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Cliff Tyler bent down to one knee. Alice made room so he could put his ear to the ventilation shaft.
"You sure you're not hearing things?" Tyler asked. "You hear all kinds of strange things out here."
"I don't know, sounds like a voice. A scream?"
"I dunno. Could be a bird. Or the wind in the fields. You wouldn't believe some of the noises it makes."
Alice listened again for the faintest echo of a high-pitched cry. She heard nothing.
Tyler got to his feet, creaking at the knees. "Yup, unless the girl you're looking for is stuck in the pipe, it's probably just the wind."
'Yeah, I guess," Alice said, standing up. "I'll let you get back to it."
As Tyler turned off the lights, Alice climbed the steps, out into a brightening sky. The worst of the clouds rolled into the distance and t
