The Broken Bridge by Iris March

Author:Iris March [March, Iris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wandering Ginkgo Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

14

THE SUCCULENT SLEUTH AND MORNING PLANS

“Honestly, I don’t know why I ever thought Archie could have hurt someone,” Molly told Claudia later that night on the phone while waving her arms around and pacing the living room, talking at nearly Archie’s fast pace. “I mean, he’s not a totally normal guy. He’s really, really talkative. He stands too close. He’s too friendly and excitable. He’s kind of weird. But I don’t think he’d hurt Trevor. I feel so good knowing that he wasn’t on the trail that day. He wants to be a hiker, but he’s not. Not yet.”

Molly and Scott’s living room was decorated in warm, natural tones. The brown leather sofa held soft, lime-colored pillows. A huge snake plant dominated one corner of the room beside the television stand. An arrowhead plant draped over the picture window, from which Molly had produced more offspring via cuttings to hand off to friends and family than she could count. Their home wasn’t the largest in the neighborhood, but it was cozy and filled with greenery.

“You did it, Molls! You’re a downright detective … You’re … you’re the succulent sleuth!” Claudia announced.

“Well, I don’t know about that. And really? The ‘succulent sleuth’? Why always with the succulents?” Molly waved her arms around for emphasis, even though Claudia couldn’t see her. Scott walked across the room and grinned at her, waving his arms around mockingly.

“I think it sounds cute. And you totally asked the right questions, got to the bottom of it. Like a sleuth boss!”

“Got to the bottom of one possible not-so-much-of-a-suspect. The police didn’t consider him a suspect at all.” Molly paused. “I feel pretty fantastic about it, though,” she conceded, smiling widely.

“Well, I don’t think that they really knew when Archie got to the shop or that he acted like he really wanted to go hiking that day. It was fishy, and you saw that. I think you were right to follow up with some … investigation, some sleuthing,” Claudia said, laughing.

“It was fishy. But he didn’t do it. And Trevor is still missing.” The tone of the conversation cooled.

“It is really frustrating that they haven’t found him at all yet,” Claudia agreed. “Craig said he saw the police were doing something downstream in the river under the Oakway Bridge, even farther down the trail.”

“Oh, man,” Molly said. “That means they’re searching for his body if they’re looking in the water. I really keep hoping that he’s okay, just missing.”

“I don’t know. It’s been days at this point. You can’t really be missing for days and be okay. We might need to face facts here, friend.”

“He was just such a sweet guy. So funny and friendly. So excited to be hiking, so excited for the future.” Molly’s voice cracked. She sat down on the sofa and hugged a green pillow. Claudia made empathetic noises. “He might be in the woods with two broken legs, existing on acorns and rain water. Maybe?”

“Let’s not focus on the sad stuff.” Claudia paused. “You ruled out one suspect.

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