It had to be You

turned the corner and ran into her.
    Both of them yelped with surprise and jumped back from each other.
    “Lily? Is that you? What the hell are you doing here? Where’s the Duesie?”
    Robert was covered with burrs and had leaves and twigs in his hair.
    “You frightened me nearly out of my mind. And you look a wreck. Didn’t you find him?“
    “He disappeared before I could spot him. I could hear him but not see him, and I must have taken a wrong turn. I didn’t know this path came out here. The only ones I know fairly well are the ones that run south from Grace and Favor.“ His voice was rising. “Where is the Due-sie? Have you left it somewhere where anyone could steal it?“
    “No. Howard’s driving it to where the other paths come down to the river.“
    “You turned the Duesie over to Howard? How could you? He doesn’t know how to drive it.“
    “He’s a better driver than I am. And he didn’t want to let the person see him driving the police car.“
    “So what do we do now?“ Robert asked. “Walk back up that hill in the dark?“
    “I don’t know the way in the dark. I’ve only come this way a few times, and it was with Phoebe in the daytime.“
    “Well, let’s just wait for Howard to come find us,“ Robert said.
    There wasn’t anywhere to sit down while they waited, except for a couple of stumps. Lily sacrificed one of her best handkerchiefs to put on the stump before sitting down. “I wonder when Howard will show up?“ she said.
    “We shouldn’t be talking, Lily. The Communist hiker might hear us and run away.“
    “That would be all right with me,“ she said. “I didn’t want to be involved in this anyway.“
    “Whisper. We should try to explain to Mrs. Prinney why we aren’t home for dinner yet,“ Robert said. “It’s turkey tonight.“
    “How do you intend to contact her from here?“ Lily said sarcastically.
    “I thought I might run over to Mabel’s and ask to use her phone,“ Robert said.
    “You’re doing no such thing. If anyone is going to Mabel’s, it will be me. I’m not sitting here alone again.“
    “Have it your way. And if you spot the Duesie, make Howard bring it back.”
    Lily felt vastly relieved to be out of the woods and in the village. She gave Mabel a pocketful of change and called home. “We’re going to be a bit tardy, Mrs. Prinney. We had to help Chief Walker hunt for someone. The chief may be coming to dinner with us, if you don’t mind.“
    “I put the turkey in the oven a little late anyway. That’s fine,“ Mrs. Prinney replied.
    As Lily headed back to the icehouse, Howard spotted her and drove her the rest of the way. “Did you find him?“ she asked.
    “Almost,“ he said. “I’ll explain when we pick up Robert.”
    Robert was glad to have his automobile back. Lily told them both that the turkey had been put in late and wouldn’t be dried out, and that Howard was invited to dinner.
    “So, what did you mean that you ‘almost’ found the hiker?“ she asked Howard as Robert drove the three of them up the hill.
    “Close to the lower end of one of the paths, I could smell a campfire that had recently been put out with water. It’s such a nasty distinct smell, you can’t help but notice it. There wasn’t anyone around that I could see or hear. I think he’d probably cooked up something for his dinner and gone farther into the woods to sleep overnight. It will be easier to find him in the morning. I’ll roust out Ralph early in the morning, and see if his cousin Jack is available to help look in the area, too. Thanks for inviting me to dinner.“
    “I took Howard away from the boardinghouse just as dinner was about to be served,“ Lily explained to Robert.
    “Thank you for that,“ Howard said. “The woman who cooks was just putting out tiny leathery pork chops, a huge stinking bowl of cabbage, and overcooked lima beans.”

Chapter 20
    Wednesday, March 15

    As it turned out, Chief Walker and his deputy, Ralph, didn’t need to search the woods. They’d arrived at Mabel’s very early for breakfast because it had rained overnight and turned colder. Walker thought going without food would make the situation even worse. But they found what appeared to be their quarry eating ham and eggs at a table at the back. It was a table for two, and Howard sat down across from the man, with Ralph standing behind him, and said, “I’m Chief of Police Walker and this is my deputy. We need to talk to you.”
    The man started to