Just as she'd expected, her mother's door was not locked. Lynn burst in without further ado and dashed past her surprised mother.
"Lynn, darling, what are you doing here?" Sharon asked when her daughter came to a sudden and disappointed stop.
Lynn looked back to her mother. "Where's Dan?" she asked with frantic urgency in her voice.
"You've never cared much for him," her mother stated curiously.
"Never mind that," Lynn retorted, making her way to the older woman. "Where is he?" she asked, taking her mother by the shoulders and looking straight into her eyes.
"Well, I don't know, dear," Sharon replied honestly, and after another moment of relentless scrutinizing she was released. "He left in a hurry after seeing the paper." She gestured towards today's Citizen-News on the living room table next to the telephone.
Lynn had figured on her way here that she should have called detective Parrish about her suspicions, so now she strode over quickly to the telephone, picking up the paper as she dialled the number.
An astounded Sharon followed her into the living room. "Can you tell me what's going on?" she asked her daughter, who was flipping through the newspaper.
"Detective Parrish?" the young woman spoke into the phone instead of answering her mother. "Yes, this is Lynn White… Listen, detective—I know you're expecting to see Mr. Hanley and his niece, but this is urgent!" Lynn found the page with a young Blanche Hudson's picture in the corner. "Yes, it does! I know who took her… I can't explain now! I have to find her first. She might be in danger… My brother, detective, my youngest brother. You've got to get over here now. I've got an idea where he might be keeping her… Well, come to my mother's house, and she'll give you further instructions." With that Lynn hung up and threw the newspaper back on the table. When she looked up, her eyes locked with the very confused and concerned pair of her mother's.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sharon asked. "I don't understand you at all."
Lynn came forward, fighting the urge to fly out of the door already. "Everything will be explained later. Now just wait for detective Parrish and tell him I've gone to our garage." Lynn stayed long enough to register her mother's uncertain nod.
"Can't you go any faster?" Lynn asked with worry masked in frustration.
The taxi driver looked at her in the rear view mirror and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Miss, this is all I can do." Lynn sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. Worried thoughts rushed through her head when she thought about Blanche.
The moment she had recognized the licence plate as her family's car's, it had all started to make sense—how the kidnapper could get into the house, how he knew his victim would be alone, and also why he did it. Perhaps one of the many reasons Lynn had instantly felt friendly towards Miss Blanche was the fact that both of them had experiences with unbalanced siblings. Lynn hadn't thought it would matter to Blanche, but thinking back, she realized with her heart heavy with guilt that she should have warned her.
Who knew what Dan might have done to her by now? Lynn shuddered at the thought. Who was to say Miss Blanche was even still among the living?
"You okay back there, Miss?" the driver asked, turning into a corridor of garage doors.
Lynn livened instantly. "I'm okay," she replied, looking out of the window and starting to count the numbers on the doors. "118, 120, 122, 124! This is it!" she called out much louder than the driver would have liked her to.
The car came to a sudden stop, and Lynn fumbled with her purse to find the money to pay for the cab.
"Look, Miss, I would love to stay and wait until you get your things done here, and then take you back, but I've got places to be," the driver announced, taking the money.
"It's okay," Lynn replied, opening the door. Her mind was already behind the garage door—too far for her to be even the least bit concerned about how she was going to get back home.
Once the taxi had driven off and out of her way, Lynn rushed over to the door of her family's garage and her hand dove into her purse again to retrieve the key she'd, luckily, remembered to take with her when she'd left her mother's apartment.
As she turned the key in the keyhole, she wondered what she'd do if Miss Blanche wasn't here. She seemed to remember they had an old bed here somewhere. She would probably flop down on that and cry for a while. The lurking dread of being disappointed growing inside her, Lynn hesitated to open the door.
If Miss Blanche really was here, she'd be over the moon, but if she wasn't, all of Lynn's hopes would be lost once again. And she would have to face her mother and detective Parrish, both of whom deserved an explanation. A thought fleetingly passed through her fickle mind that if she didn't open the door and went back straight away, she could maybe prevent the detective from making a pointless journey to the garage.
Lynn shook her head to dismiss the ridiculous thought. She was being so stupid. All she wanted to do was to find Miss Blanche. She tightened her grip on the door handle and yanked it open.