It had been hours since you and Colin had started combing through the woods near the edge of Easttown. The air was thick with fog, and the ground beneath your boots was soft from recent rain. You were tired—exhausted, really—but neither of you was willing to stop. Not yet. Not when little emma was out there somewhere.

Colin was ahead of you, his flashlight casting long shadows as he scanned the area. His face was set, his usual playful grin nowhere to be found. The weight of the case had settled on his shoulders, making the usual easy-going detective you knew seem a bit… distant.

“Anything?” You asked, catching up to him.

He shook his head, frustration evident in his posture. “Nothing new. Just the same empty woods.”

You both continued walking, but something caught your eye. A glint of metal on the ground near an old, fallen tree. You crouched down, pulling back a few twigs, and there it was—Emma’s charm bracelet, its small silver heart gleaming under the flashlight’s beam.

Colin was beside you in an instant, his breath catching in his throat as he saw the bracelet. “This is it,” he said, voice tight. “She was here. She’s been here.”