Laura

[SunlessNick]

"What do you mean no one inside?" Maggie says half deliriously. "There was... is David all right? Burke?" (When she's a bit more with it, she'll thank Vix for helping her).

[Mr. Handy]

"Burke was running from the cottage to get help," says Victoria. "He told us the Rose Cottage was on fire, and that David was still inside. We rushed over to get him out. The front door was locked, but I went around to the back door while Maggie tried to get him out through the window. Then Burke caught up with us and managed to pull David out of the cottage, but his mother was still inside. David's okay, but I...I don't think she got out."

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

The fire chief listens to Maggie and Victoria, and sends a couple of the firefighters back inside, now that it's safe, to check the interior again. Several minutes later, they return.

"Not a sign of anybody else," one says. "Not that I'm trying to be gruesome or anything, but once you've smelled burning human flesh, you'll never forget it. Not a trace of it inside."

"And that pile of ash," the other adds, "looks to be nearly pure carbon, at least as far as I can tell. That other woman must have escaped somehow. I'll put in a report with the cops."

As days go by, Maggie healing up nicely, it turns out that there is no sign of Laura anywhere near Collinsport.

"Took off on one of her unpredictable sojourns, I expect," Roger remarks, now that the shock of the fire is over.

David seems to have no memory whatsoever of Laura's recent visit. When discreetly asked about his mother, he says that she's in Arizona.

When fully recovered, Maggie discovers that the painting stored in the shed is gone, leaving only a small heap of ashes behind.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Spoiler:

Stay tuned for our next exciting episode.