Page 101 of 56 Days
Ciara looks away; she can’t look at him anymore and he can’t blame her.
He swallows hard, twice, trying to force the lump in his throat out of the way so he can get the last bit of horror out.
The worst bit.
78 Days Ago
How do you find someone who doesn’t want to be found?
Having exhausted the search bar of every social media network, news site, and internet search engine she can think of, all to no avail, Ciara resorts to typing this very question into Google.
How do you find someone who doesn’t want to be found?
A list appears at the top of the first page of results, a preview of an article that’s been linked below.
1. Full name, nicknames, family names.
2. Date/city/state of birth.
3. Hometown/last known/current city/state.
4. High school and/or college names.
It’s clearly aimed at people who are looking to findAmericanswho don’t want to be found and who have access to things like census information and government databases.
And so, for her, it’s absolutely useless.
Ciara goes to close down the window—she’s at her desk at work, the club sandwich she had with Siobhán sitting heavy in her stomach—but then she sees the next two items on the list and stops.
5. Former and recent employers.
6. Friends and family members.
Friends and family members.
Oliver had had an older brother, didn’t he? He’d have been Siobhán’s age... But what was his name?
Ciara drums her fingers on the desk, trying to remember.
Oliver and... Oliver and... Oliver and...
Richard.
Richard St Ledger. She types this name and “Ireland” into the Google search bar and hits Enter.
The top result is an Instagram account.
Ciara checks the coast is clear before picking her phone up from the desk and opening the app. It’ll be easier to navigate there than on a computer screen.
She starts scrolling through his posts.
She only has the faintest memory of what Oliver looked like, let alone his brother, so she can’t tell just by looking at him if this is the right one.
This Richard St Ledger is living in Australia, with his wife and two small kids. He seems to spend a lot of time at the beach and standing in front of mirrors at the gym. But there’s a recent photo of athirty-firstbirthday cake (right age) and an Irish flag in his bio (so he’s Irish), and the only time she’s ever encountered a St Ledger was seventeen years ago, so it could be him.
She wonders why he didn’t change his name, but then why would he? He didn’t do anything and his brother’s name is protected by law.
Still...
