The Manifest

Chapter 12

     Jessica got off from work around seven that night, and was so happy to see how dedicated Edgar and his new friend were to find her mother that she skipped dinner and went straight to Edgar's office. To show her appreciation, she stopped at a shop a block away from the building and picked two extra-large slabs of pizza for not only them but for her as well because she had barely eaten a thing since talking to Edgar earlier that day. She had a hard time getting through her lunch as she was half excited and half nervous about what they were going to do. As she strolled into the building the weather was only half raining and muggy. She also noticed there was a large RV in front of the building with a few people dressed like bikers hanging out front, having a smoke and talking about something. She walked by them quickly and into the building. Once on the third floor, she strolled in and looked around for Edgar. She didn't see him immediately, so she walked up to a desk and asked someone if he was in. Before the young man could answer, Tuck walked into the lobby to greet her.

     "Ms. Johnson, it's nice to see you again." He said to her. "We didn't meet last time. I'm Allen Tucker, Edgar and I run this firm."

     "Nice to meet you, Mr. Tucker." Jessica said as she held up the pizza, "I brought something in for the guys since I thought we might be here for a few hours. Mr. Willis gave me the impression we had a lot to talk about."

     "Why thank you." Tuck said, taking them from her. "We have Chinese ordered already, but I'm sure there are a few here who might prefer this over what Edgar ordered." He took it and walked her to the conference room where everyone was already talking. Tuck placed the pizza on the table as Edgar and Jerome stood up to greet Jessica and exchange pleasantries.

     Jerome, who really isn't a fan of Asian foods, spotted the pizza and grabbed a slice for himself. While munching on the food, he looked back to Jessica, "Thanks, and I guess now would be a better time than ever to start this thing?"

     "Well, we have pizza and a few people here who might need some blanks filled in. I guess it would be best to start off from the beginning." Edgar said, as he pretty much ignored the pizza, "Jessica, you might want to start off by telling Jerome what happened at the Vigil."

     "Which vigil did you attend?" Jerome asked, somewhat curious.

     "I was at the vigil at the national military cemetery on Sunday Night." Jessica said, as she did her best to think back, "I remember going somewhat alright with this one because it was going to be mostly silent and like a brief period of morning. Sometime during the ceremony, I saw my mother on the other side of the field. I guess she saw me because she ran away and sped off in a car as fast as she could."

     Jerome was still curious, "Your mother is the one we're looking for, correct?" Jessica nodded, and he continued, "What connection does her mother have to..."

     "Your answers are here," Edgar said, as he handed a piece of paper over to him. Jerome was looking at the paper in utter amazement and then looked back at Edgar, as it was the manifest that Norsberg had given them.

     "Where the hell did you get this?" Jerome asked, "This is amazing!"

     "Our person is named Johnson," Edgar told Jerome as he was already scanning the names on the list.

     "And this is your mother?" Jerome asked Jessica, as he was pointing to her mother's name on the list.

     "Yes, it is." Jessica answered, "My brother and I were in the terminal and we watched her get onboard. We know she was on the plane when it left the gate." She could see that Jerome hadn't been given all the details of the case so far, so this must have been the time that Edgar was going to use to get everyone on the same page.