Norm’s disgruntled bark flew across the yard. He appeared next to us a moment later, worked up and puffing. “What’s going on here? Are they bothering you, Mr. Thompson?”
“No, not at all,” Tad said. “They were about to go.”
Norm glanced back to the street, where Sadie and Grim stood, calmer now, then gave Artemis and me a long, hard glare. I tucked the photo into my pocket, held up my hands, and said, “Swear to God, Officer Newall, we aren’t here to start trouble.”
Norm waited another moment before jerking his head toward the street. “Get out of here. They don’t have your memory card. Producer confirmed they went through everything they had, twice, and didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.”
“You can’t believe that.”
“Go!”Norm jabbed a finger at the street. Artemis dragged me away. I looked back only once to see Tad standing behind Norm’s shoulder. He winked.
When we were back at Grim’s car, I took the photo out of my pocket and showed it to Sadie. “Tad found this inside the house. He thought it was my hideout. He said there were other things inside. Who would have a picture of Mom inside Grimshaw House?”
Sadie’s eyes widened, her eyebrows pressing down hard over them. “It could be coincidence. Whatever else is in there—”
“But this was the one Tad found. It was easy to find. He thinks everything up there is mine. What if there are more? What if—” There was so much about her I didn’t know. “What if there’s more about her in there?Who would put a picture of Mom inside Grimshaw House?”
“Anyone,” Sadie said, but a cloud had passed over her expression. Doubt. “It doesn’t matter. We can’t get in.”
“Wecanget in,” I said, “People used to get in here all the time.”
Sadie and Artemis reacted at the same time.
“You want to trespassagain—”
“—and gothorribly injured!”
Sadie took me by the arm and pulled me aside, but I got words out before she did. “I get it. Whatever you’re going to say to me, I know. And you’re right. We shouldn’t do it.”
Her lips pressed tight together, eyebrows furrowing. “So why’d you suggest it?”
“Because it’s Mom.”
Because the harder I tried to ignore the mysteries of this town, the heavier they weighed, and there was one that weighed more than any other.
Sadie didn’t speak right away, either, and that told me enough. I held up the photo. “Did you ever see a picture of her? Do we have any pictures of her?”
Her gaze flicked from me to the photo.
I pushed again. “She went into the woods that night for a reason. You know it’s not teenagers keeping weird old pictures in Grimshaw House. Tad said there were more.”
Her eyebrows tilted up.
“I’m not stupid,” I said. “It wasn’t lack of common sense that got me caught in the mines, or anywhere else. I know the risks. I think the risks are worth this. To see.”
If I’d had my way, I would have gone without her, but if she was going to start monitoring my coming and going, then she was going to have to come with me. Her hand finally slid off my arm. She scraped her fingers through her hair, then turned back to Artemis and Grim. “Grimmie. It’s your house. You decide if we go in.”
Grim gave her a bewildered blink, apparently as surprised as I was that I’d actually managed to convince her. “I’d ratherwebreak into it than anyone else.”
“Oh god, this is a terrible idea.” Artemis dropped her armsto her sides and gave me a look. Athere’s a firestarter on the loose and you want to waste time with Grimshaw Houselook.
“You don’t have to come,” I said.
She scoffed. “I have a chance to go into Grimshaw House. I can’t pass that up. Besides, if there are documents about the Aberdeen girls in there, there might be something about other stories from around town. Look at the photo—that already tells us something. That story about Daisy makes a lot more sense.”
I looked again. Pit bull. Brown spot over one eye. Notch out of the ear.
“Daisy was Mom’s dog?” Sadie said.
