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here,” she told her friend. “I don’t want to ruin my reputation as a fashionista….”
    After Abby disappeared upstairs, Lena pulled out the picture of the Phelps tower. It looked just like the one they’d seen on the Internet. Confirmation. Right? “Are you there?” she whispered to the photo. A hot breeze coming through the screen door was the only answer she got.
    Abby returned dressed in a cute skirt and sandals and scarfing down a bagel. “I’m guessing there’s no way we can talk your dad into a return trip to Phelps?” she half asked. “That would be the easiest way to go back and see what’s really there.”
    Lena shook her head. Her dad was in full jam production, so unless he ran out of fruit, it wasn’t even worth asking him to step away from the stove.He would simmer fruit and jars and measure sugar and pectin all day. By evening the kitchen would be filled with jam and they’d have pizza for dinner.
    â€œAnd I’m also guessing you won’t sleep again until you have proof that tower is really there?” Abby raised a brow.
    Lena grimaced. Right again. She just had to know if the tower in her photo had been there when she snapped the shot … or not. If she knew that, she might be able to unravel the mystery of the boy.
    â€œOkay. Then we need to go somewhere where we can do some real research,” Abby concluded. And without waiting for an answer, she shoved the last bite of bagel into her mouth and grabbed Lena by the hand.

CHAPTER SIX
    Even though Abby didn’t say so, Lena knew exactly where they were going. It was no secret that Abby loved the town library almost as much as a flea market, and Lena was a big fan, too. The ancient stone building was large and grand and smelled of books. And, best of all, it was air-conditioned.
    â€œInformation desk, here we come,” Abby announced as Lena took a picture of her walking through the front door. “I hope that grumpy old guy with the crazy beard isn’t working today….”
    Luckily, Captain Whiskers wasn’t at the desk. A bookish but friendly-looking woman with red hair and reading glasses was sitting behind it instead. “We’re looking for information on the Phelps water tower,” Abby said, getting right to the point.
    The woman looked up from the stack of books she was checking in and smiled. “Phelps water tower?” she repeated. “You mean the one that was torn down?”
    Lena nearly choked on her tongue.
How easy was that?!
she thought. A single sentence gave her confirmation that the giant tower 1) had existed and 2) had been demolished. “Yes,” she cried, a little more emphatically than she meant to. “That’s the one.” Then, just as fast, her next thought erased the relief she’d felt. If it had been torn down, what was it doing in her picture?
    â€œDo you happen to know
when
they tore it down?” Abby asked. She was great at details. And actually, if the tower had been torn down yesterday then it
could
have still been there in the picture.
    â€œHmmmm,” the librarian said thoughtfully. “I’m not sure, but I think it was sometime in the late nineties. I remember it being kind of a big deal at the time … lots of people protested the demolition. It was in the paper for weeks.”
    â€œWell. There you go.” Abby clucked her tongue. “Thanks a lot for your —” Lena grabbed her friend’s arm to keep her from walking away.
    â€œIs there any way we can search those oldnewspapers?” Lena asked. “You know, read some of the articles you mentioned?”
    â€œCertainly,” the librarian replied with a smile. “I can set you up with some rolls of microfilm and you can search to your heart’s content. It might take a while to find the right dates, but if you’re feeling patient I’m sure you’ll find them.” The librarian