She knew she should have insisted on him staying there, but she felt lucky that he had told her. It had been wise not to push it. She thought about what was said. He had not revealed who it was that had started the rumors. But then his having to leave town. She remembered his younger brother vowing to kill him if he saw him again.
There had to be something going on, something that maybe she knew about, something that made her mysteriously die. Then his father not stopping the rumors about the supposed love affair. Could there have been a conspiracy of some kind, was perhaps he a part of something much bigger? It was a lot to think about. The first thing she was going to do was go to the library. They kept copies of old issues. Perhaps she would find a clue.
She got there just as the library opened. The librarian showed her the archives. She had to go back 26 years. So far she had found nothing, but then a certain article catches her eye.
When the librarian wasn't looking, she tore the article out as quietly as possible. She looked at other issues after that, but found nothing. It was odd there were no other articles after that one, as if something or someone had stopped it. She had to get the article to him without arousing
suspicion. She put the article in her pocket and left.
He wondered where was she going to start. He was beginning to have second thoughts about this again. How would she know what room he was in? What could she possibly find? He was pacing his room like a caged animal. Then he heard a soft knock. He asked who was it.
"It's me. I may have found something."
He opened the door and pulled her in.
"How did you find my room?"
"The clerk was away from the desk. Since he doesn't get much business in the hotel, it wasn't hard to figure out which keys were being used. I don't know if this is it, but I found this in the archives. It's an article from 26 years ago. According to the date, it was shortly before
your mother died. I looked for other articles after that, there were none.
Someone didn't want the world to know about this."
He read the article. Could this really have been the reason? Could this be why his father never bothered to stop the rumors? Was he a part of it? There were a lot of questions that had to be answered.
As he was reading it, there was a passenger departing a bus. He seemed to know where he was and where he wanted to go. He was tall, with long brown hair. He had a solidly built body. A car was waiting for him. It took off for the outskirts of town, not stopping til it had reached a gate, with a driveway that led to a large house.