Page 17 of Vanished in the Mist (A Mystic Lake Mystery #2)
“That’s not my intention,” Shanna said. “I’m just…
trying to be quiet about it. I don’t want to spout any theories without proof.
And, honestly, we really don’t have a theory just yet.
Other than that it’s odd for two kids from the same school to die the same way, allegedly, anyway.
We won’t know for sure, of course, until we locate Tanya. ”
Shanna pointed to the page. “I haven’t heard of any friends for Tanya. Do you know of any?”
Stella pursed her lips as she studied the page.
“Poor little Tanya was pretty much a bookworm. Nice to everyone but never hung out with other kids that I know of. Her parents and her studies were what kept her company. The others on your list, well, they were the popular ones, though I never did understand why. You could put everyone’s name from their graduating class on that chart since they all knew the popular kids.
If you’re looking for close ties, then you’ve pretty much covered the main clique that hung together.
Let’s see, the prom queen, the quarterback, the rich kid, the cheerleader and, of course, Jack, the resident bully.
That’s the gang. But I don’t think Tanya should be on that page at all.
She was a sophomore. The rest were seniors.
They wouldn’t have hung out with her. Whatever happened to that child has nothing to do with Tristan or the kids he hung with.
Then again, I’m not the investigator. So what do I know?
” She shrugged and stepped back, as if to leave.
“Stella,” Kaden said, stopping her. “I don’t suppose you can help me with a name.” He turned his pad of paper toward her and pointed.
Her eyebrows raised. “The Phantom? What’s a myth for tourists have to do with what you’re investigating?”
“Humor me?”
She glanced around the room. “Guess everything’s under control for now. I’ll give you a few more minutes.”
Kaden rushed to pull a chair back for her. She raised her eyebrows and sat.
“Your mama taught you manners, young man. Reminds me of another big, strapping fellow around here. Handsome, like you. Now, who am I thinking of?” She frowned and tapped her fingers on the tabletop.
“Aw, yes. Aidan O’Brien. Even now, he’s more of a recluse, doesn’t come around much or have much use for most of the people here in town.
But he always treats me like a queen.” She patted Kaden’s shoulder, as if he’d somehow passed a personal test of hers.
“He’s Officer Grace O’Brien’s husband, right?” Shanna asked.
“He sure is. Father of little Alannah. Such a sweet child. Pretty, too. When she grows up she’s going to have her daddy sweating when all the boys start coming around.” She chuckled. “But that’s not why you’re here. What was it you asked about? Ah, yes. That silly Phantom story.”
Kaden smiled, not buying her claim that she’d forgotten anything, even for a minute. This woman might be approaching seventy, but her mind was every bit as sharp as someone decades younger.
She crossed her arms and sat back in her chair.
“You might do better asking one of the natives for more information. I’m a transplant, only been here a few years past a decade.
Even this B and B has been here far longer than me, built before I ever knew Mystic Lake existed.
” She smiled. “But I can tell you what I’ve heard.
Mainly it’s the kids who spread the rumors.
I’ve never seen one piece of evidence that this Phantom exists.
I swear every year the next class of kids at school adds more to the myth, embellishing and pretending they’ve seen this Phantom out in the woods by the lake or hiding up in the mountains.
They’ll tell you he’s half-man, half-fish, that he has gills and can swim underwater.
Every time someone falls off a boat around here and never resurfaces, they blame it on this Phantom, say he’s the one who pulled them overboard and held their bodies under water. ”
She shrugged. “Others swear he lives in the caves in the mountains, that he uses old forgotten mines around town to move around without being detected. Some kids have said he’s got a beard to his belly and is covered with fur, like Sasquatch.
All I know for a fact is that sometimes people’s food, clothing and other supplies disappear from their vacation homes or hunting cabins up in the mountains.
Heck, I’ve even had stuff go missing here, but I’ve always figured it was the local kids, not some ghost. Beau, Police Chief Dawson, does his best to look into those reports.
When he does catch someone, it always ends up being exactly what you’d expect. Kids up to no good.”
