Cecily finished re-taping the last box and straightened up, brushing off her hands.

“It’s a bust,” she said.

“Now what?” Kate asked from the hallway outside the tiny storage locker. She and Kirk had just rejoined them after securing them all rooms at the only thing resembling a hotel in town, the Greenville Inn.

“I’m not sure,” Cecily said. “If nothing in here brought on a memory of my dad, I don’t know where I’d have to go to find one. I don’t have any more of my mom’s stuff anywhere.”

Solo’s expression was unreadable.

She wondered if maybe he had seen something after all.

“What about your house?” Bea asked.

“I sold it,” Cecily said. “There’s another family living there now.”

“Do you know them?” Kate asked. “Would they let us visit? Just in case there is some kind of clue there.”

“No, and no,” Cecily said. “I was still kind of hurting about my mom when I sold the house. I never met the people. The estate attorney signed everything for me. But I wasn’t the most pleasant negotiator. I don’t think they would have much reason to help me.”

“But they never actually saw you?” Bea asked.

Cecily shook her head.

“So we pretend to be from the gas company,” Bea said.

“Oh, like 101 Dalmatians,” Buck put in excitedly.

“Uh, yeah,” Bea said, less excitedly. “Kind of like that.”

“But we won’t take any puppies, right?” Buck asked.

“Of course not,” Bea assured him.

“It’s a good plan then.” He nodded sagely.

“We need costumes,” Kate said.

“I’ve got a couple of coveralls I use when I’m building props,” Cecily said.

“This seems risky,” Kate said.

“The worst thing that can happen is that they try to call the gas company and we make a break for it,” Bea said.

“What do you think, Solo?” Cecily asked. “If we can get you in there can you get a reading off something like a wall or a door?”

“I saw you after touching the kitchen counter back in Philadelphia,” Solo replied. “It was before I even met you, Cecily.”

She felt the blood rush to her cheeks.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Kate announced, buying Cecily a moment to recover.

Cecily secured the storage locker and they all headed out to the RV.

Half an hour later, they were pulling up in front of the brick Cape Cod where Cecily had grown up.

She noticed that the flowering azaleas were still in the beds in the front of the house. The new owners had put up a porch swing and planted a row of baby evergreens that would one day block the neighbors’ driveway.

Her mom had always talked about doing that.

“You okay?” Kate asked.

Cecily nodded as they approached the door.

“I’ll handle this,” Bea said, marching forward.

Cecily fought the urge to giggle.

Bea always wore black satin, leather or lace. Her goth style was epic. But in preparation for her role as a gas company representative, Bea had borrowed a hot pink polo shirt and a pair of khakis from Kate. She actually looked pretty professional, but to anyone who knew the real Beatrix Li, the difference was comical.

Bea knocked on the door.

A moment later a woman opened it. She had short blonde hair and a baby on her hip.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“We’re here from the gas company, ma’am,” Beatrix said. “One of your neighbors called in a leak. Have you smelled gas anywhere in your residence?”

“No,” the woman replied, her eyes wide.

“This is number 816, right?” Beatrix asked, consulting her clipboard. “Sandra and Robert Winthrop?”

“That’s us,” the woman said. “Wow.”

“Don’t be alarmed, ma’am,” Bea said. “Sometimes a pedestrian just gets a whiff of something when they’re walking. It doesn’t always mean a gas leak, or if there is one, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s in your home. But we can’t be too safe.”

“Of course not,” Sandra said. “Do you need to come in?”

“What’s going on?” a man’s voice asked from inside.

“Gas leak, Bob, they have to check the house,” Sandra called back.

“Wow,” Bob said. “You want to take the baby outside, Sandy?”

The woman stepped inside and opened the door for Beatrix, who gestured the others in.

Kirk and Solo stepped inside and Cecily followed. Kate and Buck were in the RV around the corner, prepared to be the getaway drivers if the need arose. She didn’t think it would come to that, but she also didn’t want to risk someone recognizing Kate from her TV show.

