Knots, Conclusion of Chapter Two

Charlie, Becky, and Bob sat on the edge of their makeshift raft tied to a tree on the bank, their bare feet dangling into the water. "The trunk is under old man Sullivan's floor," Charlie told Becky excitedly. "He's got a trap door under his mattress, and the trunk is down there." "Do you think the bones are still in it?" Becky asked. "Yes" said Bob, "I was able to reach down and push on the trunk, and you could hear the bones rattling." "Did you put the mattress back just the way it was?" Becky asked. Charlie nodded. Bob said, "I think so." "Because," Becky said, "if he notices its been moved, then he will know that we know he has the bones."

"What we still don't know is who the hell's bones are those?" Charlie said. "Check it out!" Becky said digging into the pockets of her jeans cut-offs. She pulled out a crumpled yellowed newspaper clipping and carefully flattened it on her thigh with her hand. "Look," she said pointing to a headline. " WOMAN STILL MISSING". "It's from the London Daily, June 21, 1951", she said, pointing to the date at the top. She began to read the article aloud. "Authorities today have abandoned their search for Rosalie Sullivan after scouring the neighborhood and the surrounding woods for three days. Her husband, once considered a suspect, but later cleared, was released yesterday. Today however, his whereabouts is unknown. Scotland Yard has distributed photos of Mr. Johnathan Sullivan to all transit points, and it was suggested that Mr. Sullivan must still be considered a possible suspect in this case. Authorities have released the recent photograph of Mr. Sullivan, shown below, and request that anyone seeing a person of this description contact Scotland Yard immediately." Becky pointed to the picture. "It's him!" Bob exclaimed. Charlie nodded, "He wasn't as fat back then, but that's him."

"So now what are we to do?" Bob asked looking to Becky and Charlie. "Whether he knows we know where the bones are or not," Becky reasoned, "he knows we are onto something. He said he was going to kill us." They hatched a plan. they would camp out that night. They would pick a place in the woods where Sullivan couldn't find them. They would sort all this out and figure out what to do next. "Why don't we just go to the cops right now?" Bob asked. "Let me ask you one more time," Becky said, "are you sure you put everything back exactly where you found it at Sullivan's place?" Bob shook his head. Charlie shrugged his uncertainty. "Well then," said Becky, "for all we know he is onto us, and has moved the bones, and is hunting us this very moment." Charlie looked at Bob. "She's right. we would have no real evidence to prove Sullivan offed his wife." "So we can't go home." Bob muttered. "Yes," said Becky, "we have to go home and make excuses to our parents. I will tell mine that I am going to sleep over at Alison's tonight. I do that a lot anyway. And Alison will cover me if my parents call." "But, you can't let Alison in on what's really happening." Charlie said. "No,' said Becky shaking her head, but she will cover me no questions asked. I covered her last weekend." "OK,' said Charlie looking over at Bob, "we'll tell our folks we are going camping. We do that all the time, anyway." Bob nodded. "So we can just grab our gear and get on with it." "Exactly!" replied Charlie. "Don't forget to pack food," Becky said, "maybe three days worth." "Three days?" said Bob. Becky looked at him, "We are in some deep shit here. Its him against us now. We can't afford to be running tomorrow on empty stomachs."