Leave No Trace

Chapter Two

Nolan

She couldn't help it, watching Ben and Carol Perry, wondering exactly what the girl was like, and what it was like for her growing up in this family.

"Did your daughter ever express any interest in the military?" she asked.

"Why do you ask?" Carol Perry was already on the defensive, and Nolan had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She managed to ignore the urge, but barely.

"Your daughter had several military-related pages bookmarked on her internet browser. Plenty on the US Military ranks, and a few pages on the Canadian Forces too."

"She enjoyed wearing military-ish clothing. Used a bit of slang. Navy slang. But otherwise? I'm sure it can just be traced back to the love of NCIS," Carol kept glancing at the clock, and she was fidgeting, constantly pushing her hair behind her ear. It was a nervous tic, Nolan thought, but she wasn't sure. When Carol wasn't fidgeting with her hair, she had her arms crossed.

"Why do you automatically assume that it is just because of her love of NCIS?" She asked, confused.

"Because our daughter didn't have the physicality or anything to get into any form or shape of the Forces."

"What makes you say that?" Nolan felt herself straighten instinctively. She was on the offensive, because she really related to the young woman who'd disappeared. She was a lot like Allison Perry, in more ways than one. The girl was shy, clearly not physically proficient. Nolan herself had always struggled in gym.

"She's not really an athlete. Not anymore anyways. That's her sister's department now," Explained Ben. He looked Detective Nolan in the eyes while he was speaking, and she could see the pain reflected there. Some fathers would have looked her in the eye to challenge her, but Ben was trying to convey something different. Appreciation perhaps? She wasn't sure.

"I was wondering, could you tell me her class schedule?" Nolan asked.

"On a day one, she had.... Civics or careers, I can't remember which, gym, French and drama. Here, I'll grab her schedule for you," Ben rushed out of the room, and returned after a few seconds, lugging a black backpack with him.

"May I take her backpack with me?" Nolan asked, "I just want to look at what she keeps in there."

"Of course," Ben Perry was certainly all about cooperating with the police, while his wife seemed...aloof. Detached. It's just her way of protecting herself. Nolan told herself, but she didn't really believe it.

She took the backpack from Ben Perry and sat it on the kitchen table. She pulled out two binders, one red and one blue.

"Do you know what's in these?" She asked.

Ben shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure, Detective Nolan. I tried to respect Allison's privacy."

Pulling on gloves, she opened the red binder, flipping through the pages. Plenty on different careers. Several jumped up at her from the pages. Lawyer. Military Officer. Detective.

"She must have had some interest in law enforcement."

"It was only because of her obsession with NCIS and Rizzoli & Isles."

"TV show or novels?" Nolan asked. She preferred the novels to the show, but she still had an appreciation for the show. Especially Angie Harmon. There was a gorgeous woman she could appreciate.

"More the novels. But she had some sort of thing connecting Rizzoi & Isles and NCIS. I can't remember what it was."

"Special Agent Caitlin Todd, played by Sasha Alexander, two seasons, was killed off in the season finale of season two, because Alexander wanted to start a family, and felt she wasn't physically capable of working the show any longer. Died of a bullet wound to the forehead. On Rizzoli & Isles, Sasha Alexander plays the medical examiner, Dr. Maura Isles," She rattled off the facts easily. She loved watching her media counterparts. She smirked at the shocked look on Carol's face.