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xp_logsSue and Hope brainstorm some possibilities in their missing mutant search.
Hope easily wheeled the whiteboard into place. "So we have one whiteboard and one picture and some other data provided by Ms. Lopez on Miguel." She quickly tacked up the photo, writing his name next to it before getting out the notes from Sandy's interview. Let's see if I can pull together a bit of a timeline here. Where do you want to start?"
A single finger stroked Sue's chin before falling down to tap against the frame of her tablet, "I think I'll start with everything she's not telling us, every mother has rose-tinted glasses when it come to their kid...ok most mothers. There might be things she doesn't know or doesn't want to know that will help construct a more accurate timeline. No kid can get away without some kind of social media presence these days, might as well start there."
Her hand stalled as Hope looked over her shoulder. "Could be worth a look, but I have a feeling that is not what we should be looking for. We both know how easy it is for those kids to vanish... any chance you can send out a couple of crawlers while you check his social media?"
A small wry smile touched Sue's lip's as her finger hovered above her tablet's screen, "I think I can manage that, what do you want them to look for?"
"Ms. Lopez said that the police did not take any action. Not that this is any big surprise, but there might be others in her situation. Perhaps you can see if there are any unusual patterns of missing teens. An uptick or a focus in a particular area nearby? And not just the police. Alerts on the usual social media groups as well." Hope counted on her fingers.
The blonde reached up to run a hand through her hair in thought as she tilted her head to the side, chewing on her lower tip for a long moment before she nodded slowly. "We might have to start local and let them work their way out from there. New York's too big to work another way. You know, we really need to set up a local message board.",
"Add it to the future idea board? It might be useful." Hope had grabbed the first page of the notes and quickly started to outline the timeline. "I think we are going to need more than the time lines, social media and some poking through police databases and local media though."
The blonde grinned, "Oh, see now you're talking my language, that's starting to sound kinda fun. We're dealing with a missing person case so...I guess we need to understand who he was, why someone would be interested in him in the first place?"
"That does not have to be complicated though. Without a steady place to stay, it only takes one unsafe place to sleep and an easy opportunity to acquire the boy. That is actually what I am most curious about. Where has he been staying the past week or two? Not at home according to his mother, except for one night, but where then?" Hopte turned back to her timeline. "That is where we need more information about. While you search, I am going to call a few of his friends and put out a few feelers."
"There aren't many places you can sleep if not at home or a friend's house." A finger came up to stroke Sue's chin as the blonde tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. It was only really when she'd come to the mansion, come to work for XFI that she'd realised the different world she lived in. When she'd been younger Sue had run away from home before, well run away for herself. She'd ended up crashing in a friend's spare room for a few days before returning sheepishly home. She didn't think that Miguel would have the same options as she had but, "If he's not used to sleeping on the streets then he's going to find somewhere safe to settle. Maybe a shelter."
"Shelter is one option, but let's be honest. His appearance is pretty distinctive. Some of our contacts may well have spotted them. Plus, they'll be able to tell us if they have spotted any strange patterns in people going missing."
"True but if you were a kid all alone, hungry and cold where would you go..." The blonde's voice trailed off for a moment as a lightbulb seemed to appear above her head, "the churches in District X would be a good place to look too, they're used to the unusual and not asking too many questions. I'll reach out to our contacts in the rea to see what they've seen."
"I'll add them to my list to call."
***
A couple of hours later Hope returned, letting out a deep sigh. "I managed to find some useful information, but none of it is conclusive. Something feels off... and I am seriously wondering if we might be looking at something bigger here. Please tell me you have found something that can discount this quickly?"
Sue glanced up from the cup of coffee that she had clasped between her hands, a drawn look on her face. "Honestly, I was hoping that you'd be the one who came to me with proof that it wasn't as bad as it looks." A hand gestured at the board she'd covered with pinned paper and writing. "It looks like he's not the only one."
"These are the results from your searches in the police database?" Hope stepped closer and studied the results for a moment. "And all of them look fairly recent." She let out another sigh and took her seat. "It talked to the staff of at least five shelters, three churches and a few other people connected to the transient community around here. Without a fault they all reported missing faces. I am currently waiting for them to get back to me to see if we can get an idea of who."
