Vanished

Chapter 4

July 16th, 1990

The clock struck eight in the evening. Silence had overcome the whole town. Every head was down, every face evident with grief. Eyes started to water and hands came up to faces, hiding the pure sorrow they felt for the three girls. They were known and loved by most people in the town, and they were sure to be missed. The moment of silence spoke volumes, especially for the victims' families during this harsh time. They got to know their children were loved by the community as much as they had loved them, and they were grateful for that.

Although everyone was grieving, it was a good time for them to reflect on what they can to be thankful for. Everything can be taken away in a second, and it can affect you for the rest of your life. The families of the three girls had learnt that lesson, and so did the rest of Bayland. This event was a learning experience for all.

After the moment of silence in everyone's homes, curtains were drawn, and lights switched off in the outside world. Everything had gone dark.

However, there was still one light visible and flickering, and it appeared to be on the far end of town, in an old battered apartment. The figure inside, who was wearing a pitch-black trench coat, was pacing hastily inside near the tiny window, a frank worried expression on his face. Investigator White had never gotten this big of a case before (after all, Bayland wasn't a problematic town). He had no idea how he would help the families solve the mystery of the girls' disappearance: he had no lead. He needed more information, more clues to find a starting point.

The young investigator knew it wasn't an appropriate time to interrogate the Moores; they needed a few days to grieve over the loss of their only daughter. He knew it's difficult; something similar happened to his older sister when he was also a child. From a young age, he understood what grief felt like. It's a messy emotion, and he knew that all too well.

He quickly shifted his focus back to the task at hand though: lead to the disappearance of the three girls. They couldn't have just vanished into thin air despite the Moores' claims, there had to be more to the story. Something was off, nothing was adding up.

The Moores' might be drowning in sorrow and therefore didn't give him a full story, but he couldn't go to them. Not then anyway.

Sighing; he knew he had to use what he got. He sat himself down on the ancient chair that had been tucked under the crooked table full of papers. Rifling through the papers, he found his pen and took notes down on a clean sheet.

Investigator White held up his sheet filled with scribbles to the flickering light above the dining table once he was done. It wasn't much, he realised, but it was enough to get his brain thinking of possibilities. There were many possibilities though.

What if they had gone to a secret hideout of theirs? Out of fear or because they felt rebellious? Or one of them was having some problems and all three of them decided to run away?

Those possibilities didn't seem likely. He had heard many things about these girls, the majority of the comments claiming they were joyous people. He crossed out the rebellious impulse possibilities but left the fearful ones.

What if someone had captured them? Or taken the hostage? They were sleeping outside with no supervision, after all, so someone could have easily snuck in the house and done something to them.

No chance that could have happened; Bayland was a safe town was relatively nice people. It seemed fairly impossible. However, he left that on his list.

The next hour was spent by him thinking of possibilities and crossing them out; nothing seemed possible. None of the possibilities added up to the story of the three girls, nothing made sense.