“You don’t really suspect Ro’I, do ya Tom?” Karl, the notetaker asked, interrupting Jireh’s interrogation and frustrating the Lead Investigator.

“With all the commotion around that last book of his, how can we not?” Wollick said, as if Roana’s guilt was a sure thing. “Do you guys not follow the news?” He asked, scolding them for not being up to date on all the latest Tinkle-Town gossip. “His best friend called him a pedo on national television! His wife says he had some sort of filthy dream about Ailani King! She’s divorcing him, by the way! You’ve all seen The Traveler! You know what kind of crap is floating around in that guy’s head!”

“Yeah, but she’s leaving him for the guy who’s talking sheit about him on TV. You know how divorce proceedings are, Tom. Everyone lies in those courts!” Karl reminded his boss.

“And national TV is the court of public opinion. No one tells the truth there, either.” Chester said, backing up the notetaker’s argument. They had toyed with the idea that Ro’I might have played some part during their morning interviews, and quickly dismissed him as a suspect. “Besides, the kid went missing this morning, not yesterday. Ro’I was already gone.”

“Are you certain of that?”

“The teacher said he headed back to Ilex last night. That was confirmed by most of the kids, who saw him drive out of the parking lot.”

“That’s hardly confirmation. You should have brought this to my attention!”

“It’s like the kid said, we’ve got bigger fish to fry, and…”

“He sat in his car for about an hour watching us on the playground before he left.” Jireh said. His eyes bored into Chester. “I told you that when you interviewed me this morning!”

“That doesn’t mean anything!”

“If you two fan boys screwed up my investigation…!” Wollick didn’t finish the threat. Instead he refocused himself on the part he had to play. “If Roana’s dirty, Jeffie will handle it.” He said, bringing his subordinates back into line. “I know you’ve already told them everything, kid.” He said, squaring up with Jireh. “But let’s go over it again, if that’s OK with you.” The boy smiled, thinking to himself that they might finally get somewhere.

“His eyes lingered a little too long on some of the girls.” He said, a few moments later.

“Just the girls?” Wollick asked. He was the only one asking questions, now. Karl and Chester had been thoroughly chastised for their neglect, though no other words had been spoken between them and their supervisor. Body language told them everything they needed to know.

“Yeah. Keeli and Yanna, particularly.”

“Keeli?” Wollick asked, looking over his shoulder at Karl.

“Keeli Knowles.” The notetaker said. “We interviewed her this morning. She didn’t mention…”

“Did you interview her before or after this boy?” Wollick said, interrupting Karl’s train of thought.

Karl flipped through his notepad, checking times, then confirmed that they had interviewed the girls in the class first, since Yanna was a girl, and they would probably know her better than the boys did.

“Go find her!” Wollick ordered, and Chester scurried for the door. Naturally it was his job to run errands, since Karl was taking notes. “I want to talk to her next!” Wollick said, reminding his subordinate that it would not be proper to march her in here while Jireh’s interview was still in progress. When the door slammed behind Karl, Wollick turned back to Jireh. “Have you spoken to any of your classmates about Ro’I’s behavior? Did any of them happen to notice it?”

“I mentioned it to my friends, Sid, Keeli, and Wolo…uh, Sid Kennu, Keeli Knowles, and Wolo Mank.” He said, thinking to include their names so Karl could find them easier in his notes – not that any other kids in their class shared those first names.

“And did they agree with your assessment?”

“Sid and Wolo are fanboys for Ro’I. I think they were a little too star-struck to notice.”

“And Keeli?”

“She was a little creeped out, but I’m sure she’ll tell you herself.”

“She didn’t mention it to Karl and Chester.”

“They didn’t ask. I mean, we’re kids. Cops are intimidating. This whole business is unsettling.”

“You don’t seem unsettled.”

Jireh responded as if he had been expecting the observation. “I’m not easily rattled.”

Wollick leaned back in his chair and eyed the boy up and down. The straight back. The matter-of-fact tone. How is this kid so calm? He wondered. He can’t be more than thirteen! Jireh was exactly that, thirteen. Three years younger than Ailani King, and a mere five years away from fulfilling his dream of enlisting in the armed forces. Wollick didn’t know that that was his dream. For his part, he thought the kid would make one heck of an investigator. A suspicion that was backed up over the next ten minutes as Jireh relayed all the details of Ro’I’s visit.

