A group of college kids were already filming a TikTok recap.
And halfway down Main Street—Sheriff Burke Scott stood with arms crossed. Scout Wilson beside him. Luke Hale fielding questions from a local news affiliate. Sara Parker answering carefully, professional but firm.
Luke stepped aside as a girl with a gimbal backed into his path, still talking to her phone.
“And there he is, you guys—the deputy from the Sara Parker case.”
Luke’s expression hardened. The line between an investigation and entertainment had vanished.
“Are women safe here?” a reporter asked.
Burke went still.
“This is still a safe community.”
Lila drifted closer, mic angled with precision.
“Sheriff Scott, how many disappearances does it take before you call it a pattern?”
Scout stepped forward half an inch. Controlled. Measured.
“Careful,” he said. “You’re implying something that isn’t supported by evidence.”
“Yet,” Lila replied smoothly.
The lens moved closer.
Even the people at the edge of the square seemed to go still.
Sylva hadn’t changed overnight.
The version people were telling had.
Sheriff’s Office — Later
The noise of the square faded when the door to Burke’s office closed.
He stood at the window overlooking Main Street. Tourists still drifted between the courthouse steps and the food trucks, cameras flashing beneath the banners.
Scout leaned back in the chair across from the desk.
“Town’s turning into a circus,” he said.
Burke didn’t answer right away.
Below them, someone posed for a photo beneath the Vanished in the Valley banner.
“Lila Grant’s pushing that this is connected,” Scout added.
Burke kept his eyes on the square.
“She’s not wrong to ask.”
Scout studied him for a moment.
Burke turned from the window and opened the bottom drawer of his desk. After a moment, he pulled out a thin case file.
The paper edges had yellowed with age.
