Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labour, and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.
Since then 'tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.
Special Agent Martin Fitzgerald arrived at the office two hours before everybody else. It'd been a slow week and all of the cases that they'd been handed turned out to be kids that had gone up to Maine with a few friends and had forgotten to tell their parents. Or elderly grandparents who'd wandered off and had lost track of time.
No, Martine wasn't here for here for a new case. He war here for an old one. He was doing this in secret because if Jack found out about this, he would give Martin the same old speech, "Martin…the case went cold two years ago. Some cases aren't meant to be solved."
But Martin always thought that everyone deserved to be found. Better alive than dead. Searching through his desk, Martin pulled out a stack of files and piled them on the top. Rummaging through the manila folders, the F.B.I agent found the case that he was looking for. Opening the file, he began to read:
"Name- Jessica (Jesse) Amanda WilliamsJesse Williams disappeared on Tuesday, the 24th of October, two months after her 6th birthday. Was picked up from school on 34th Street by her mother, Kisandra Williams. Mother stopped in bookstore to grab a cookbook for dinner for five minutes. Left Jesse outside with her stuffed Pooh Bear. By-stander, a Mrs. Bella Brookes was with her teenage son, Terry, saw a black SUV pull up and park in front of the bookstore. Man with gray hair got out wearing a red sports jacket. Picked little girl up and buckled her into the backseats and drove off. Thought nothing of it since Jesse didn't put up a fight. Two minutes later, Kisandra came out, saw that her daughter was missing and started screaming for Jesse."
The rest of the papers in the file contained phone numbers, co-workers names, license plate numbers, everything and anything that seemed to be important to the case at the time. When the trail had gone cold, Martin had had no choice but to set up a tip line linked straight to his cell phone and left it at that. Over the years, he'd gotten tips on a girl that looked liked Jesse, but the girl had blue eyes instead of green and blond hair instead of brown.
Martin picked up the photo of the missing girl and smiled. He always though that she was adorable. The young girl had shoulder blade length brown hair, bangs held back by a green headband. Her green eyes were full of laughter and her smile was tiny and bright. In the picture, Jesse was wearing a deep blue velvet dress and was clutching a stuffed Pooh Bear. Martin had given it to her himself and it had been with her when she'd disappeared.
As he re-read the case file over and over again, Martin's cell rang. "Fitzgerald." He answered.
"Agent Fitzgerald?" came a woman's timid voice. "My name is Murphy Billings and I have Jesse Williams."
"Mrs. Billings," sighed Martin, rubbing his already aching eyes. "I've been given false information before over this case. How can I be sure that you have Jesse?"
"She has long brown hair and dark green eyes. When my husband picked her up, she was wearing a purple shirt, purple pants, and a pink coat. She was carrying a stuffed Pooh Bear when Tom picked her up. When the toy got stitches a couple of day ago, your number fell out. Jesse said that her Uncle Martin had put it in there when he gave it to her, just in case she needed to call him."
Martin sat up in his chair. No one else knew that his card was in that toy except Jesse. "What's your number?" he asked. After jotting it down on a slip of paper, Martin scribbled something down on a sticky note and stuck it to Jack's desk on his way out.
When he got to the parking lot, Martin got into his car started the engine. Suddenly, without warning, Martin and his car vanished without a trace.