“The kid pays attention.” Wollick told Karl, as the door shut behind Jireh. A moment later it reopened allowing Keeli to enter – escorted by Chester. His presence wasn’t permanent, as Wollick sent him back out to find Sid Kennu and Wolo Mank. The kids from Yanna’s class, along with any others who knew her personally, were sequestered in the gym in case they were needed by the squees. The Lead Investigator could have called the officer chaperoning them and had them sent up, but Chester owed a penance, so he got to walk back and forth. Karl’s penance would come later, after his usefulness as notetaker had run its course.

Maybe I’ll have him fetch coffee for the whole squad? Wollick thought.

“Please, sit down.” He ushered Keeli into the seat Jireh had vacated. “You’re not in trouble, Miss Knowles.” He said, offering her some comfort. He handed over a box of tissues. She had been crying, as evidenced by her red, swollen eyes. “We just want to clear up a few things, is that OK with you?” He asked, falling back into his good-cop persona.

“Su..ure.” She said, shakily.

“Can I offer you some water? I think we might have soda, if you’d prefer.”

“That’d be great.” She said, not specifying which. Her throat was a little sore from all the chattering she and the other students had been doing to bide their time in the gym. Rumors were flying like paper airplanes. Everyone had a suspicion. Motives were bandied about. Plans were made for a vigil, because they all knew how this would end. How else can it end? Keeli thought. They never find missing kids alive!

That was not exactly true – and had he known she was thinking it, Lead Investigator Wollick would have cited the numerous cases where kids did come back alive. He didn’t know, though, and that didn’t stop him from sensing her unease and trying to alleviate it.

“I can’t see inside their heads, Mycah! I can only hear the occasional thought! I can’t tell who is guilty!” I complained, as Karl handed Keeli the bottle of water he had retrieved from the teacher’s refrigerator.

“I cannot show you more than what you are seeing now.” My mentor scolded, motioning for me to pay attention.

“There’s no meat here!” I said, knowing he could whisk me straight to wherever Yanna Alix was. “Nothing but wilted vegetables!” I was beginning to think that the cops weren’t capable of doing anything but wasting time. Just to prove me wrong, Wollick’s phone rang. He answered it, and this time I could hear the voice on the other end. I gave Mycah the old side-eye, knowing in my heart it was his doing.

“Hey boss, just checking in.” The voice said. “We’ve canvassed the neighborhoods for three blocks in all directions, so we’re widening our search out past the interstate on the west, into Hunter’s grove on the east, and we’ve got teams heading into Bilger’s woods to the north. But most of our efforts are centered on the kid’s house in Live Oak. Some of the houses there have security cameras, and we’re checking the footage. We got her walking to school this morning on one camera, but the ones further down the block don’t have her. It’s like she disappeared in-between.”

“What about vehicles in the area?”

“I was getting to that,” the caller said, checking her supervisor’s impatience and letting him know his people were doing a thorough job. “Most of the vehicles have been identified as residents of the area – most on their way to work. I’ve got Lucy and Timmons running DMV checks on all the others. We’re passing the ones that aren’t in our jurisdiction off to the locals in their respective areas. They’re all checking out on the prelims, though.”

“Is it possible she’s still in the neighborhood?”

“I thought of that. We’re doing house-to-house searches, and so far people have been cooperating. I’ve got Judge Harding standing by for warrants if we need them. And boss…” There was a slight hesitation in the voice, as if the caller did not want to broach the next subject too soon.

“What is it, Jen?” Wollick coaxed.

“The dogs are still on standby.”

“Oh, right. I forgot about them.” Wollick said. It hadn’t been an hour since his promise to his chief concerning the cadaver dogs, but now that his deputy had mentioned it, his gut told him it was time. “Get ‘em working.” He told the voice. “Start where the cameras lost her. And Jen, if they hit near a house, don’t wait for the warrant.” It didn’t need to be said – probable cause was satisfied by the dog’s signaling – but in a case like this you covered all the bases. Cops could become stymied trying to decide what rules applied to which situations. Especially cops working high-profile cases – which this was destined to become.

“Got it.” Jen said, terminating the call on her end. Before Wollick could put the phone back in his pocket, it rang again.

“Chief?” He said, knowing the caller from the Caller ID.

“Just a heads up, Tom, the dicks are coming in.” The Chief said.

“Already?” Wollick asked. He had expected interference from the Directorate of Intelligence and the Control of Knowledge, but not this soon. It usually took the agents at the DICK a day or two to even notice a case like this, much less spin up a team to respond to it.