Kaden rested his forearms on the table. “So you don’t think the Phantom actually exists? He’s not someone we should be looking at who might have something to do with the death of Tristan? Or Tanya’s disappearance?”
She waved her hand in the air as if waving away the theory.
“You’d be wasting your time in my opinion.
I think this whole Phantom thing was made up as a way for kids to scare each other, like telling ghost stories around a campfire.
Or, even more likely, a way for unscrupulous adults to build up yet another story about Mystic Lake to make it seem mysterious.
Tourists love things like that. And tourists mean money for the town.
Hard to blame anyone when you put it in that perspective.
A harmless made-up myth to help them put food on the table. ”
She shoved back her chair and stood. “That’s about all the time I can spare right now.
Frank will be yelling for me to come help with the dishes soon.
And I need to keep after the waiters and waitresses to keep the fear of Stella in ’em.
” She winked and hurried toward the doorway that led into the kitchen.
Kaden sat back. “I can’t see Dawson using his limited resources to chase a legend and search what’s likely to be hundreds of caves up in the mountains. And sending his people into old abandoned mine shafts would be far too dangerous.”
“Aimlessly searching through the woods for Tanya wouldn’t be the best use of our time, either.
As much as I loathe the idea of causing the Jerichos any more pain, I feel we should talk to them.
Maybe they can shed some light on whether there could potentially be any link from Tanya to Tristan or the other popular kids. ”
Kaden cocked his head, considering. “If Tanya had no friends because she was shy, socially awkward, but was desperate for company, what might she do?”
Shanna shrugged. “Crash a party? That’s the best way to meet a lot of other kids in one location outside of school. But that doesn’t really work in this case since she disappeared a few weeks after school was over, after graduation.”
“When do people plan all those post-graduation parties? While school is still in session. She could have overheard someone in the hallway talking about parties happening in the weeks after school was out and decided to show up at one uninvited. But someone didn’t like that she was there.”
“And they killed her because of it? That seems weak.”
“Because you’re assuming they did it on purpose.
Maybe it was an accident. The police theory was that she went to that picnic area we were at this morning and ended up going down to the lake, maybe fell in and drowned.
What if there was a party out there and she was pushed in, instead of falling in?
The area is remote enough that it’s unlikely anyone would have seen it happen. ”
She slowly shook her head. “Where did you come up with that idea? There’s nothing to base it on.”
“It’s based on the belief that she was in that area, the picnic grounds, before she disappeared, which is based on interviews with her parents.
Add to that we both know it could be the perfect party spot for a bunch of high schoolers.
They could even light a bonfire out there without getting much attention.
Think about it. Tristan was found in the lake right there.
And we feel that Tanya could be there, too.
If she never associated with this so-called clique, but one of them and her are found in the same area, an end-of-the-year bash and her crashing it fits. ”
“Okay, yes, it could fit. But it’s still completely speculation.”
“True, but there is one other thing that makes it sound plausible, or at least something to further explore. Stella told us the group that formed the most popular clique at that school quit seeing each other for the most part after graduation. Peyton told you that graduation night was the last time she’s pretty much seen the others.
If something bad happened out by the lake, it makes sense why they’d all take a vow of silence, or whatever, then stay away from each other in the hopes that none of them would talk. ”
She shot a look at the corner table. “Maybe we should ask Sam and Jack about any end-of-the-year parties, or at least, whether they frequented that area where Tristan’s remains were found. I’d rather get more information from them before I bother the Jerichos.”
They both stood and gathered their notes.
French doors off the side of the restaurant burst open and an older man hobbled inside, eyes wide, face pale. “Somebody help! There’s a woman lying in the ditch. I can’t pull her out.” He headed back outside, leaving the doors open behind him.
Shanna exchanged a startled glance with Kaden. Then they were both running outside as she used her cell phone to dial 911. It seemed as if the entire restaurant was emptying behind them as they raced across the grassy side yard toward where the much slower white-haired man was pointing.