Page 34 of Is Anyone Listening?
"So do I.
"How do you know Jessica?"
He hesitated, then said. "She's a friend. And she doesn't have anyone else to look for her. Her parents are dead, and she went through a bitter, ugly divorce a few months ago, where she lost most of her friends. When she first disappeared, I hired a private investigator, who discovered her last known sighting was at the Stonecross Inn. But when he came asking questions of the sheriff and Mrs. Clarke, he was shut down. He was told that she rented a boat for a morning sail and never returned. The next day, her boat was found crashed on the rocks about an hour north of here. There was no sign of her body. The consensus was that she couldn't handle the strong wind that came up that afternoon. She lost control of the boat and eventually ended up in the water, where she drowned."
"But they never found her body."
"No. Which is why I'm not convinced that's what happened. Since asking outright didn't get my investigator anywhere, I arrived last week with a cover story. Actually, it's not really a story. I am creating an architectural plan for the owner of the house I'm staying in. But that's not the only reason I'm here."
"I get it. This town doesn't like questions."
"They don't. Let's talk about you and your friend. You've been telling everyone you're writing a book about inns, but I looked you up online, and I couldn't find you anywhere. No website, no previous book reviews or listings. And you've been all around town asking questions about Natalie. What are you really doing here, Cassidy?
"We're not writing a book," I admitted. "Tessa and I have a podcast called Mysteries Uncorked. We investigate true crime cases. We picked Natalie because she's like us. She's about our age and lived in New York and just disappeared."
"A podcast?" he said, surprise running through his brown eyes. "That is not what I expected you to say. I thought you might have been a friend of Natalie's."
"I never met her, but I know a lot about her, and I've spoken to her brother. He's been devastated by her disappearance. I'd like to help him and her family get closure. And now that I know Jessica and perhaps others have mysteriously vanished after staying here, I'm more determined to find out what's going on."
"How exactly are you going to do that? Do you have investigative experience?"
"No. But the police and investigators have come up empty, so it's not like we're stopping anyone else from doing the job. I wouldn't think an architect has much investigative experience, either."
"Fair point. But I'm determined to get the truth, and no one else is even looking for Jessica."
"Tessa and I feel the same way. Natalie had a family, but she was estranged from them. They didn't even know she was missing for a couple of weeks. By the time they started looking for her, the trail was cold."
"What if Natalie just walked away, changed her name, started over?" Tyler suggested. "That's the popular story around here."
"What if Jessica did the same? Maybe she used the boat to get somewhere else and disappear."
"I've considered that, but I spoke to her ex-husband before I came here, and he said she always got seasick when he tried to get her to go sailing. That doesn't sound like someone who's going to take a boat out by herself, does it?"
"No."
"I don't think so, either. By the way, where is your friend?" Tyler asked curiously.
"Tessa is having lunch with Finn Kelly."
"Why?"
"She's good at charming information out of men. She's hoping Finn is less committed to the party line since he lived away from Stonecross for many years."
"I don't know about that. Finn Kelly seems very close to the sheriff and his family. And his sister works at the inn."
"That's true, and nothing may come of their lunch, but it was worth a shot." I paused. "Speaking of getting information, I saw you with Becca last night. What was that about?"
He started. "I didn't realize you saw us."
"Well, you were sitting by the window. Did you get any information about Jessica?"
"Unfortunately, not. Like your friend with Finn, I was hoping to charm Becca into talking," he said with a small smile.
"And your charm didn't work? That's hard to believe," I said dryly.
"I was charming. She just didn't have anything to say."
"Or at least none she wanted to share. What about the sheriff? Have you talked to him?"
