The Algorithm

Chapter eighteen - Coincidence?

Marinette approached the tall grizzled man, a look of panic in her eyes but years of experience in dangerous situations forced her to stay calm. "Plagg, I need to talk to you." She said while practically dragging him away from Tikki and out of the command center by the arm. She brought the giant of a man into the white room and locked the door behind them.

"Marinette?" Plagg asked, utterly confused as to the girl's erratic behavior. "What's going on?' Marinette was pacing around the white table, and frankly, was making Plagg dizzy. She was mumbling quietly to herself, trying to make sense of her situation. The grim figure had to grab her by the shoulders to prohibit her from taking another lap around the table. "Mari." He said sternly. "What is it?"

She pulled herself together and rummaged through the mess of thoughts and questioned piling up in her mind like sand at the bottom of an hourglass. But before she was able to voice her story to Plagg, he noticed the blood splatters on her shirt and hands.

"Are you hurt? What happened?" He asked while moving her hair and looking over her arms for injuries but Marinette just shook her head.

"It isn't my blood," Marinette explained and Plagg froze.

"Who's blood is it?" He asked, concern evident in his tone.

"Mullo's." She answered, her head dropping a bit at the memory of the girl's lifeless body lying limp on the sidewalk.

"The private detective? Where is she?" Marinette shook her head at the dark-haired man.

"She's dead," Marinette responded with a harsh bitterness toward the unknown killer lining her words. "I asked her to look into an unsolved missing person case and when I went to meet her she was shot in front of me."

"I'm so sorry Mari." Plagg knew all too well that watching a comrade die with your own eyes is never easy. "What missing person was she looking into?" He asked, trying to take her mind off the death shed she had just witnessed. Marinette bit her lip, not sure whether or not she could trust him to keep it a secret. But this was Plagg and she knew he was worthy of her trust.

"Felix Noir." She answered.

"Adrien's twin?" The grim figure asked.

"You know Adrien had a twin?"

"I know everything... And we may have run a background check on him." Plagg explained with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Now why were you looking for Felix? It's been over a decade, the boy is probably dead." He said rather morbidly. He wasn't trying to be insensitive, but he needed to be realistic, most abducted children don't survive the first 24 hours let alone years.

"Adrien told me about it and I just got curious," Marinette responded, thinking over what she had read about the child's disappearance. "Emilie went to pick up Adrien and Felix from school and he just vanished from the campus. No one saw him leave and the school cameras didn't show anything. He just disappeared. It doesn't make sense."

"A lot of things in this world don't make sense." He reasoned. "The Bermuda triangle, area 51, the zodiac killer, Jack the Ripper, etc, etc." Marinette rolled her eyes at his last statement.

"This is serious." The blue-eyed girl scolded then her voice softened. "You don't think Felix's disappearance had anything to do with her death? Do you think it's my fault for getting her involved?" Plagg shook his head.

"No," He reassured. "Mullo had a habit of digging up secrets that should have stayed buried. There are plenty of powerful people who would want her dead. I highly doubt an old missing persons case had anything to do with it." Marinette nodded, he was probably right, maybe her death was a complete coincidence.