“Wouldn’t we smell gas?” Sandy worried.

“You might think so,” Beatrix said. “But it takes only the tiniest pinhole leak to present a risk. So we don’t rely on our noses. We use gas leak detection meters.”

Buck waved around his detection meter for them to see.

It was really just a prop Cecily had thrown together from her own supplies and the contents of the toolbox on the RV. Solo had one too. They wouldn’t hold up to close inspection, so Cecily told the guys to keep them moving around as much as possible.

As Beatrix drew out the Winthrop family in a conversation about natural gas safety, Solo headed for the stairs.

He waved his detector around with one hand while patting the walls and woodwork with his other.

He looked a bit like he was pretending to be blind. Cecily hoped he was getting readings.

“I’m going to check upstairs,” he said.

She followed him up.

“Which room was your mother’s?” he whispered.

She pointed him down the hall to the room overlooking the front yard.

He touched the knob and the doorframe.

He went over to the window and placed his hands on the frame.

Cecily watched as Solo’s eyes closed and a shiver went over his big body.

He was seeing something, she was sure of it.

There were sounds on the stairs. She hoped it was only Bea and Kirk. But of course it was the owner.

“What’s he doing?” Bob asked from the doorway.

“Oh, um, he has a good nose for this,” Cecily said. “He didn’t get a reading, but he’s got a hunch. Give him a sec.”

“Wow, good talent for the job, huh?” Bob asked.

“I’m going outside with the baby, hon,” Sandy called from downstairs.

“Okay,” Bob said.

He stood, gazing at Solo in fascination.

They weren’t going to get the house to themselves.

Suddenly Solo straightened.

“Did you pick up a gas scent?” Cecily asked quickly.

Solo blinked and turned to face his audience.

“Nope,” he said. “And the meter’s not getting anything either. You’re safe.”

“Aren’t you going to check the basement?” Bob sounded mystified.

But Solo had already walked past him and was heading down the stairs.

“No, we got the readings we needed,” Bea said.

They crossed through the living room and out into the yard, where Sandy stood by the azaleas with the baby.

Cecily thought of the pictures her mom had taken of her in front of the flowers each year and got a lump in her throat.

“That was quick,” Sandy said.

“Thank you very much for your cooperation,” Bea said. “There’s no need to worry. This was a false alarm situation.”

“Geez, what a day,” Sandy said. “First the guy from the movies, and now a false alarm gas leak. What’s next?”

“Oh, I’m not so sure that was him, hon,” Bob said. “Just because he had sunglasses on doesn’t mean he was from Hollywood.”

“What guy from the movies?” Bea asked.

Sandy looked thoughtful for a moment.

“Shoot, I can’t remember his name,” she said.

“It wasn’t him,” Bob said. “Anyway, I’m sure you guys have more important things to do.”

They headed back into the house, still arguing pleasantly over whether they had seen a movie star or just a man with sunglasses.

“I guess there’s not much to do in this town, huh?” Bea teased Cecily.

“Do you think they really saw a movie star?” Buck asked.

“There hasn’t been a movie star in this town in years,” Cecily said. “At least not until Kate got here this morning.”

Solo was quiet.

“Did you get anything useful?” she asked him.

“Maybe,” he said. “It was very faint. I saw her outside somewhere, with a man, but his back was turned.”

“Why would touching her window give you a memory of somewhere else?” Cecily asked.

“It’s not an exact science,” Solo told her. “Maybe she spent time looking out the window and thinking about the place I saw. It is possible that if we go to wherever they were, I could get a stronger reading. But I don’t know where it is.”

“What did it look like?” Cecily asked, grasping at straws. She was surprised at how disappointed she felt.

“It was a wide open space, with huge rocks,” he said.

“Greenfield Gorge,” Cecily exclaimed.

“Do you know where it is?” he asked.

“Absolutely,” she said, her excitement returning. “Let’s go.”