He closed his eyes for a heartbeat, and for a second, the smell of the leather seats and the morning exhaust was replaced by the scent of her. Not perfume—just Eleanor. The smell of his own soap on her skin and the way her damp hair had felt against his shoulder when she’d finally drifted off. He remembered the exact way her hand had curled into his chest, her fingers clutching his shirt as if she were afraid he’d pull away while she slept. It hadn’t been a "Counselor" moment; it had been a "Reid" moment.
He opened his eyes, the brick and stone of the courthouse snapping back into focus.
The happy, floating feeling from earlier hadn’t vanished, exactly. It had been joined by something heavier. More complicated.
He drummed his fingers once on the steering wheel, then killed the engine.
“Great,” he muttered to himself. “You finally get the girl, and the universe hands you her client with a possible murder charge.”
He stepped out of the car, straightened his tie, and picked up his briefcase.
One foot in front of the other.
District attorney first.
Everything else—Eleanor, Davie, Caroline’s ghosts, the true crime sleuths breathing down their necks—would have to fight for second place.
At least for the next few hours.
He headed up the courthouse steps, the heavy stone columns casting long, cold shadows across the pavement. The morning sun was bright on his back, but as he reached for the brass handle of the doors, the heat of the weekend felt a lifetime away. District attorney first. Everything else would have to survive the cross-examination.
29
Fading Away – Episode 4: The Mother, The Boy, and the Man Who Wouldn’t Let Go
[Intro music fades under]
HOST (MARA):Welcome back to Fading Away. I’m Mara Cho, and today we’re heading into the heart of Jackson County, North Carolina—a place where, if you listen to the right people, nothing is ever really forgotten. Not even the cases the sheriff’s office would rather leave in a dusty box on a back shelf.
Today’s box?
The disappearance of Caroline Simms.
If you’ve listened to Vanished in the Valley—hi, Lila, we see you—you’ve heard the basics. Young mom. Late-night drive. Car found abandoned off a rural road. No body. No answers.
But there are pieces of this story that haven’t gotten much oxygen—pieces we’ve been digging into with the help of you, our listeners, and a few people in Jackson County who are finally ready to talk.
[Soft underscoring returns]
Let’s start with the flyers.
After Caroline disappeared, her parents did what desperate families do. They printed her face and put it everywhere.
Parking lots. Telephone poles. Church bulletin boards. Rest stops off Highway 23. Grocery stores from Sylva to Waynesville to Gatlinburg.
Everywhere.
And then, just as quickly, they started coming down.
Not all of them. Not every time.
But enough that people noticed.
We spoke to one of those people.
[Cut to pre-recorded phone audio – slight hum]
VOICE (LOCAL WOMAN – “KAREN”):“I remember seeing those flyers in the Food Lion parking lot. I’d take my kids in, buy groceries, come back out the next day, and half of them would be gone. Not torn up, not weathered, just… gone. Like someone had come through and cleaned house.”
