The Case Of The Cupid Caper

Chapter 15

Monday

When I stopped by the newspaper on Monday morning, I was greeted at the door by Gabby, who gave me a big hug.

“I got matched by Ms. Cupid,” she squealed in delight.

“Really?” I grinned in return. “Who’d you get matched with?”

“Cass Wylander.”

My face fell. “Cass?”

She laughed. “No, not Cass. I was just messing with you, but based on your expression when you thought I had been matched to Cass, I’m no longer willing to accept your just friends classification of your relationship. It is obvious you are into him, and he is into you. Why not move things along a bit?”

“I have my reasons. But back to you. Give me all the details.”

“Okay.” Gabby took my hand and led me to her desk. We sat down. “When I logged onto my computer this morning, there was an email from Ms. Cupid. She told me that I’d been matched and a date had been arranged. I’m to show up at the bowling alley on Wednesday at seven-thirty. Once I arrive, I’m to tell the man behind the counter that Ms. Cupid sent me.”

“And you don’t know who you’re supposed to meet?”

She shook her head. “The email didn’t say. It just said when and where to meet. It also said to wear comfortable shoes and to bring a warm jacket. Apparently, the details of the date have been worked out and paid for by Ms. Cupid, and all I have to do is show up. I assume the man I’ve been matched with received a similar email.”

“It seems to be a crazy way to do things, but I guess Ms. Cupid knows what she’s doing. I assume you plan to show up as instructed.”

“Oh yeah. I can’t wait to find out who I’m destined to grow old with.”

“I wonder why she’s keeping the name of your match a secret.”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I know that at least some of the matched applicants knew right off who they’d been matched with. It did occur to me that Ms. Cupid might suspect that either I or my match wouldn’t want to date the person selected if not forced into a situation where the date was a done deal. I suppose by not revealing the names until the date takes place, it would lessen the chance that one or both of us would back out.”

“If that’s true, does that make you nervous about what might come next?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I’m not really worried. Even if the guy I’m matched with is someone who I might not have chosen as a date, I’m willing to see how it all works out. In spite of my opinion on the matter to this point, it isn’t like I’m in any way committed to marrying the guy.”

“I guess that’s true. I’m usually free on Wednesday evenings. Maybe I’ll drop by the bowling alley and see who Ms. Cupid selected for you for myself.”

“Stop by, but stay out of the way. I don’t want anything to mess this up for me.”

Dex walked in while I was chatting with Gabby, so I followed him to his office to hand in the two articles I’d written over the weekend. When I told him Ms. Cupid had arranged a date for Gabby, he was almost as excited as she was that she’d been matched. He really did think that an insider’s perspective would be exactly what my series needed to make it seem real to the subscribers who followed it.

“I have another assignment for you this week,” Dex announced. “Two actually. One will be due by Thursday, but the other is a feature that I’d like you to take your time with.”

“Okay. I’m interested. What do you have?” I really hoped that at least one of the two would be an actual news article and not just another fluff piece.

“The article that is due Thursday is an opinion piece about the movement in the area to bring in large resorts. I know you covered the town council meeting last week, where the subject was debated. You did a good job presenting both sides in an unbiased manner. I thought you could expand on that and maybe do some resident interviews. I’m interested in quotes from both sides of the fence. Folks who will either be hurt or helped by an increase in tourism.”

“I can do that,” I said, happy to have something tangible to sink my teeth into. “And the other article?”

“This spring is the anniversary of the disappearance of Austin Brady.”

“Austin Brady is the kid who went missing from Logan Pond a quarter of a century ago.”

Dex nodded. “He’d been with five friends who’d decided to cut school and go fishing, so they headed to Logan Pond for an overnight trip. The group was together telling campfire stories that first night, but when everyone woke the following morning, Austin was gone. He was never found, and none of the boys he was with claim to have seen or heard a thing. Most folks figure he might have wandered away and got lost. While that could be what happened, Austin was a smart kid. And he wasn’t a helpless baby. He was twelve, almost thirteen. He’d lived in Foxtail Lake his entire life and knew the area well.”

“I remember they searched the woods, dredged the lake, and still never found a body or any remains.”

He nodded. “I’d like you to do a follow-up piece. A real investigative piece. Talk to the folks who were around back then. Josh Underwood died in a vehicle accident when he was seventeen, but Colin Woodford, Larry Lakewood, Bobby Brighton, and Toby Wallis are all still alive and kicking.”

“I didn’t realize that Toby Wallis was one of the boys who’d been along on the trip when Austin went missing.” Toby was a ranger for the National Park System and currently based in Glacier National Park. He was married to a woman I went to high school with named Natalie, who, interestingly, went on to become a wildlife veterinarian.

“He was the youngest in the group. I think around four years younger than the others. To be honest, I’m not sure why he was even there. He might have come along with Josh Underwood. Josh’s mom used to babysit Toby when his mother was out of town.”

“So, you want me to do a story for the anniversary?” I decided to bring the conversation back around to the point.

“I do. Like I said, I want a real investigative piece. If you happen across new evidence or even a new theory, all the better. The anniversary of Austin’s disappearance is in April. This is February. I wanted to give you time to really dig into things. Maybe you can see if Cass can use his law enforcement connections to help you get the details you’ll need.”

Ah. Cass. I suspected that my relationship with Cass was the real reason Dex had assigned the piece to me and not Brock, but I’d take it. “Okay. I’ll get right on it. After, I finish the article you need by Thursday, of course.”

“There might be some documents in the library that might help as well. I know that a year or two after Austin went missing, some reporter came by and took a stab at figuring out what happened. He never did find his answers, but I’m pretty sure he turned all his notes and theories into a journal of some sort. If it’s still around, Hope will probably know how to get her hands on it.”

“Thanks for the lead. I’ll talk with her. Did you know Austin?”

He nodded. “I was supposed to go on that fishing trip, but my dad found out about my plans to cut school and put an end to things. At least he put an end to things for me. I often wonder if things would have turned out differently if I’d been there. Probably not, but I do wonder.”

“Since you knew Austin and were close to everyone involved, are you sure you don’t want to write the anniversary story yourself?”

He slowly shook his head. “No. I’ve already tried to find the clues that would lead to the answers we all need to make peace with the situation and move on. If you have questions I can answer, I will, but I really think the situation needs a fresh pair of eyes, and so far, I’ve been very impressed with your natural instincts.”

“Thank you. I can’t promise I can figure out the answer to a twenty-five-year-old cold case that no one else has been able to figure out so far, but I’ll do the best I can to provide you with an in-depth look at the situation.”

“That’s all I can ask for.”

I had to admit the story relating to the mystery of Austin’s disappearance had me intrigued. I’d only been seven at the time of the disappearance, but I could still remember the terror everyone felt when the boy went missing. When the sheriff was unable to find a single clue as to what happened to Austin, all sorts of tales and stories sprang up. Some said he woke early and went fishing, only to somehow be pulled into the lake, where he drowned. Others suspected he’d simply wandered away from the camp during the night and got lost. There were theories having to do with animal attacks, kidnappers, and even alien abduction, but to this date, no one seems to know what happened on that long-ago spring night.