A Short and Simple Theory on "Two Can Keep a Secret"

It all revolves back to Forrest Fenn's Memoir.

Page 98: "Strangers move in and out of our lives, only to punctuate the moment with something useful, like a waiter or a paperboy."

Wait...what? Waiters and paperboys "punctuate a moment?" What does that mean in the context of Forrest Fenn's memoir? Could a moment be "punctuated" by a photo, something that captures and freezes a moment in time?

Forrest says the paperboy and the waiter are useful. Could they be useful in determining the location of important hints in the book? I believe so, because the waiter refers us to page 61, which has a picture of Donnie looking at the camera with an annoyed expression. The caption under the photo says:

"Donnie started to look like an unTIPPED WAITER and when he LEANED a little forward in his saddle and just stared at me, I knew enough to be still and WATCH THE TREES, after I took this photograph." (From The Thrill of the Chase, A Memoir, by Forrest Fenn)

Forrest may be instructing us to WATCH THE TREES.  If you look closely, there's a lot of contrast between light and dark, and a few areas that appear...different. Look closely at those, and you might find why Forrest has directed us to this page of the book.

The paperboy is on page 46. This photo needs very close examination to find the clue there.

Pg 103: "It seems obvious to me now that we are all temporary statements, like a CUT BOUQUET on the living room table, to make brief statements in passing and maybe cause a SMILE, then go on to make room for others who will play those parts."

Here, I believe, Forrest is directing us to a photo with a cut bouquet--his wedding photo on page 72. Again, only close inspection will reveal the hint.

So where am I going with this?

"Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead."

Pg 100: "The ground KNOWS and the tall grass KNOWS, but they won't tell."
Pg. 102: "The grass SEES, and the trees and rushing waterS of the spring creek also SEE."

What do the ground and grass and trees and waterS see and know, but won't tell?

THE SECRET WHERE.

The ground is not technically alive. Some trees are not alive. And certainly, the trees and creeks and ground and grass in the book's photographs are not alive, but they have been frozen or usefully punctuated in a moment to keep Forrest's secret.

That's where the answers lie.