The Case of Arania Wolf

Prologue

Missing Persons Case #506-3201, Interrogation of Victim, January 13, XXXX

Officer: Let me just check to see if this thing is on...*fumbling with microphone, tapping* Alright, let me put this here...speak into the microphone for a second, please.

Arania: Uh, what do I say?

Officer: Don't worry, that's good enough. Okay, now where do we start...this is Officer Lawrence Nicholson carrying on the interrogation of Miss Arania Wolf on January thirteenth, [year redacted]. Wolf had disappeared between October fourteenth and fifteenth. How old are you, Arania?

Arania: I'm seventeen.

Officer: You are a senior in high school now, correct?

Arania: Yep.

Officer: Where were you the night you disappeared?

Arania: I was, uh...with my brother.

Officer: Right, Mr. Derek Wolf. He said you two were having dinner with his girlfriend.

Arania: (shifts in seat) I guess.

Officer: (papers shuffling) Yes, says here in your papers you suffer from...dissociative amnesia.

Arania: Yea.

Officer: Are you sure there's nothing you can remember? You spent a whole lot of time missing. Surely something-

Arania: Nope.

Officer: How about when you were found? (shuffles through papers) It say here you were found near a Navy yard in Philly.

Arania: *unintelligible*

Officer: And what day was it you were found?

Arania: January 1st.

Officer: (takes notes) January 1st...and you've spent the last two week recuperating, correct?

Arania: Yes.

Officer: You also had some scars that were examined when you returned. Who was it that authorized the examination?

Arania: You mean the doctor?

Officer: Yes.

Arania: That was Dr. Blanchard. Eva Blanchard.

Officer: (more shuffling of papers)...Ah, here we are...so Dr.Blanchard took a look at your arms and wrists and concluded it was...

Arania: Hinged cuffs.

Officer: And here it mentions a neck scar due to an incursion with a number fifteen bladed scalpel.

Arania: That it does.

Officer: So besides the scars and a few broken bones, was there anything else?

Arania: (pauses) The tattoo. It's on my neck, some spider or something.

Officer: (pause) How about we go back a bit and talk about the girlfriend. What was her name?

Arania: (shifts) I don't know. Derek broke up with her after I went missing. I think it was Janet.

Officer: We were never able to bring her in for interrogation.Do you know how to get in touch with her?

Arania: You can ask Derek, but I don't think he knows. I don't think she really knows much, either. (pause) Are we done,here? 'Cause I haven't finished packing.

Officer: That's right...you're moving to Charlotte.

Arania: Yea, my dad got a job offer there.

Officer: And your mother?

Arania: Divorce. She kept connections before I disappeared, but once I did, she never returned any calls.

Officer: My files say there was some trouble with your mother before the divorce.

Arania: There was trouble with everyone.

Officer: When did the problems start?

Arania: (sighs) I was seven when I noticed the drinking. Then when my brother was in high school he had some drug problems.

Officer: How old were you when that started?

Arania: About eleven, maybe twelve. He was a junior at the time, and we have a five year difference, so...

Officer: Do you think any of them could have something to do with your disappearance?

Arania: What do you mean?

Officer: Well, sometimes people with drug problems get into trouble with their dealers. And with alcoholics, it is fairly common for them to get involved with the wrong people. They're vulnerable.

Arania: My brother stopped two years ago.

Officer: And your mother?

Arania: She left when I was fifteen.

Officer: So you don't think they were involved?

Arania: You're the detective here, Sherlock. Why don't you figure it out.

Officer: Miss Wolf, I know you're upset...

Arania: I am.

Officer: I apologize...we can stop if you want.

Arania: That'd be nice, thanks.

*click*