Chapter 14

After taking Alyssa to the house and dropping her off, I went back into town. I knew the parade started later today, and the police and fire departments would block off several roads for that, but the lights, sirens, and rush of several fire trucks told me there was an emergency rather than preparations for a celebration.

I didn’t intentionally follow the fire trucks. The fire station sits on the same street as the Sheriff’s office. They’re about a block apart and on the opposite sides of the street from each other. As I approached town center to loop around to Fayetteville Street, the fire trucks came out from Raleigh Street to Weeks Circle.

After they passed me, I drove around to the Sheriff’s office. Or so I thought. The sign on the front of the building didn’t say “Sheriff’s Office.” Instead, it said, “Newton Grove Police Department.”

For a moment, I sat in the car, staring at the building. Faith said the Sheriff talked to Mom about Dad’s disappearance. If that was true, then why weren’t the police involved? And where was this Sheriff’s Office?

Another thought occurred to me. What if the Sheriff Faith mentioned was really a Sheriff Magus? What if the local Magi knew something about Dad’s disappearance? What if they knew about the locket and wanted to find him to learn where to find it?

No. If a Sheriff Magus had been involved, they would have used magic to track down Dad. That thought alone made me wonder, why was I going through the motions of talking to the police? I was sure Rho knew a few tracking spells that would help me. Nevertheless, I needed to know where local law enforcement had already looked, and if they knew about any unchecked leads. I killed the engine, locked the car, and walked up to the front door.

The lights were on. Unfortunately, my phone was dead, and I didn’t know the time. I pulled the door open and went inside. Immediately in front of me was a half-wall. It formed a tight row to my left and right where individual plastic chairs lined the walls. The upper half of the wall was glass, and from the thickness of it, I knew it would be bulletproof. Just to the left of the door I entered was an opening in the glass. It was just big enough through which to pass small objects. The half wall ran the full width of the entrance and didn’t seem to offer a way further into the police station. I supposed the officers entered and exited in the back. I shrugged and went to the small opening.

An officer looked up from the computer monitor in front of him. He was big, both tall and heavy, but he sat in a cheap leather office chair and stared at me as if I had interrupted his Saturday morning cartoons. “Can I help you?” he asked. His tone matched his expression.

“Yes, my name is Seth Connors and I wanted to talk to someone about the investigation into my father’s disappearance.”

“Are you here to report a missing person?” he asked, his voice dry with boredom.

“No, my father disappeared last August. There was an investigation at that time. That’s what I want to talk about.”

The officer stared at me, his expression annoyed. “If we investigated last August, then aren’t you a little late?”

“I had just left the state to go to college. I’ve finished the semester and returned to find out if there has been any news or if there were any leads that weren’t investigated.”

“I’m sure if there were any news, you would have been notified, and all leads are investigated.”

Another officer entered the desk area from the back. He wasn’t as tall as the officer sitting at the desk was, but he wore three chevrons on his shirtsleeves and bore an aura of authority. “Everything alright here, Jenkins?”

Jenkins, the officer sitting at the desk, nodded without taking his eyes off me. “Nothing to worry about. Just the Connors boy asking silly questions.”

The Sergeant looked up at me but didn’t say anything.

I frowned slightly. Somehow, I didn’t believe talking directly to the Sergeant would gain me any sympathy. The police kept all active investigations to themselves, and only after they closed those investigations would they become available the public. I didn’t believe the investigation into my Dad’s disappearance had been closed yet, but that wouldn’t stop me from trying to find out everything I could. “I want to find out what the status is regarding the investigation into my father’s disappearance.”

The Sergeant stared at me for a second and then said, “Your father is still missing, unless you have information we need to know.”

“No, I don’t,” I said, “Can you tell me what areas have been searched so that I might look for him myself.”

“Look, son, your father ran out on your mother. If he wanted to be found, we would have found him by now.”

“And if something happened to him, would you know that?”

“What are you insinuating?” Jenkins asked.

“I’m only suggesting that something could have happened to him. It’s been six months and there’s been no word, not a peep to suggest where he might be. Not unless you’ve heard something and neither looked into it or told my family about it.” Yes, I was getting angry.

Jenkins started to rise up out of his seat, but the Sergeant put a hand on the big man’s shoulder, easing him back down. “To be honest, Mr. Connors, the Sheriff’s office, down in Clinton, handled the investigation. We assisted them with additional manpower, but they have all the reports and such. You’ll need to talk to Sheriff Tom Humphreys.”

“Doesn’t every office have to fill out reports on each incident they’re involved in, even if only offering additional manpower to another office?” I asked.

The Sergeant arched and eyebrow and shared a look with Jenkins. “Even if we have our own reports, the primary investigation hasn’t been closed. We cannot allow those reports to go public.”

I shook my head. “I’m not taking this to the papers or anything. I simply want to know what has been done so I can try avenues no one has thought of yet.”

He studied me for a moment and then said, “Tell you what, Mr. Connors, why don’t you come through to my office, and we’ll talk it over.”