He wants the film developed, too. But for a different reason. I think it might show the rift, maybe even a few shots of Daisy Buchanan. If we can identify her, maybe we can find her. And possibly, interview her. Jude halfway agrees. He thinks Daisy’s on the film, too. Only instead of traveling through a rift, he suspects she’ll be getting high with Simon.
“It’s weird that she was never mentioned in the investigation,” I say, more to myself than Jude. “Two of Lily’s friends were interrogated. You’d think they’d do the same with one of Simon’s. Butthe report made it sound like he didn’t have any friends at all.”
“Maybe Daisy Buchanan wasn’t any more real than this rift,” Jude says.
“You think she could have been a figment of his imagination?”
He looks at me ruefully, for he has unwittingly made a connection from one mystery to the other. The portrait and the cold case. Both involve a mysterious girl nobody seemed to know.
Jude picks up the camera. “Maybe we ought to take this to the police.”
“Why would we do that?” I ask.
“It’s evidence, isn’t it? Undeveloped film hiding in one of the victim’s bedrooms, along with a journal written at the time the family disappeared.”
He’s right, of course.
It is evidence.
But I give my head an adamant shake.
If we submit this to the police, we’ll never see it again. They’ll read Simon’s journal, draw the same conclusion as Jude, and toss it into an evidence locker where it will languish in perpetuity. They might develop the pictures, but they certainly won’t share them with us.
Ineedto see these pictures.
Not in seven to ten days, either.
I resume pacing—thinking, thinking, thinking when a thought strikes. “The photography guy!”
I snap my fingers a few times, trying to drumup his name. “Mr. Evensby, maybe? He taught a photography workshop last winter at our school.”
Organized by Mrs. Calloway.
I had to work, but Twig went.
I shoot him a text, then bite my thumb nail and keep pacing.
A moment later, Twig replies.
Len Ebely?
I text him back.
YES! That’s him. Do you think he’d have a way to develop film from a disposable camera?
I stare at the scrolling ellipse.
I’m 87% sure he has a dark room in his basement. What are you doing with a disposable camera?
Will fill you in later! Enjoy the symposium! Kick butt tomorrow!
I pocket my phone. “Run a search forLen Ebely, Foggy Hollow.”
Jude types the phrase into his laptop and hits return.
Two results load at the top.
An Etsy shop,and a website.
