“I suppose.” I put the mochila back on the ground and closed the flaps. I tried to look for markings like those on the mochila in Jake’s archives, but there were none currently visible. There might be some, but it would take a careful cleaning to find them. This was probably more evidence that Joe wasn’t Astin Reagal. Joe’s bag had letters. If this was truly Astin’s, the real incarnations of the ghostly letters were nowhere to be found. Even considering that inconsistency, though, as well as Astin’s appearance the night before, a small part of me couldn’t let go of the notion that they might be the same person.
I looked at Jerome. “What else, Jerome? What else should we do? Dig some more, look for bones?”
“Well,” Jake said, jumping in before Jerome could answer, “I don’t think we should do much more than take this back to town. I can get experts with the proper equipment out here to look for any remains. This find in itself will be enough to get the proper authorities quickly involved.”
“All right,” Jerome said, but I could hear disappointment in his voice.
“We’ll find him if he’s here, Jerome, but Jake’s right. We don’t have the proper equipment, and I don’t want to do anything that might harm evidence that could help us better understand what happened to Astin.”
“I understand,” Jerome said with a little less disappointment.
“I think it’d be great to show this to Esther,” Jake said. “She’ll be beyond thrilled.”
“Let’s take it to her right now,” I said.
We stood and Jake held the mochila out as he inspected it again.
“This is an amazing find, Jerome,” he said to no space in particular. “I’m sure this will lead to Astin’s remains. We just have to get the right people out here to look.”
Jerome nodded.
“He understands,” I said. “Come on, let’s get back to town.”
I carried the shovel so Jake could be extra diligent as he carried the mochila. Jerome looked back to the spot we’d been digging as we made our way back to the Nova. I looked, too. Had our discovery also uncovered a ghost? It didn’t work that way as far as I knew, but nothing would surprise me.
No new ghosts appeared, though. There was no sense that anything unusual stirred the air. There was no new smell.
My last look behind was at the house’s remains. I knew there was nothing to find there, but I also knew I’d come back out and explore the posts and the overgrown weeds. Would I find something of Jerome’s? It was unlikely, but I needed to look for myself. Not today, though. There was plenty of other business to attend to today.
Chapter 26
“I’m thrilled that you might have found Astin, Betts, and I’m glad Jerome hasn’t left, but Orly called and wants me to come out to the campsite. He wants to show me something,” Gram said.
“Something about what?” I readjusted the cell phone so I could hear her better.
“I don’t know. That’s all he told me—something.”
“Gram, Jake and I were out there earlier. I had a strange hunch and asked him about owning a .38 Special—that’s the kind of gun that killed Norman. He said that one potentially went missing from his truck. I told him to call the police. Don’t go out alone. Wait—Jake and I will meet you out there. Give us about ten minutes before you leave,” I said in quick-speed staccato. My foot pressed harder on the accelerator as my words became more hurried.
“That’s fine. I’ll see you there,” Gram said before she hung up.