Page 104 of Spooked

Tulsa shrugged. “At a guess? A bunch of Meera’s things. Her diary, her weekend bag, her toiletries, most of her underwear, some shoes, her bathing suit, a towel, her phone charger, her purse… All the stuff she’d have taken if she went to the beach for a week.”

My chest seized. “And you don’t think she did go?”

“Not even a little bit.”

“Then…then what?” I could hardly breathe. “What happened?”

“Finish your salad—we’ll be back.”

She and Jerry rose in unison, and they were halfway to the street before I unfroze. I tried to follow, but Ari grabbed my arm.

“Let them go. They know what they’re doing.”

“Do they? They don’t seem very professional.”

“What were you expecting?”

“What do you mean? I realise they’re doing this for free, but maybe some communication would be nice? And less eating? Have you ever worked with these people before? Are they even competent?”

“I don’t know them personally, but I know Alexa, and Alexa wouldn’t send anyone that she didn’t think could do the job.”

“Are you sure? They told me off for not getting enough rest, and then they went stargazing in the middle of the night.”

“Stargazing?”

“Apparently, there’s not much light pollution. Jerry said it was relaxing.”

“Does Jerry strike you as a person who knows how to relax?”

“I guess she doesn’t.”

“Right. And if they were out last night, that actually explains something I was puzzling over.”

“What’s that?”

Ari took a sip of coffee. Mine was probably cold by now.

“When Tulsa ran through a list of things that could be in that trash bag, what was missing?”

“I don’t freaking know! I’m not an investigator. I’m just a doctor-slash-PA who’s terrified her best friend is dead.”

There, I’d said it. The four-letter word that had cost me sleep every night for the past ten days. What if Meera was gone? What if we never found a trace of her?

“Shh, keep your voice down in public.” Ari lowered hers to barely a whisper. “The phone. Tulsa mentioned a phone charger, but not a phone.”

“An oversight?”

“Does Tulsa seem like the type to make an oversight?”

I echoed my previous words. “I guess she doesn’t.”

“Then the omission of the phone was deliberate. I bet you five bucks she has it.”

“How the hell could she have Meera’s phone?” My voice had risen again. “Sorry.”

“Because when Jerry said ‘stargazing,’ she meant ‘breaking and entering.’ No way would she have started poking around at the hostel earlier if she thought there was a chance of evidence being destroyed. They already have what they need. She just wanted to provoke a reaction, and we got one.”

Wow.

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