The Disappearance of Emily: Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic Series Book 2 by Elizabeth Pantley (best books under 200 pages .txt) 📗

“Morning, ma’am,” said the one on the bench.

For the record, I really hate when people call me ma’am. In my opinion, that should be reserved for senior citizens. I mean really senior, like centenarians. I’d even prefer a ‘hey, you’ over a ma’am. Ugh. Still, it was meant to be polite, so I smiled and said hello.

The other two men answered in turn. One of them was tall and thin. He was wearing a bow tie, black glasses, and a handlebar mustache. He smiled, showing off his gold tooth. Then he winked and gave me a salute. He wasn’t a person you could easily forget. It was the same man I had seen in Vessie’s café.

Then the original guy spoke up. “Are you Hayden, then?”

“Yes, I am.” I held my keys up as if proof of my identity. “The new editor of the Observer.” I felt myself blush when I said that, like I was an imposter. But it was true! This was part of my new identity.

“Welcome to the business district,” said mustache man. “I’m Lester. Pharmacist.” He pointed to the pharmacy across the street. He reached out, and we shook hands.

“Vito,” said a heavyset man wearing overalls. “Mine’s the hardware store just down the block. And this here’s Archibald.” He gestured to the third man.

“It’s my shop next door,” said Archibald, the man sitting on the bench. “Time Travels On. Antiques.”

I leaned over and shook his hand. “That’s an interesting store name.”

“Was my wife’s idea. She’s gone now, but I kept the shop name.”

“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss,” I said.

Archibald laughed. Then all three men snickered, and Vito spoke up. “She ain’t dead, just gone outta his life. Good riddance to her. She’s a menace.” The other two nodded.

“So, you’re reviving the old paper, huh?” Vito asked me, thankfully changing the subject.

“I am. Though it will be online now, instead of print.”

He nodded. “Makes sense. Bring us into the twentieth century.”

“Uh,” Archibald interrupted, “you mean the twenty-first century, buddy.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” said Vito, waving away the comment. “Modern times, modern paper.” He squinted his eyes at me. “You gonna start being all nosy and poking into everyone’s business now?”

“Dang, Vito!” said Lester, the pharmacist. “That’s rude, man.”

I was feeling prematurely grateful for his defense when he finished his thought.

“Poking into people’s business is the editor’s job.” He snorted, as if proud of his joke. They all started snickering again.

“So, girly,” said Vito. “When’s the first issue of this here online paper?”

I cringed at the ‘girly,’ but answered anyway. “I’m guessing it will take a month to get the first issue out. Lots to do in the meantime.” I dropped a subtle hint that I needed to get to work. They totally missed it.

Archibald scratched his bald head (yeah, I thought it was funny that his name reflected his appearance) and spoke up. “You’re lucky to snag the job. The newspaper’s been closed up for near on a year.”

“Has it been that long?” asked Lester, twisting his old-fashioned mustache like a villain in a black-and-white movie.

“Only ’bout six months,” said Vito. “Cuz I remember it covered that break-in at the ferry office.”

Lester looked annoyed and spoke up. “You mean the supposed break-in.”

Ah, a clue? I’d have to go back to the old issues and look up the ferry office break-in. I wondered if it was related to the current case.

Vito sat down on the bench next to Archibald, crossed his legs, and laid his arm across the back of the seat. He looked like he was ready for a nice, long, comfortable visit. I was glad to meet fellow business people, but I needed to eradicate myself from this chat fest so that I could start my research on the ferry captain and Gladstone.

“Livin’ up at the Caldwell place now, right?” asked Archibald.

So much for removing myself from the conversation. I opened my mouth to answer three seconds too late.

“Course she is!” said Vito. “She’s a Caldwell. And them folks take care of their own. They’re tight-knit, those Caldwells.”

Lester laughed at that like it was some big joke. It didn’t seem funny to me.

“Well, it’s been great meeting you guys, I need to . . .”

Cut off at the knees by Lester. “Been up to Vessie’s yet? It’s just around the corner and she makes a mean Reuben sandwich.”

“I could go for a Reuben,” said Vito.

“Don’t think she serves lunch stuff this early,” Archibald said.

“I could for an omelet, then.”

The three stood up.

“You comin’?” Vito looked at me expectantly.

“Thank you for the invite, but I have a lot of work to do. Better get to it!” I smiled brightly to take the sting out of turning down their invitation.

“Next time, then. Good day, ma’am,” said Archibald, tipping an imaginary hat. Then the three of them ambled down the sidewalk toward Vessie’s Café.

The newspaper office embraced me with its quiet, library-like ambiance. I felt comfortable here, perhaps because of my love of libraries mixed with my journalism background. I stowed my purse and keys under the front counter and took stock of the office.

Before I started digging through the previous issues, I thought I’d look for a directory or list of topics covered. I booted up the computer and typed in the password that my father had provided: ObservPaperPW1. If they needed other passwords, I’d bet they’d be the same, but ending in PW2 or PW3.

The desktop files were pretty much what you’d expect in a newspaper office. Everything was divided up into four major categories: editorial, production, circulation, and advertising. I opened the editorial section and scanned the file names. I found one named Headlines. A good place to start.

I opened the file and found that the headlines were grouped by year, so I opened the most recent year. I grabbed a notepad and made a list of topics to search:

Ferry Captain / Nakita Morozova

Destiny Falls Ferry

Gladstone

Ferry break-in / Local break-in

The Great Divide