and his kid going through the gates a few minutes ago up to the main office."
"I just saw it."
"They couldn't pick out the wife in those, right?"
"That's right. Mr. Harwood says his wife had gone back to the car to get something and told him to go on ahead."
"Yeah, okay, so she would have come into the park a few minutes later then, right?"
"Yeah," Duckworth said.
"So what we did before was, because the Harwoods ordered their tickets online, and printed them out, we were able to pinpoint at what time those tickets got scanned and processed at the gate."
"I got that."
"So then we thought, we'll look for when the third ticket, the wife's, got processed at the gate, and then when we had that we could find the closed-circuit image for that time."
"What's the problem?" Duckworth asked.
"Nothing's coming up."
"What do you mean? You saying she never came into the park?"
"I don't know. Here's the thing. I've got them checking their ticket sales records, all the stuff that gets bought in advance online, and they only show two tickets being purchased on the Harwoods' Visa. One adult and one kid."
NINE
The door opened and Ethan ran in. I scooped him up in my arms and held on to him tight, patted the back of his head.
"You okay?" I asked. He nodded. "They were nice to you?"
"I had an ice cream. A lady wanted to get me another but Mom would be mad if I had two."
"We never really had any lunch," I said.
"Where's Mommy?" Ethan asked, but not with any sense of worry.
"We're going home now," I said.
"Is she home?"
I glanced at Duckworth, who had followed Ethan into the room. There was nothing in his expression.
"Let's just go home," I said. "And then maybe we'll see Nana and Poppa."
Still holding Ethan, I said to Duckworth, my voice low, "What do we do now?"
He breathed in and then exhaled, his belly going in and out. "You head home. First thing, you send me a picture. If you hear anything, you get in touch with me." He had already given me his card. "And we'll call if there are any developments."
"Of course."
"Maybe start making up a list, anyone your wife might have called, anyone she might have gotten in touch with."
"Of course," I said.
"Tell me again how you bought your tickets for today?"
"I told you. From the website."
"You ordered them?"
"Jan did," I said.
"So it wasn't actually you who sat down at the computer to do it, it was your wife."
I didn't understand the point of this. "That's what I just said."
Duckworth seemed to be mulling this over.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked.
"Only two tickets were bought online," he said. "One adult ticket, one child."
I blinked. "Well, that doesn't make much sense. There must be some mistake. She was in the park. They wouldn't have let her in the gate without a ticket. There's been some kind of mix-up."
"And I'm asking them to look into that. But if it turns out only one adult ticket was purchased, does that figure?"
It didn't. But if that was what had happened, I could think of at least one possible explanation.
"Maybe Jan made a mistake," I offered. "Sometimes, ordering online, it's easy to do that. I was booking a hotel online once, and the website froze up for a second, and when I got the confirmation it said I'd booked two rooms when I only wanted one."
Duckworth's head went up and down slowly. "That's a possibility."
The only problem with my theory was that, on the way into Five Mountains, Jan had taken out of her purse all our tickets. She had handed me mine and one for Ethan, and made a point of keeping one for herself so she could get into the park after she went back to the car for her backpack.
She hadn't mentioned any ticket problem when she'd found us inside the gate.
I was about to mention this to Duckworth, but stopped myself, because I suddenly had another theory that was too upsetting to discuss aloud, certainly not in front of Ethan, who had wrapped his arms around my neck.
Maybe Jan never bought a ticket because she was thinking
"I just saw it."
"They couldn't pick out the wife in those, right?"
"That's right. Mr. Harwood says his wife had gone back to the car to get something and told him to go on ahead."
"Yeah, okay, so she would have come into the park a few minutes later then, right?"
"Yeah," Duckworth said.
"So what we did before was, because the Harwoods ordered their tickets online, and printed them out, we were able to pinpoint at what time those tickets got scanned and processed at the gate."
"I got that."
"So then we thought, we'll look for when the third ticket, the wife's, got processed at the gate, and then when we had that we could find the closed-circuit image for that time."
"What's the problem?" Duckworth asked.
"Nothing's coming up."
"What do you mean? You saying she never came into the park?"
"I don't know. Here's the thing. I've got them checking their ticket sales records, all the stuff that gets bought in advance online, and they only show two tickets being purchased on the Harwoods' Visa. One adult and one kid."
NINE
The door opened and Ethan ran in. I scooped him up in my arms and held on to him tight, patted the back of his head.
"You okay?" I asked. He nodded. "They were nice to you?"
"I had an ice cream. A lady wanted to get me another but Mom would be mad if I had two."
"We never really had any lunch," I said.
"Where's Mommy?" Ethan asked, but not with any sense of worry.
"We're going home now," I said.
"Is she home?"
I glanced at Duckworth, who had followed Ethan into the room. There was nothing in his expression.
"Let's just go home," I said. "And then maybe we'll see Nana and Poppa."
Still holding Ethan, I said to Duckworth, my voice low, "What do we do now?"
He breathed in and then exhaled, his belly going in and out. "You head home. First thing, you send me a picture. If you hear anything, you get in touch with me." He had already given me his card. "And we'll call if there are any developments."
"Of course."
"Maybe start making up a list, anyone your wife might have called, anyone she might have gotten in touch with."
"Of course," I said.
"Tell me again how you bought your tickets for today?"
"I told you. From the website."
"You ordered them?"
"Jan did," I said.
"So it wasn't actually you who sat down at the computer to do it, it was your wife."
I didn't understand the point of this. "That's what I just said."
Duckworth seemed to be mulling this over.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked.
"Only two tickets were bought online," he said. "One adult ticket, one child."
I blinked. "Well, that doesn't make much sense. There must be some mistake. She was in the park. They wouldn't have let her in the gate without a ticket. There's been some kind of mix-up."
"And I'm asking them to look into that. But if it turns out only one adult ticket was purchased, does that figure?"
It didn't. But if that was what had happened, I could think of at least one possible explanation.
"Maybe Jan made a mistake," I offered. "Sometimes, ordering online, it's easy to do that. I was booking a hotel online once, and the website froze up for a second, and when I got the confirmation it said I'd booked two rooms when I only wanted one."
Duckworth's head went up and down slowly. "That's a possibility."
The only problem with my theory was that, on the way into Five Mountains, Jan had taken out of her purse all our tickets. She had handed me mine and one for Ethan, and made a point of keeping one for herself so she could get into the park after she went back to the car for her backpack.
She hadn't mentioned any ticket problem when she'd found us inside the gate.
I was about to mention this to Duckworth, but stopped myself, because I suddenly had another theory that was too upsetting to discuss aloud, certainly not in front of Ethan, who had wrapped his arms around my neck.
Maybe Jan never bought a ticket because she was thinking
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