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‘He came to check out the high school.’

‘To what?’

‘See his old high school. He hadn’t been back.’

‘So he’s been in Barrow for two minutes—’

‘A year,’ Mary said.

‘Right, a year, and he happened to choose the day you got this note in your car to visit the school?’ Ryan snorted. ‘And he could find out anything he wanted to about your past. He knows all kinds of people in this town. I think I might have an idea who’s behind this after all. Don’t you?’

‘No,’ Mary said. ‘He’s just – he’s not like that. And even if it was him, that only solves half the mystery. The real question is why?’ Her throat tightened and she choked back a sob. ‘What does he want? He put the note on the pole waiting for me to read it. This was all planned, Ryan. And if it is, it isn’t going to stop here. What else do they have in store?’

That’s One Possibility

Detective Lieutenant Gray Turner sat – in jeans and a Red Sox T-shirt – in a wingback armchair in the living room. Ryan handed him a beer.

‘Don’t drink these expensive ones that often,’ he said. ‘Too strong for me.’

‘I could get you a Bud Light,’ Ryan said. ‘Jennings General Store’s still open.’

‘That’s fine. I’ll stick to just the one.’ He turned to Mary. ‘So you said something weird’s going on?’

Mary nodded. ‘It began with a note on a pole,’ she said. ‘Downtown on the corner of Maine and Spring. A young woman was reading something and she had a strong reaction – kind of pulled away in shock – so I went to see what it was.’

‘And what was it?’

‘A note, that said something like “If you’re reading this I’m watching you, and you are now part of my collection.”’

Gray raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s pretty unusual. Did you notice anyone observing you?’

She shook her head. ‘I had a look, but couldn’t see anyone. I was a bit shaken, but by the time I got home I’d dismissed it as a prank. But then these showed up.’ She handed the two notes to him. He read them, then looked up at her, his eyes narrowed in focus.

‘Where were these?’ he said.

‘The one on top came last night. I went to the library mixer and when we got home it was in my bag.’

‘In your bag?’ he said.

She nodded. ‘And the other one was in my car. I found it there after the varsity soccer game.’

‘What happened, exactly?’ Gray said.

‘I left after the game and went to my car. The note was on the passenger seat.’

‘Your car wasn’t broken into?’

‘I left it unlocked.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘You know how many times someone has had a phone or wallet or some other valuable taken from their car, and when I asked if it was broken into they said what you just said? They think because they’re in Maine they can leave everything wide open. Maine’s known for it, they say. Well, you know who else knows it? The criminals, that’s who.’

‘I guess I’ll be locking it from now on,’ Mary said. ‘What do you think of the notes?’

‘One more question. The other woman who saw the note? Did you talk to her?’

Mary shook her head.

‘Did you recognize her?’