"It just doesn't make any sense. I must be missing something; some clue or detail or.."

His thoughts trailed off as he muttered to himself. Laurits sat crouched in the small meadow where just hours earlier, André had sat just the same way clutching the shirt and looking absolutely terrified. And then he wasn't, for some unknown reason. Laurits tried desperately to look; to see. And he saw. He just wasn't entirely sure what it was that he saw. Perhaps that itself was the thing he was seeing; nothing at all seemed out of place. Like he had thought earlier; it was as if Sylver had just disappeared into thin air. But people don't do that. At least Laurits had never heard of such a thing. There was a rustle in some bushes behind Laurits.

"Oh, there you are," said André. Laurits got up and was about to begin asking questions, but André continued, "I'm going to have to ask you to leave the Protectorate premises. Some of the guests have begun to show concern of your presence and we can't have that. Not today, of all times. I hope you'll understand."

André spoke coldly and methodically and his face showed little emotion. Whether this was because he disliked his position as of now, but still had to carry out orders from higher up or it was because he actually felt what he was saying, Laurits didn't know. A lot had changed since they had seen each other and letters can only convey so much. He knew André to be kindhearted and rather logical for his title. This was a different André, and perhaps rightfully so; he had bigger shoes to fill at some point and responsibilities needed to be taken seriously. Nevertheless, it bugged Laurits.

"Is it the Lady Tribeille? Did she 'voice concerns' about me" Laurits said, some of his frustration slipping through, his words said a bit more harshly than meant.

"Actually, no. The Lady Tribeille actually argued in your favor of staying, Os Gantana." The address was drenched in spite. Laurits still doubted where the spite lay (though some of it was clearly also retaliation for Laurits' own prickly words).

"Fine. I'll leave. I suddenly have more paperwork to do anyway."

"Glad to hear it. Though, Os Gantana, the local OS better not come knocking on the Protectorate's door."

Laurits saluted, bowed and then left the gardens.

A carriage had already been called and was standing by. Everything reeked of a conspiracy of some sort, but Laurits had no cards to play; no moves to make. He'd simply have to comply and go back to Meneades. But he would remember this. And this would be the first piece in a new investigation, for sure. Of course, he couldn't let the OS department of the Kannenborg Protectorate know anything. They'd first ask questions why they weren't informed of a scene and a scene at the Protectorate estates furthermore. After that, they'd basically take over whatever operation Laurits had started and thereafter go question the Protectorate family, thus leading to whatever threat André was putting down to come to fruition. And Laurits had no intentions of letting that happen. He had heard the stories of punishment carried out by Protectorates, albeit a long, long time ago. Who knew what shady agendas the Protectorates actually had going on.

Laurits entered the carriage, not looking back. Nobody was present at the front anyway.

"Where to, Milord?"

"Os is fine; I'm no lord."

"Very well. Where to, Os?"

"Take me to the Transport Central on the outskirts of the Kannenborg Region, nearest Meneades and Fillistra."

"That's quite far-"

"Yes, I know, but that's where I was picked up so please put me back there."

The chauffeur nodded, but said nothing and kept silent the whole way. Of course, Laurits would later regret having snapped at the chauffeur, but right now he just couldn't be bothered. He took out a small notebook and wrote:

Details reg. Scene KB Prot.:
– child, miss.
– shirt, found, remain
– no prints
– no signs of struggling
– no pointers
– no history
– no suspect
– no accident
– no alarm f. family
– conclude: disappear into air?

Nothing made sense, but it would. In time. He just had to focus. What was the thing he could focus on? Disappearances. The first step would be to look for similar Scenes and compare. There must be others. There had to be others. If there weren't, then Laurits was truly going mad. It meant everything was in his head. Had he acted like a mad, paranoid man? In his own mind, he wouldn't say so, but that was his mind so who was he really to say?

The cycling, recursive rumination caused Laurits' thoughts to dull. He decided that he would just rest his head for now. He couldn't really do much in this carriage anyways. And it wasn't even one of the nicer ones.

Once he arrived at the Transportation Central, he would walk his way back to Meneades. It wasn't that far, though it would take him an hour or so to walk there. He actually wanted to take the walk; clear his head completely after the nap in the carriage. The chauffeurs and coordinators at the central made a big deal out of it; they all kept asking why he would walk 'such a long way!!', but they probably just wanted an excuse to sell him a ride. Or they were probably just accustomed to other types of people, Laurits presumed. More wealthy customers.

After another round of reassurance that yes, he was completely all right walking all the 'long way' to Meneades and no, he really did not need a ride, for the 24th time, Laurits was finally well on his way. Fields and plains surrounded him, though the edge of the forest loomed in the horizon of his peripheral vision. He could only barely see it in the half-light, and yet it still carried an ominous presence to him.

"Maybe the Faeries had something to do with it?" A voice said. Laurits looked ahead and saw a figure walking towards him on the road.