They both looked at each other. "It plays, doesn't it?" Fred said.
Dean nodded in agreement. "Most of it could fit. But saying it could fit doesn't mean our little scenario is what actually happened. The newspaper business bothers me. Why subscribe to the paper so early? He wasn't in Scranton very often and the papers would pile up. If he subscribed to it just so he could see what was happening after he skipped, why not have the paper forwarded to where he was going? It wouldn't do him any good sitting in the hall in Scranton after he skipped. Jonathan Winston said there wasn't a forwarding notice on file under Cleary or Corbin. The apartment was cleared out some time ago, or at least his name was off the mailbox. They weren't laying around when you and I were there. So where are the newspapers?"
"Just some loose ends." Fred dismissed Dean's comments with a wave of his hand. "It still plays. We look for a campground near Rollins, Kansas. Not a motel. And a campground near Norfolk. Maybe this guy isn't so smart after all."
"We haven't had much luck chasing Cleary down so far. Now that Mrs. Glass has spilled the beans that someone's looking for him, if he wants to remain incognito, he's going to be twice as cautious."
Fred was undeterred. "Cora Abernathy's son and his family go camping. They've got a directory the size of the Philadelphia phone book. I'll borrow it and start calling some places." Fred licked the end of his pencil and began making notes.
"Who will you be asking for?" Dean asked.
"Cleary, Corbin, any single guy, a motor home with paper Pennsylvania plates that checked in on the May dates we know- any of those things."
"Byrne could have a pocket full of aliases for all we know," Dean grumbled. "Cleary and Corbin might just be the start."
"Too bad you couldn't have your FBI pal Winston check out a few more names for us. Run down this missing fellow Brunell too," Fred said, a hopeful look in his eye.
"No outside involvement, remember? You're on your own on this."
It was after one before they ran out of steam and called it a night. Just before they turned in, Fred looked Dean in the eye and said, "I know I'm looking ahead just a tad, but if you marry that gal, we'll have to get a bigger house. There ain't any way this place will fit all three of us." He had by that statement firmly established his position for the future.
Neither slept very well.