"Now, settle down," Detective Richards said. "You may be right about the puzzle Grace left, but you can't just rush off to Appleton and break into her house. It wouldn't surprise me if she was renting it out to someone anyway."
The rush of euphoria Lily felt at recognizing what she felt certain was the correct deduction subsided as Detective Richards talked. He was right of course, and she had to remember that.
"You're right, of course," Lily admitted. "Couldn't help getting a little carried away. The most important thing at this point is getting in touch with Grace. Do you know if anyone has heard from her? Where do you think she is now?"
"Well, now, that's where we hit a bit of a grey area," Detective Richards said with a smile. "While I have little cause to doubt your intuition, Lily, this is a missing persons investigation. I know, I'm a relative and you're Grace's friend, but there's only so much I can say if I want to keep my job."
"Technically, it's not a missing persons case until they've been gone for at least 24 or 48 hours," Cassie piped in.
Lily and Richards both smiled at the comment.
"Usually, that is true, but with the break-in, we need to anticipate the possibility of foul play, and Grace being missing places a greater urgency on that possibility." Detective Richards was still quite talkative despite his reservations.
"There are points to consider, namely that her car is still there and there were no signs of struggle or... well, blood." He spoke with hesitation. "It isn't likely she has gone far on her own, unless she had access to another car. The fact that it happened overnight means she had limited access to transportation anywhere.
"The obvious concern is that she was taken by the intruders..." Richards started.
"But they were gone when she got there..." Lily interrupted. Detective Richards held his hand up to stop her from speaking.
"I'm familiar with your theory, Lily... hold on, that is all it is right now, a theory. Now I said that it seems like a likely theory, but until we have actual evidence otherwise, we need to assume that Grace is being held by the intruders against her will. The good part of that is that she doesn't appear to be injured.
"We need to move cautiously until we know for sure." Richards took a long pause, as if running through possibilities in his head before speaking about them. He continued, "there is some information that I can trust you with about the investigation. As I said, Grace is likely to be on foot if she is still on her own. We did send a unit to the museum to make sure it was secure and to search for Grace. She wasn't there, and it looked as though the intruders have left the museum alone for now."
"Do you think she would stay in Westhead, or try to go somewhere else?" Lily asked.
"Wouldn't she try to go to her family home," Cassie asked. "Especially if that's where the papers are. She'd try to get them first, right?"
Detective Richards turned his head and thought, "That would make sense. I wonder if she had another car available... or one she could borrow... I'd better get in touch with the sheriff up there and have them swing by to check. Excuse me for a minute." He left the room, pulling his phone out as he went to place the call.
"Is Grace all right? Do you think she was abducted? What is all this about, Lily" Cassie felt herself losing control of her emotions as she spoke.
"Cassie, its ok," Lily tried to assure her. "We'll find Grace, safe and sound, ok?" She was struggling to frame the words herself, but it was enough for Cassie to be calmed. They steadied themselves holding each other's hands while the detective was gone.
