Page 44 of Break My Fall

“There’s no telling.” Mo sounded a little grouchy, but he usually did, so maybe whoever was listening wouldn’t notice. Especially since they couldn’t see how his mouth had pinched to the point that little white lines formed along his lips.

“She claims that fifty years ago, one of Mrs. Staton’s cousins, or maybe it was a sister? She was a little vague on the relation. Anyway ...” Meredith followed Mo and Gray as they finished thescan of her living room and moved toward her kitchen. “She claims that one of them ran off and joined an actual circus.”

“Fifty years ago? That was the 1970s. Did they have circuses you could run away to in the ’70s?”

“No idea. This was Mrs. Frost’s story. I wasn’t expecting accuracy.”

“Fair point.” Mo motioned for them to be still while he checked her bathroom.

Meredith had a moment of panic. If they’d bugged her bathroom, she ... well ... she had no idea what she would do. It was so violating. Her home was her safe place. Her sanctuary.

Mo came out of the bathroom, gave them the all-clear signal, and then motioned for Meredith to keep going with her story.

She found her voice again and continued. “Anyway, she said that this girl disappeared, no one heard from her for a few months, and then she sent a postcard from New York that told them she was having a blast.”

“Did they look for her?” Gray gave her a dark look. “I’m not going to love this story if it’s going to add a cold case to my files.”

“Oh, that’s the best part. She sent regular postcards for the next two years and then sent them a wedding announcement. Not an invitation, mind you. Mrs. Frost was quite clear that this was the big news in this story. She didn’t invite them to her wedding, just let them know it had already happened.”

“Scandalous.” Mo had finished downstairs and climbed the steps to the small loft area first.

Meredith and Gray waited for Mo to scan the area. When he came back down, she continued. “Mrs. Frost claims that this cousin-slash-sister is still held up in their family as the archetypal black sheep.”

“I’m sure.” Mo took the opposite stairs to her bedroom. “Why did she feel compelled to tell you this?”

Meredith held her breath while Mo walked around her room. She couldn’t see him, but she could picture him waving his device over her bed, nightstand, bookshelves, and television.

The space was small compared to a lot of bedrooms, but it was perfect for her. She loved it, and when Mo gave her a thumbs-up, she could have cried in relief. Instead, she finished her tale. “According to Mrs. Frost, this girl didn’t run off alone.”

“No?”

“Nope. Mrs. Frost claims she ran off with Aunt Melissa.”

Mo gaped at her.

Gray’s expression shifted from angry to confused. “Who is Aunt Melissa?”

“She’s Dad’s sister. She came between Aunt Laura and Aunt Minnie.”

“There’s another one? I’ve never met her.” Gray frowned. “I’ve never even heard of her.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t talk about her much. It makes Granny cry. And Minnie remembers her and gets very upset when she doesn’t show up for family events.”

“Does she ever show up?” he asked.

“No. We’ve never met her.” Meredith included Mo in her statement. “As far as I know, once she left town she never came back.”

Gray turned to Mo. “Do you know where she is?”

Meredith understood the question. Mo could find people, and there was no way he wouldn’t have tried to find her. And, of course, he had.

Mo’s response was a short nod. “She’s got two kids. Boys. No husband. Don’t know if the boys have the same dad or not. They’re younger than we are, but not by much. I reached out to her. Gave her contact info. Told her the family would love to see her.”

“Not interested?”

“Apparently not. And the thing is, it’s not like she doesn’tknow where we live. Papa and Granny Quinn haven’t moved. The town’s still here. She could come home if she wanted to.” Mo cut his eyes at Meredith. “But the circus angle didn’t come up in my research.”

“It may be completely bogus.” Meredith followed both men back to the firepit. “You know Mrs. Frost. She’s getting confused. It might have been true. It might have been a rumor. It might be that she combined a couple of different stories into one.”

---