Page 36 of Dead Man's Hollow
Maisy and Jordana exchange a look.
“Maybe,” Jordana says. “I was hoping we could borrow a copy of the 1994 yearbook.”
She waves a hand toward the row of metal shelves lining the far wall. One section is filled from ceiling to floor with yearbooks. “Help yourself.”
As Jordana runs a finger over the hardback spines, her former teacher wonders, “What could our yearbook have to do with a missing girl all the way out in McKeesport?” she wonders aloud.
Jordana returns clutching a dark green book to her chest and flashes Maisy a look. Maisy nods for her to go ahead.
“This hasn’t been on the podcast yet, so I’m telling you this in confidence,” she tells the yearbook advisor.
“Understood.”
“We received information that there was a fight that night at Dead Man’s Hollow. Between the McKeesport kids and some students from Allderdice.”
Shannon wrinkles her forehead. “I don’t recall any rumors about a fight. You know the yearbook staff, Jordana—the kids forget I’m here and gossip among themselves when they’re working. But I don’t remember hearing about a fight at Dead Man’s Hollow.” Her face falls. “Of course, we had a crisis of our own to deal with at the end of that school year, so it’s not surprising that our kids wouldn’t have been as wrapped up in Heather Ryan’s disappearance as everybody else in the city was.”
“What kind of crisis?” Maisy asks.
“We had a student go missing that weekend, too. A junior, Andre Newport. He was a good kid. I had him in my second period English class.”
“He went missing Memorial Day weekend? The same weekend as Heather?” Jordana eyes Mrs. Marshall.
“Yes, the same weekend. It didn’t get much media coverage. People were so focused on Heather’s disappearance.”
“Missing white girl syndrome,” Jordana mutters under her breath, but her words are loud enough for her former teacher to hear.
She twists her mouth and gives them a knowing look. “Exactly. It was criminal the way they swept Andre’s disappearance under the rug.” She hurries to add, “I’m not saying that they shouldn’t have been looking for Heather Ryan. Of course they should have. But they should have been looking for Andre too, and they didn’t.”
“He never turned up?” Maisy asks.
“No.” She shakes her head sadly. “His poor mother. The police told her they had information that he’d been involved in a gang, and I assure you he was not. But there was a Gang Peace Summit that weekend and it seems like everyone was looking for a convenient explanation. So they decided he must have gone to the summit, gotten into trouble with a rival gang afterward, and hightailed it out of town.” Her eyes blaze. “Even though nobody actually saw him there, and there were exactly zero reports of violence related to the summit. After several years, his mother went to court to have him declared dead. She passed away herself a few years back, and I guess the memory of Andre died with her.”
Jordana flips through the junior class photos until she reaches the Ns. She turns the book to show Maisy a picture of a handsome boy with deep dimples. His hair is styled in a tight fade and a diamond stud sparkles in his ear. He’s grinning widely.
Shannon Marshall leans over and studies the picture, too. “His smile was infectious.”
“Was he flirtatious?” Maisy asks.
The teacher gives her a surprised look. “I suppose you could say that. He was chatty. Especially with the girls. Why?”
The thrum of energy that courses through Maisy when she’s hot on a story is zinging wildly. Her hands tingle. “Because our sources also say that the last time anyone saw Heather Ryan, she was flirting with a Black boy from Allderdice.”
The room falls silent as the three women consider the implications of Heather and Andre having been together the night they both vanished. Finally, Jordana clears her throat.
“We’re going to show Andre’s picture to some people. If we can confirm that he was talking to Heather in Dead Man’s Hollow, can we come back and record an interview with you?” she asks.
The teacher lowers her chin and looks at Jordana and Maisy with a serious expression. “Absolutely.”
Maisy waits until they’ve left the high school building and are back in the car to caution Jordana.
“Don’t get too excited. It might be a coincidence.”
Jordana pauses in the process of buckling her seatbelt to shoot her a disbelieving look. “You think it’s a coincidence a guy matching the description of the boy Heather was talking to before she disappeared also disappeared?”
“We don’t know that he matches the description.”
“He generally matches the description. But sure, we’ll have to confirm it. We can show the picture to Amy and anyone else who agrees to talk to us.”