"But I cannot help but wonder, what in the hell are we looking at here?"
Hope easily wheeled the whiteboard into place. "So we have one whiteboard and one picture and some other data provided by Ms. Lopez on Miguel." She quickly tacked up the photo, writing his name next to it before getting out the notes from Sandy's interview. Let's see if I can pull together a bit of a timeline here. Where do you want to start?"
A single finger stroked Sue's chin before falling down to tap against the frame of her tablet, "I think I'll start with everything she's not telling us, every mother has rose-tinted glasses when it come to their kid...ok most mothers. There might be things she doesn't know or doesn't want to know that will help construct a more accurate timeline. No kid can get away without some kind of social media presence these days, might as well start there."
Her hand stalled as Hope looked over her shoulder. "Could be worth a look, but I have a feeling that is not what we should be looking for. We both know how easy it is for those kids to vanish... any chance you can send out a couple of crawlers while you check his social media?"
A small wry smile touched Sue's lip's as her finger hovered above her tablet's screen, "I think I can manage that, what do you want them to look for?"
"Ms. Lopez said that the police did not take any action. Not that this is any big surprise, but there might be others in her situation. Perhaps you can see if there are any unusual patterns of missing teens. An uptick or a focus in a particular area nearby? And not just the police. Alerts on the usual social media groups as well." Hope counted on her fingers.
The blonde reached up to run a hand through her hair in thought as she tilted her head to the side, chewing on her lower tip for a long moment before she nodded slowly. "We might have to start local and let them work their way out from there. New York's too big to work another way. You know, we really need to set up a local message board.",
"Add it to the future idea board? It might be useful." Hope had grabbed the first page of the notes and quickly started to outline the timeline. "I think we are going to need more than the time lines, social media and some poking through police databases and local media though."
The blonde grinned, "Oh, see now you're talking my language, that's starting to sound kinda fun. We're dealing with a missing person case so...I guess we need to understand who he was, why someone would be interested in him in the first place?"
"That does not have to be complicated though. Without a steady place to stay, it only takes one unsafe place to sleep and an easy opportunity to acquire the boy. That is actually what I am most curious about. Where has he been staying the past week or two? Not at home according to his mother, except for one night, but where then?" Hopte turned back to her timeline. "That is where we need more information about. While you search, I am going to call a few of his friends and put out a few feelers."
"There aren't many places you can sleep if not at home or a friend's house." A finger came up to stroke Sue's chin as the blonde tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. It was only really when she'd come to the mansion, come to work for XFI that she'd realised the different world she lived in. When she'd been younger Sue had run away from home before, well run away for herself. She'd ended up crashing in a friend's spare room for a few days before returning sheepishly home. She didn't think that Miguel would have the same options as she had but, "If he's not used to sleeping on the streets then he's going to find somewhere safe to settle. Maybe a shelter."
"Shelter is one option, but let's be honest. His appearance is pretty distinctive. Some of our contacts may well have spotted them. Plus, they'll be able to tell us if they have spotted any strange patterns in people going missing."
"True but if you were a kid all alone, hungry and cold where would you go..." The blonde's voice trailed off for a moment as a lightbulb seemed to appear above her head, "the churches in District X would be a good place to look too, they're used to the unusual and not asking too many questions. I'll reach out to our contacts in the rea to see what they've seen."
"I'll add them to my list to call."
***
A couple of hours later Hope returned, letting out a deep sigh. "I managed to find some useful information, but none of it is conclusive. Something feels off... and I am seriously wondering if we might be looking at something bigger here. Please tell me you have found something that can discount this quickly?"
Sue glanced up from the cup of coffee that she had clasped between her hands, a drawn look on her face. "Honestly, I was hoping that you'd be the one who came to me with proof that it wasn't as bad as it looks." A hand gestured at the board she'd covered with pinned paper and writing. "It looks like he's not the only one."
"These are the results from your searches in the police database?" Hope stepped closer and studied the results for a moment. "And all of them look fairly recent." She let out another sigh and took her seat. "It talked to the staff of at least five shelters, three churches and a few other people connected to the transient community around here. Without a fault they all reported missing faces. I am currently waiting for them to get back to me to see if we can get an idea of who."
"But I cannot help but wonder, what in the hell are we looking at here?"