“The kid’s uncle has connections.” The Chief said, and that explained it.

Still… Wollick thought, they gotta be pretty big connections to get those peckers nosing around this quick!

The DICK was the presiding federal law enforcement agency for the nation of Torm. It was split into two major divisions – one for outside the country’s borders, and one for inside. The two were not supposed to work together, but they still did. The latter took the lead on any and all cases involving missing children. Kidnappings, especially, were their sole jurisdiction. That knowledge made Wollick cringe. Someone up high knew something. It was the only explanation for the rapid intrusion of the DICK into his investigation.

“Expect the imminent arrival of one Tracy Cervantes, Special Agent, DICK.” The Chief said, relaying the name he had been given by the DICK Head this morning. “Full cooperation, of course. Give ‘em whatever you got. It’s already out of our hands. And Tom, this Cervantes sits much higher on the totem pole than your typical dick, so kid gloves, OK?”

“Like, how much higher?”

“Like high enough to make both our careers disappear.”

“That’d be some magic trick.”

“Mind your Ps and Qs. He’s not one to trifle with. The Dick Head, himself, is watching this one – called me personally on my private phone, no less. It’s big. Bigger than both of us.”

“Any idea why? Is this Alix girl some sort of princess hiding in plain sight, or what?”

“If she is, I don’t wanna know. You shouldn’t either. Look, Tom, I like you guys to be inquisitive, but there are limits. Don’t go poking your nose around in this one – for real. I’m staying out of it, you should, too.”

“Ten-four.” Wollick said, ending the call.

“Ok, Miss Knowles, I believe someone talked to you this morning about Yanna Alix, is that right?”

“He did…and the guy who brought me in here.” She said, pointing to Karl. Part of her brain was still puzzling out what she had heard since arriving in the room – especially what she could make out of the phone call.

“Good. Well, there’s no need to go back over all of that. I just had a few questions concerning the visit to your classroom by the author Ro’I. Were you here for that yesterday?”

“Do you think he did it?”

“We’re just covering our bases here. Could you answer the question for me, please?”

“I was here.” Keeli said. The part of her brain that had been puzzling out the phone conversation was now working out what she would tell the other students when she got back to the gym. The police think Ro’I did it! That’ll be one heck of a breadcrumb! And not only that, Yanna might be a princess, or something! And I think that guy said the DICK was getting involved! It was no small thing to hold pieces of information like this, and she would wear them like jewels in a crown. Unless Jireh beats me to it! Her excitement turned to concern. Jireh had probably suggested the author as a suspect. He was definitely convinced Ro’I was guilty of something, yesterday. She remembered. I cried perfectly good tears thinking he was in here being accused of it, but that dirty dog put it all on Ro’I’s head!

The thought almost made her smirk.

“OK! Good.” Wollick said, pulling her from her thoughts. “Was there anything unusual about Mr. Ignah’s – Ro’I’s – behavior yesterday?”

She took a moment to pull her memories together. “Not that I really noticed.” She said, not wanting to give the wrong impression. “I mean, he’s a great speaker, and we had a lot of fun with him!”

“So…nothing…”

“You know, I really didn’t notice until Jireh – the boy who was in here before - made me aware of it. But he was acting a little creepy. Personally, I thought he was charming. But…”

“Be specific, Miss Knowles. What, specifically, did he do?”

“He held my attention.” She said, realizing that that didn’t sound so creepy. “What I mean is, he would lock eyes with you…and…just hold your attention.”

“Is that all?”

“Well, Jireh claimed that he was ogling some of us, like looking us up and down, but I didn’t really notice any of that. I mean, I was just kind of enthralled with him.”

“Ok, Ok. Well, is there anything else you can recall?”

“No, I guess not. I mean, if I had suspected him, I would have mentioned it this morning.”

“Sure. Sure. Alright, then, I think that’s all we need from you at the moment, Miss Knowles. Thank you.”

The Lead Investigator ushered Keeli out the door where Chester was waiting. “You can take her back, and them as well.” He motioned to Sid and Wolo, who were waiting in queue for their second interviews. “I think we’ve got everything we need. Thanks Chester.” He closed the door and turned to Karl. “Well, that was a waste of time!” He said, not apologizing for not trusting his subordinates in the first place. In his mind – even if it turned out to be a dead end – sometimes you had to just see things for yourself.

Before I could turn to Mycah and say, “Can we go now?” The scene was gone, and we were moving through Time once again.