“I’m Jack. What’s your name?”
“Robyn.”
“That’s a nice name.” Jack looked closely at the bag. “Where did you find that handbag, Robyn?”
“At number thirteen.”
“Thirteen?”
Robyn pointed toward the benches that lined the path through the park. “I count them. I don’t like thirteen so I won’t sit there. I like your hat.”
“Thanks. Thirteen benches down from where?”
“The fountain.”
“Thirteen benches from the fountain heading to Main Street?”
She nodded.
Jack paused. He wanted to ask Chandler to do something, but he felt if he broke eye contact with Robyn, she’d dart away. “Where was the handbag? On the bench?”
Her whistle rattled when she shook her head. “In the woods.” She clutched the bag again. “Someone threw it away. Now it’s mine.”
“Yes. It’s yours. Did you see who threw away the handbag?”
“No. I found it.”
“Why were you in the woods?” Chandler asked.
“I had to pee.”
“Okay…” Jack tried not to make a face. “So you went into the woods to go to the bathroom?”
Robyn nodded, then traced the gold swirl again. “Your hat’s red like my whistle. My whistle is real loud. Do you want to hear it?” She lifted it toward her lips.
“NO,” Jack and Chandler said in unison.
“If I blow it, my friends will come. We watch out for each other in the park. It’s really, really loud.”
“I bet it is. Did you find anything else there?” Jack said.
“Nope.” Robyn shook her head vigorously. “My whistle’s red.” She held it up. “Like your hat.”
“It’s a nice whistle.”
“Like your hat.”
Jack took the cap off. “Would you like my hat?”
“I’ll take it!” Her hand shot up like a little girl who knew the answer in her favorite class. “It matches my whistle.”
“Well, I’m not sure I can give it up.” Jack looked down at the hat in his hands. “What about if I trade you for it?”
Robyn eyed him suspiciously and darted backward. “I don’t have anything to trade.”
“How about that bag? It’s tan and it doesn’t match your whistle.”
“It doesn’t.” She nodded, but not too enthusiastically.
“What about my red hat and ten dollars?” Jack took a ten out of his pocket.
Robyn nodded rapidly. She reached into the handbag and took out a plastic shopping bag.
“Was that plastic bag in the handbag when you found it?” Jack asked.
“No. It’s mine. I didn’t take anything out of the handbag. Those things belong there. Things should stay where they belong.”
Jack put the ten in his baseball cap, set it down on the floor of the pavilion, and stepped back. “I’ll just leave it here.”
With three quick steps, Robyn darted forward, put the handbag on the ground, grabbed the hat, and hurried away. Like a bird with a bit of shiny string, she flitted to the far side of the pavilion, admiring her prize.
“Thank you.” Jack picked up the handbag.
As Jack and Chandler walked away, Chandler looked at Jack. “That was your dad’s hat, wasn’t it?”
“What?” Jack spun around. “Oh, no! No way. Are you sure? I must have put the wrong hat in my gym bag.”
Robyn was walking back and forth in the pavilion, muttering to herself again. Sure enough, Jack could see now that she was wearing his dad’s Special Edition Red Sox cap. It was similar to Jack’s, but Jack could tell the difference, and his dad certainly would.
“I’m an idiot,” Jack grumbled as he turned back around. “That’s his favorite fishing hat. I’m a dead man.”
Chandler patted him on the shoulder. “He’ll get over it. So why did you make that trade anyway?”
Jack held up the handbag. “I think this is Stacy Shaw’s bag. The missing person flyer said she had a tan handbag with gold swirls.”
Jack opened it and looked inside. He was careful not to touch anything, but by shifting the bag around he was able to see all its contents. There was a glasses case, a set of keys, some lip balm, half a package of antacids, a compact, several hair clips and elastics, a hairbrush, hand wipes, two pens, a black case the size of a thick book, a bottle of prenatal vitamins, and two business cards—one for Luisa’s Luxe Hair Studio and one for a fertility clinic.
“You really think it’s hers?” Chandler asked.
“Maybe. It’s quite a coincidence if it isn’t. Especially since there’s a diabetic alert tag on the keyring. Come on.” Jack headed back into the park.