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Then came word that one of the dorer carrying an oversized trash bag out of the dorured he was part of the canoe trip," she said She hadn’t been close enough to get ht, she said Bald Wearing sunglasses and dark clothes

I told Burton about the beige van I’d seen approaching campus as we left for Okefenokee

"We put out an alert last ti turned up"

"Well, you’d better put out another one," irl, and he’s still out there"

He thought I’d iined the van, but he did make a note

"What if"--I framed the question as I asked it--"what if whoever took Autumn was really after ht of that Yes, I was listening to his thoughts again He was brooding on the placement of the body, how likely it was that whoever killed her had known the route of our canoes, had wanted us to find her

"Anything’s possible," he said "All we can do now is conjecture"

Aside fro half-turned inside out--the dorm room held no evidence of the presence of anyone aside from Autumn, Bernadette, and me But the police had found the note Bernadette left for Autumn, and they questioned Chip, her ex-boyfriend Chip’s alibi--that he’d been trying to steal a car on the night in question--didn’t impress them much They’d also questioned Jesse and Autuia, where they’d volunteered to coer and Jesse one afternoon at the brick police station

Mr Springer was a ht, who perspired heavily and barely spoke He had Autumn’s chin and eyes Jesse looked different--his head was shaved, and he’d lost weight His eyes were clear, and everyto do with it," he told me "We just want you to tell us what happened"

I told them the same details I’d told the police about Autumn’s visit She hadn’t seemed upset so much as depressed about the breakup with Chip And I mentioned her phone call tothe htened his shoulders for a moment, nodded as if to say thanks He and his father hated talking about Autumn’s death It made them feel powerless

My time as a person of interest ended after the forensics lab found DNA under Autuernails The sa Burton said toelse Meantiht in the tent, the thing outside, the weird noises If I ain think I was iht As alked to the truck, she checked to be sure I earing ations (that’s how I’ve thought of it ever since), I lost my nors without taking in details

In my philosophy class, the professor had told us about "philosophical zombies": hypothetical creatures who act like hu alive They can walk, talk, eat, drink--without any subjective sense of the experience That week, I felt like a zombie

My mother rented a motel room near the state police headquarters; she told the Hillhouse administrators that I needed time to recover from the shock of Autumn’s death Every day she avepills), and took a walk The two of us walked around the small town near campus for half an hour every day No one knee were, and no one bothered us At night my mother read to me, and as soon as she stopped, I couldn’t reht I was asleep, she’d telephone someone and talk in a voice so low I couldn’t hear her Curiously, the murmur of her voice in the dark soothed me more than any lullaby or story could have

When the as over, I began to think and feel again, in small spurts Material that I couldn’t process when it occurred now began to present itself in the form of questions

"What about Autuh town "Was there a o" Mãe kept one hand on my arm, as if to steer me "And if there’s a "

"Why not?"

She sighed, and again I realized how tired she looked "Ariella, you won’t want to co to be even worse this time"

We walked on I noticed leaf buds on a tree In so was on its way

Another question surfaced: "Mãe, ere you doing in Georgia when Burton called?"

"I was taking care of fa "It wasn’t a good idea for oing on But to away for a week"

She wouldn’t tell me more than that

We drove to campus the next day so that I could pack fresh clothes andin sensory data without experiencing it, but bursts of clarity ca so ins next week," Mãe said "Later you can make up what you missed That is, if you’re sure you want to coht do