“Okay, thank you. That helps. Now I just have four names on the list who we’ve yet to track down. Caroline Grant, Brandy Heffner, Rosalie Watts, and Naomi Potter. Do any of those names ring a bell?”
She slowly shook her head. “No. I can’t say that any of those names sound familiar. You need to keep in mind that while the reading challenge was mainly local, folks came from all around to do the run. If the woman you’re looking for simply purchased or was gifted the book charm from a friend who completed the challenge, she may not have even lived in the area.”
“I suppose that’s a possibility, but the fact that the woman who abandoned her baby in a church left the bracelet with the infant leads me to believe the bracelet meant a lot to her. I can’t see that person simply buying or accepting charms that represent someone else’s accomplishments.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Heidi looked up when the bell over the door rang. “Silvia,” she greeted a tall thin woman who looked to be around fifty. “I have the alterations done on the dress you bought earlier in the week.”
“That’s perfect. I’m heading out of town for a conference tomorrow and really wanted to take it with me.”
Heidi turned to me. “Silvia Cornwall, this is Ainsley Holloway. Ainsley is a private investigator currently trying to track down the owner of a charm bracelet.”
“Nice to meet you,” I replied.
“Silvia is a counselor at the high school. I think she was here in nineteen ninety-six.”
Silvia nodded. “I started in the counseling department for Gooseberry High in ninety-four. Do you think you’re looking for a student?”
“I’m not sure.” I quickly shared the story of the abandoned baby who was now an adult and had hired me to track down the owner of the bracelet, who she believed would turn out to be her biological mother, while Heidi went into the back to fetch the dress.
“That’s both a sad and interesting story. I’m not sure a bracelet like that is the sort of thing that would be worn by a high school student in the mid-nineties, and I don’t remember any students being pregnant. I’m happy to take a look at your lists, however, if you think I might be able to help.”
“I’d appreciate that.” I handed her the lists.
She furrowed her brow as she looked at the highlighted names. “I do recognize a lot of names on both these lists, but as for the four names on both lists you’ve yet to track down, I’m afraid none seem familiar. I see that one of the charms is an ice cream cone. There was a girl named Naomi who worked at Bayside Ice Cream around the time you are researching. I don’t know her last name.”
“Does she still live in town?”
“No. I think Naomi was just here for the summer. There was a group of kids here for the summer. They stayed in those cabins over off Sunset Beach.”
“Kids?” I asked.
“I guess they weren’t kids, but they were young. If I had to guess, the lot of them fell into the eighteen to twenty age range. The cabins cater to folks who are in the area looking for summer jobs.”
“Is Bayside Ice Cream still around?” I asked, not recognizing the name.
“Actually, no. Not really. Bayside Ice Cream was owned by a woman who retired a decade ago and moved to Arizona. She sold the place to a man named Tony Trauner. He still owns the place. If the Naomi on this list is the same Naomi who worked for Bayside Ice Cream, Tony may be able to help you. Tony started off working for Bayside before buying the place and changing the name to Scoops and Sprinkles.”
I smiled at the woman as she handed my lists back to me. “I appreciate your help. Every little clue helps.”
“Happy to do what I can.” She paused and then continued. “I guess you must have heard about the missing boys.”
I nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid I have. I guess if you work at the high school, you must know them.”
“I know them well,” she confirmed. “All the missing boys are from families who’ve lived in the area for quite some time. I just can’t imagine what’s going on. First, there are all the changes, and then the boys go missing.”
“Changes?”
“Personality changes.” She leaned in a bit as if to share a secret. “I know that most folks simply chalk up the fact that the boys seemed to have been going through a rebellious stage to hormones and naturally occurring teen angst, and I suppose to a point, that might be true, but I feel like there was more to it. I’m not sure what exactly. It almost seemed as if someone got into the heads of these boys and convinced them that to truly be happy, they needed to defy their parents and make their own way.”
“I suppose that pulling away from parental influence is natural for fifteen-year-olds in general.”
“Yes, that is true. I guess I just noticed some commonalities between the three boys that I found odd.”
“Commonalities?”
“It started with Kalen. Kalen was always a nice kid, but he took it hard when his parents decided to split up. He dropped out of the sports teams he played on and began cutting classes. He started hanging out with a different group of kids than he’d grown up with. I was actually a bit surprised by how hard he was taking things since Kalen was the
