Chapter 63

"Zack and Tom are actually the same guy. Crazy, right? But it means we can combine the two groups we were looking into, Sand Village and the one with Frank and Laura, into one investigation."

Zoey bit her lip, thinking back to what I said over dinner, and tried to piece it all together.

"Okay, let me get this straight. Whether Frank left Silverlight City on purpose or not, the big question now is why Sand Village and Frank are after Laura. It all goes back to the orphanage."

"But when it comes to the orphanage, we've been trying to dig up clues through interviews, probably out of habit. Now Frank's on the run, Tony's clammed up, Zack or Tom, whichever, isn't talking, Lally's missing, and Duke's in no shape to help us out."

Zoey blinked, the streetlights reflecting in her eyes, and she smirked a bit, "But... something you said got me thinking."

"What did I say?" I asked, a bit surprised. Zoey might seem laid-back, but she's sharp. She'd been listening and putting things together during dinner. I was proud of how far she'd come from the girl who used to tag along with me, acting on impulse. She was focused and rational now.

Zoey said, "Let's make a guess. If Frank started all this stuff at the orphanage, and they had some secret plan involving Laura, making everyone swear to keep quiet about the past, especially since Alan was from the orphanage too, then it makes sense why they wouldn't talk about it."

Given what we knew, Zoey's theory made sense.

Alan seemed to have stumbled into this plan. They didn't hurt Alan, and when I first met Frank, his grief over Alan's death and his anger at Laura were obvious. Plus, from what Lally and Tony said about Alan, they were really close.

I nodded, our thoughts in sync, "Lally probably recognized me when we met at the Entertainment Club. Then she told me about Alan on purpose. She and Tony must've decided to give me some info to lead me to Frank."

But I still wondered why Lally, Tony, Tom, and the others didn't seem sad about Alan's death, while Frank was devastated.

"Exactly. Since Lally was willing to tell you about Alan, let's make another guess. If Lally disappeared on purpose that day, I doubt she went home," Zoey continued.

That made sense. If I were Lally and realized the person who saved me was Alan's wife, I wouldn't go home if I wanted to keep the secret. It'd be too easy for someone to find me.

And then it hit me, how did Lally manage to pack up all her stuff so quickly, except for the bedroom?

All of this was part of her plan. She wanted to reach out to me, spill some info, and then get out of Silverlight City, but Duke found her first.

I asked, "So, you think there's more evidence or something at Lally's place?"

Yeah, I left in a rush that day. Finding out Alan was from the orphanage hit me hard. I couldn't handle the fact that Alan had such a rough past, and I knew nothing about it. The pain, guilt, disbelief, and memories of our ten-year marriage just crushed me. I walked out of Lally's neighborhood and passed out.

"Yep, Mrs. Smith, am I smart or what? You left so quickly that day, Lally must've had more to tell you. I bet it's in her house!" Zoey snapped her fingers and laughed. "But... the key to Lally's house... did you get in touch with Ruben?"

I realized Lally's house would be locked up. Breaking in would alert the neighbors, and it was already late. But since Zoey brought it up, she must've had a plan. I figured Zoey had been in touch with Ruben lately. When the cops checked out Lally's place, they must've gotten the key from the landlord, so Ruben had it.

Zoey pulled a shiny key out of her bag with a grin.

I knew it. Ruben wouldn't just show up at the office after chatting on Facebook. Zoey must've sweet-talked him. Ruben, with his crush on her, would've handed over the key if he thought she wanted to investigate.

This meant Zoey had been piecing things together from the clues I shared, maybe even figuring out before I did that Lally had intentionally spilled the beans.

I asked, "Did you promise Ruben something?"

I realized that even though Ruben liked Lally, the key was still police property. As a regular officer, he didn't have that much pull. Even if Benjamin wasn't around, there were other bosses in charge.

"No way! What are you thinking, Mrs. Smith!" Zoey giggled and grabbed my arm, "I just had dinner with him once and said I wanted to help you check out Lally's place. He was too scared to give me the key."

"So?" I asked.

"So, I made a copy of the key." Zoey raised her eyebrows, looking all proud, "Impressive, right?"

I pulled out my phone, opened the ride-hailing app, and smiled, "Then, my impressive apprentice, will you come with me?"

Zoey replied, "OK!"

Lally's place was about 6.2 miles from the restaurant. It was past 9 PM, and the rush hour was over, so the roads were pretty clear. In less than 20 minutes, the car stopped near Lally's neighborhood.

It was an old, small neighborhood with just three or four rows of small buildings, no elevators, and really outdated facilities.

But for Lally and Duke, moving out of Sand Village and into this neighborhood was a big step up.

Last time I came in the morning, but now it was almost 10 PM. Most of the residents were retired elderly folks, and all the lights in the neighborhood were off. Several streetlights were broken. Zoey and I carefully made our way to the bottom of the building.