The Bones of the Old Case

They slid down the service ladder on the back side of the tower just as the banging started at the front door. Ruth’s keys had not solved the mystery, but they bought three minutes of escape. Tobin kept the tape bundle clamped to his chest like it might bite him. Jessa ran in the middle, mud on her sneakers, already filing every detail into memory. Cal brought up the rear and kept looking back at the tower as if the frame itself might stand up and chase them. “Don’t stop,” Mara said. “I’m not stopping,” Cal panted. “I’m just checking whether my lungs are still attached.” They didn’t go home. They went straight to the public library basement, where the microfilm reader threw out light that always looked a little winter-cold no matter how hot the