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Right away, Julie looked uncomfortable. “Actually, he’s already spoken to me,” she said. She looked at the ground.
“The Jordans are here,” said Alice.
“And there’s the great detective,” said Andy, with a hint of sarcasm that surprised me. We all turned to watch as a black BMW X7 approached, followed by Wright’s police car. The mood in the little crowd shifted as the Jordans got out of the BMW X7. Jamie came straight to me.
“Leanne. How are you holding up?” She hugged me as I stood there stiffly.
I could smell her perfume. Her hair was up and her makeup was immaculate. She looked very pretty. Over her shoulder, I could see Simon. I stepped away from her.
“Simon,” I said.
He looked me straight in the eye. His chin came up. “How are you, Mrs. Fraser?”
“I’d be better if I had my daughter.”
He took a step closer. “I can’t stop thinking about it,” he said. “I can’t sleep. Not that that matters. But I should never have left her alone that night. I’m so sorry. She was mad at me. She wanted me to go. But I shouldn’t have listened.”
“But then you had no reason to think that she wouldn’t be safe,” I said. My eyes were on his face. Reading him.
“That’s exactly it,” he said, eagerly. “Of course if I’d thought anything could have happened to her I wouldn’t have left.”
Andy put his arm around my shoulders. “What do you think happened to Nina, Simon?” he said. I was conscious that Jamie was standing just to our right. That Grace was there, and that somewhere behind me were Alice and Julie and Isaac and all the rest. That the tall, shadowy figure in my peripheral vision, standing behind Simon and off to the side, was probably Matthew Wright. But I was focused on Simon Jordan’s face. On every forced facial expression. On his widened eyes and his sincere directness.
“I don’t know.” Simon looked thoughtful. “She was upset, and I think she probably didn’t want to come home, because she might just bump into me in town, or whatever. I get that, because, honestly, I felt the same way. So maybe she just took off for a while. To put some distance between us. But then... it’s weird that she hasn’t been in touch with you guys. That’s not like her.”
I resented him so much in that moment. That he felt qualified or entitled to say what she would or wouldn’t do.
“Do you think she might have gone hiking?” Grace said. She was guileless. Completely sincere. “I mean the morning after you left?”
Simon looked past us, off toward the forest, and narrowed his eyes, like he was really thinking about Grace’s question.
“I doubt it,” he said at last. His eyes were damp, I realized in shock. Tears were gathering as he looked at Grace. “I’m so sorry. I wish I knew what happened. And maybe she did go out. I hope that she did and that we’re going to find her today and that she’s going to be okay. But we’d hiked a lot. By Friday she was tired. She’d pulled a muscle too, in her back, so she was ready for a break. I just don’t think she’d have gone out again by herself on Saturday morning.” He took a breath and steadied himself. “But I can’t say for sure.”
“It’s okay,” said Grace, in a wobbly voice. “It’s not your fault. And we’re going to find her.”
I looked away. I didn’t want to see him cry and I didn’t want to see Grace reassure him. I was confused. Maybe I had been wrong about Simon. Maybe I’d rushed to conclusions. Without meaning to, I caught Rory’s eye. He looked like he knew exactly what I was thinking. It made for an uncomfortable moment.
“Do you have maps of the trails?” I asked.
“Just of the trails that Nina and I hiked,” he said. “We’d started mapping them on our phones. I can share those routes with you, if you want. But there are more trails out there than we’ve covered, a lot more.”
“Maybe the previous owners have trail maps,” Jamie said, in a clear voice that carried in the still morning. She turned and spoke to her husband. “What do you think, baby?”
“I’ll make a call and find out,” Rory said. He was dressed from head to toe in black. Black Canada Goose jacket and beanie, black pants, black boots. Black wool gloves. Everything looked brand new. He glanced at his watch. “Might be a little early to get the real estate agent, but I’ll try.” He walked away a few steps and made his call. More people had arrived and continued to arrive as we stood about. After a minute Rory rejoined us and told us that his call had gone to voice mail, but that he’d left a message and would continue to try.
Alice approached me. “Do you want to say a few words?”
I shook my head, and she squeezed my arm in quick understanding.
“Well, then, if you’re okay with it, I’ll get things started.”
If I hadn’t known she was a teacher, I’d have guessed it from the way she managed to draw everyone’s attention and quiet them down. She explained briefly what we were doing there, though obviously everyone present already knew. She told us that we’d be breaking into groups of a minimum of two people, a maximum of four or five, depending on experience and ability, and that we’d each be assigned a suggested route. As the routes weren’t all mapped, we were asked to track where we went using a mobile phone app. We should call Nina’s name regularly and look out for anything unusual. If we saw something, anything at all, we should not touch it, but should take a photo and drop a pin on the location using our phone app. Everyone was to be back before dark and should plan their return accordingly. If anyone there was not an experienced hiker, they had to make sure they joined a group with someone who had experience. Alice had Simon email her the file with the routes that he and Nina had mapped, and she distributed it through the Facebook group to everyone else.
Quickly people broke into groups and chose routes. The Jordans made it clear that they wanted to walk alone. I took a step toward them, and a voice spoke in my ear.
“I wouldn’t.” I turned and looked up into Matthew Wright’s impassive face. “You’re about to suggest that you join them. Don’t do it.”
I searched his eyes. “You want them to be alone. So that if they’re going to find anything, they won’t be... inhibited.”
