Page 25 of Too Old for This
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Sometimes things come later,” she says. “Some little detail hits when you least expect it.”
“I admit, there have been times I’ve walked into a room and forgotten why I entered it. One time, I went upstairs and ended up going into every room, trying to figure it out.”
Kelsie laughs and raises her hand. “Guilty. I’ve done things like that.”
“So is that really why you came all the way out here? To see if I’ve remembered anything new?”
Her smile disappears. She lowers her voice an octave or three. “Only two flights left Salem airport the other night. Plum’s name wasn’t on the manifest for either one. Unless she has a very good fake ID, she didn’t fly anywhere.”
“That’s…Well, I don’t know what to make of that.”
“People don’t just vanish. Not in today’s world,” she says. “At least not for very long.”
“Do you have a theory about where she went?”
“Other than alien abduction? Not really. All we have is Cole.” Kelsie swallows more coffee. Her cup is almost empty. I bet she drinks several a day. “It might’ve been him. When someone disappears, it’s usually someone close to them that did it.”
“Is that really true? I always wondered if that was just something they say on TV.”
“It’s true. Sad, but true.”
I snap my fingers. “I forgot the cookies. You know, I just bought this new kind at the store, and I’ve been wanting to try them…” I grab the package out of the cupboard, wedging it between my hand and the grip on the walker.
Kelsie and I each grab one. The cookies aren’t very good. They’re an off brand that was on sale.
“I’m sorry I don’t have any homemade cookies.”
“These are tasty,” she says. “Mrs.Jones—”
“Lottie.”
“Lottie. Where was that bruise you saw?”
I blink. More than once. “Bruise?”
“You said you saw a bruise on Plum.”
“Oh, yes.” I point to my right temple, between my eyebrow and hair. “It was right there.”
“And the burn?”
“That was on her arm.” I point again, this time to the side of my arm below the wrist. “Wait, now let me think.”
Kelsie says nothing.
I point to the right arm. “It was this one.”
“Not the left one?”
“No. The right. I’m sure of it, because I saw it when she reached for the sugar to put in her tea.”
“Thank you. I want to make sure to dot thosei’s and cross thoset’s. If I don’t, Tula will have my head.”
“But you’re still looking for her? It’s not just paperwork?”
“We’re monitoring her bank cards, accounts, passport, phone, social media…basically everything we can. But we don’t have any proof that a crime occurred. Without that, it’s difficult to go any further.”
