“Honestly, I don’t know why I ever thought Archie could have hurt someone,” Molly told Claudia later that night on the phone while waving her arms around and pacing the living room, talking at nearly Archie’s fast pace. “I mean, he’s not a totally normal guy. He’s really, really talkative. He stands too close. He’s too friendly and excitable. He’s kind of weird. But I don’t think he’d hurt Trevor. I feel so good knowing that he wasn’t on the trail that day. He wants to be a hiker, but he’s not. Not yet.”
Molly and Scott’s living room was decorated in warm, natural tones. The brown leather sofa held soft, lime-colored pillows. A huge snake plant dominated one corner of the room beside the television stand. An arrowhead plant draped over the picture window, from which Molly had produced more offspring via cuttings to hand off to friends and family than she could count. Their home wasn’t the largest in the neighborhood, but it was cozy and filled with greenery.
“You did it, Molls! You’re a downright detective … You’re … you’re the succulent sleuth!” Claudia announced.
“Well, I don’t know about that. And really? The ‘succulent sleuth’? Why always with the succulents?” Molly waved her arms around for emphasis, even though Claudia couldn’t see her. Scott walked across the room and grinned at her, waving his arms around mockingly.
“I think it sounds cute. And you totally asked the right questions, got to the bottom of it. Like a sleuth boss!”
“Got to the bottom of one possible not-so-much-of-a-suspect. The police didn’t consider him a suspect at all.” Molly paused. “I feel pretty fantastic about it, though,” she conceded, smiling widely.
“Well, I don’t think that they really knew when Archie got to the shop or that he acted like he really wanted to go hiking that day. It was fishy, and you saw that. I think you were right to follow up with some … investigation, some sleuthing,” Claudia said, laughing.
“It was fishy. But he didn’t do it. And Trevor is still missing.” The tone of the conversation cooled.
“It is really frustrating that they haven’t found him at all yet,” Claudia agreed. “Craig said he saw the police were doing something downstream in the river under the Oakway Bridge, even farther down the trail.”
“Oh, man,” Molly said. “That means they’re searching for his body if they’re looking in the water. I really keep hoping that he’s okay, just missing.”
“I don’t know. It’s been days at this point. You can’t really be missing for days and be okay. We might need to face facts here, friend.”
“He was just such a sweet guy. So funny and friendly. So excited to be hiking, so excited for the future.” Molly’s voice cracked. She sat down on the sofa and hugged a green pillow. Claudia made empathetic noises. “He might be in the woods with two broken legs, existing on acorns and rain water. Maybe?”
“Let’s not focus on the sad stuff.” Claudia paused. “You ruled out one suspect. You’re fighting for him. And you’ve got the earring lead. Shannon is not missing. Which is good, but she’s still suspicious. There’s more to do. And I want to help. What’s your next step?” Claudia was always so full of resolve and positivity.
Molly rubbed her face and sniffed. “I’m sure the detectives are doing what they can do. It’s their job. But yeah, they don’t know about this earring. I just feel so bad about turning it in. It might be Shannon’s, but it might not be. I need to ask her more directly.” She paused. “I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow is good. But what about if you prepared for it? Like, wrote down what you wanted to say to Shannon?”
Molly laughed. “Oh, you know me so well. You’re right. I should have a script. That would work better. Do you think you could help me figure out what I should say?”
Molly went into the kitchen and sat down at the table, where she wrote down some ideas and eventually, with Claudia’s help, some full sentences. Claudia was an excellent coach, as she was much more direct than Molly would ever be. Scott hovered a bit and made a bowl of popcorn during the brainstorming session.
Once they finished Molly’s script for talking to Shannon, Molly announced, “I’m also thinking that I want to go see the bridge myself.” She chewed on the pen cap.
“See the scene of the crime,” Claudia said in an agreeable tone.
“Did you see the picture they released in the newspaper? I saw it online, and I don’t think it was a recent picture, like since it happened. I think the picture is even from a different year because it’s not the right season.”
“Oh, that’s shady.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s really shady. They just didn’t have a current photo. But the wildflowers that were in bloom in the picture were wrong for this time of year.”
“You and flowers. You really make a good detective.”
“I guess plants just speak to me,” Molly told Claudia. “Anyway, as of this morning, there was still police tape blocking off the trailhead on that side. And I don’t know what the bridge looks like now. I want to know.”
“So … you’re going to bust down the tape and march right down the trail to see what’s what?”
“I was thinking of gingerly crawling under the tape, Mission Impossible style, and quietly tiptoeing down the trail in the dark.” Molly laughed at their contrasting perspectives.
“That sounds more your style,” Claudia chuckled. “So that’s how I’ll help. I’ll hold the tape up for you and tiptoe down the trail by your side, real quiet. Call me Dr. Claudia Watson.”
“You’re sure about this? I don’t know what happens when you trespass beyond police tape. I don’t know what kind of trouble you get into.”
“I guess you could bring someone else, but I’m the first to volunteer here, Molls. Don’t look a gift donkey up the butt, or whatever.”
It took Molly a full minute to recover from laughing. “It’s a gift horse in the mouth, not a donkey! Donkey? Up the butt? Oh, my goodness! Oh, my.” Claudia was laughing too. “Anyway, okay.” Molly recovered with a couple of slow breaths. “I want to go, but I’m nervous about it. Maybe we should do some planning. What do we need? When should we go?”
“What’s the matter with tomorrow morning? What is there to plan? We’ll just bring some flashlights. Maybe you should drive Scott’s car instead of the garden center van with your big blue and yellow logo on the side. Or we park down the road or something. Doesn’t seem so complicated,” Claudia said, always ready to act.
“Yeah. Okay.” Molly was not so ready.
“Don’t lose your momentum here. There’s not anything else to think about. And we’ll just take a look. We won’t be there long and won’t mess anything up. I’m sure we won’t even be the first people to do it. It’s public property, hard to lock down.”
“All compelling arguments. I guess you’re right,” Molly agreed. And so they made plans to meet at the neighboring plaza at 4:30 a.m., well before daylight.