The rain poured down in the Pacific Northwest and Graham Calligan looked out of the window. The house he and his wife Tina had moved into three years ago overlooked the wooded hillsides and small creeks, a little way out of town and set amid the verdant green of the countryside. He sighed, sipping the cup of coffee and looked distractedly out.
On the kitchen counter behind him was a pile of fliers with his wife's face splashed across them. Tina, smiling, her blonde hair tumbling around her face. The word MISSING was printed in big block capitals across the top of the flier. He had been handing them out all morning, trying to drum up some attention. Some interest. In the first week she had gone missing the phone had rung non-stop. Police, obviously, checking in, but also the local media, friends, family, volunteers, local groups, private detectives looking for work, local nutjobs. They all tried to work his wife's name in, casually at first, and then their desires.
But Tina Calligan had been gone for a month and no-one seemed to care anymore. He sighed, sucking in the cold hill-top air. At least he was alone now. Alone with his demons.
A car, a dark sedan, pulled into the drive and a thin figure got out, cursing and struggling against the wind and the rain. He caught sight of her face when she turned towards the house window and his heart skipped a beat. Tin..? No. No. It was his sister-in-law. Tessa. The twins were identical but, over years of dating and then being married to her sister, Graham had learned to tell the two apart. There were subtle distinctions.
Still, he hadn't been expecting a visit. He frowned, turning back to the counter to put the kettle on to boil before heading to the front door to let her in.
On the kitchen counter behind him was a pile of fliers with his wife's face splashed across them. Tina, smiling, her blonde hair tumbling around her face. The word MISSING was printed in big block capitals across the top of the flier. He had been handing them out all morning, trying to drum up some attention. Some interest. In the first week she had gone missing the phone had rung non-stop. Police, obviously, checking in, but also the local media, friends, family, volunteers, local groups, private detectives looking for work, local nutjobs. They all tried to work his wife's name in, casually at first, and then their desires.
But Tina Calligan had been gone for a month and no-one seemed to care anymore. He sighed, sucking in the cold hill-top air. At least he was alone now. Alone with his demons.
A car, a dark sedan, pulled into the drive and a thin figure got out, cursing and struggling against the wind and the rain. He caught sight of her face when she turned towards the house window and his heart skipped a beat. Tin..? No. No. It was his sister-in-law. Tessa. The twins were identical but, over years of dating and then being married to her sister, Graham had learned to tell the two apart. There were subtle distinctions.
Still, he hadn't been expecting a visit. He frowned, turning back to the counter to put the kettle on to boil before heading to the front door to let her in.