“What’s happening?” she asked.

I handed her the note. She read the first line, and something changed in her face — not confusion.

Recognition. “I have never been there,” she said, too quickly.

Pearl studied her without blinking. “Then why did you call Dorothy from Lake Maren six months ago?”

Nicole looked straight at me. I remembered that call. She’d promised to visit, then canceled, claiming an urgent client meeting had trapped her there overnight.

“Can we talk outside?” Nicole said, reaching for my arm.