Page 101 of Serenity Falls

‘Some guy at the fairground.’

‘Can you describe him?’

Sadie hesitates. She doesn’t want to get Larry Broom into trouble. On the other hand, what if he’s the person tormenting them?

‘Sadie?’ her dad prompts. ‘It could be important.’

‘O-kay. Blond hair. Ponytail. Late twenties, maybe. He said his name was Larry Broom.’

‘Larry Broom?’ Jerry frowns. ‘Doesn’t ring a bell.’

‘He was picking up litter,’ Sadie adds.

‘Larry Broom. Litter-picker.’ Jerry scribbles it down in his notebook.

‘Maybe it’s not his real name?’ Dad says.

Jerry glances up. ‘You think?’

‘Is it possible he could be the one behind this?’ her dad asks.

‘It’s possible. I’ll ask around at the fair.’ Jerry flips the notebook closed. ‘In the meantime, anything else suspicious, let me know.’

‘What about the balloons?’ Sadie asks.

Jerry frowns. ‘What about them?’

‘Can you find out where they came from? I mean, Serenity Falls isn’t that big. If they were bought here, maybe someone at the shop would remember?’

Jerry looks back at the balloons. ‘Well, Serenity Gift Shop is the only place that sells party balloons like these. I’ll check there. Corrine might know something.’

‘Thank you,’ Dad says.

Jerry gives him a sharper look. ‘If someone is playing games here, Mr Barker, I’ll find out. There’s no place for troublemakers in Serenity Falls.’

He turns and saunters back through the sliding glass doors. Sadie hears the front door slam.

‘Arsehole,’ she mutters.

‘Yeah. Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the figure I saw on the security camera.’

The anger has dissipated. Suddenly, she just feels really tired. ‘It’s okay.’

‘But you didn’t tell me about the flyer. So, full honesty from now on, right?’

‘Right.’

‘Anything else you want to share?’

She considers. ‘Ellis’s friends told me that Frankie wasn’t supposed to be doing our meet-and-greet. He swapped with another kid.’

Her dad pulls a face. ‘Shit, that’s bad luck.’

‘Is it, though?’