan and Opal had gone through twenty or so when they found a folderthat also held an unsealed envelope. “Okay if I open this?” she asked.
He nodded grudgingly. Inside were two paychecks and a note:
Unclaimed personal item stored in section 318-B of company warehouse.
“Does your dad let employees store personal stuff?” Tyler asked.
“Sometimes, yeah.”
Opal scanned the file. “Hey, listen! This guy? His name was Roman Hale.” She pointed to a notation on the first page. “Get this! Fifteen years ago, a falling tree clipped him while on the job. He refused medical treatment, so they made him sign a waiver.”
Tyler snapped his fingers. “Our skeleton has a busted collarbone.”
“No home address,” Opal murmured. “Only a PO box. No emergency contact, either.”
“Maybe he didn’t have family,” Tyler guessed. “He died alone, outside of the town, and nobody looked hard enough to find him.”
“He quit showing up for work.” Opal was still reading. “They terminated him after two weeks.”
“Our skeleton is definitely terminated,” Tyler said.
Emma punched him in the shoulder. “Hey, be respectful.”
Tyler grimaced. “Sorry.”
Emma pushed the man’s photograph to the center of the table.
Weather-beaten face. Bright blue eyes. Dark hair. He had a nice smile.
Opal felt suddenly, overwhelmingly sad.
“Roman Hale,” she whispered. “What happened to you?”
