" Do you have to go?", called out a very worried Tim. " Yes, I have to go ,the children are so upset and need structure in their lives right now," replied an anxious and scared Paulette. You see, Paulette's brother and sister-in-law died and left Aunt Paulette to care for the 3 children they left behind. Paulette's boyfriend Tim, is worried for Paulette having to take over the mothering role so early on in life. Paulette is only 18 you see and the only non- drinker in the family which is probably what has helped her live safely. Paulette's mother was killed in a car accident in which a drunk driver hit her. " Well, call me when you get there," called out Tim. " Okay, I will, I love you!."
Four hours have now passed since Paulette left and still no call to Tim. Tim is very worried because the drive to her brothers' house is only 1 ½ hours. As Tim is pondering his thoughts on whether or not to call, his cell phone begins to ring. " Hello?" answers Tim. " Hello, is this Mr. Tim Snapsticks?" " Yes," replied Tim. " Okay, this is Police Sargent Bloomboxer." Tim is worrying that his much loved Paulette has been in a car accident.
Meanwhile, Paulette is just arriving and is very angry. Her day was not going well at all. She got a ticket for speeding and left her cell phone in a rest area restroom. " Aunt Paulette," all three children screamed at the same time. " Hello, my darlings," replied an exhausted Paulette, but tried to hide her exhaustion. " Aunt Paulette, are we going to move back home with you?" asked little Jacob. " Jacob, sweetie, I don't know right now, but how about we go inside and get cleaned up so we can go out to dinner." " Okay!!!," replied Jacob and his sisters. While the kids were getting cleaned up, Paulette decided to call her cell phone and see if she had any messages. When she called all she heard was a voice on the other line telling her to disconnect immediately.
Back in Harrisburg, Tim is talking to Sargent Bloomboxer. The Sargent is saying something about Tim being a thief. " What," Tim replied. " I am not a thief." " Sir, I understand that you may not want to admit to being a thief, but I need to ask you a few questions anyway, since you are a person of interest." " Okay, fine, ask away," spoke an irritated Tim, not because the police thought that he was a thief, but for the fact that he might miss the call from Paulette, because he was on the line with the Sargent.
That's weird, thought Paulette, my phone has never acted up like that. " Aunt Paulette, we're ready to go." " Okay, just give Aunt Paulette a few more minutes." Then Paulette decided she should call Tim, let him know what was happening. When she called all she heard was the busy signal, and she knew he hated listening to voice messages, so she hung up. She would have called his home line, but his power had been out for 2 days. Paulette decided to call Tim later, after the children were in bed.
Meanwhile, Tim was on the line, still, with Sargent Bloomboxer. " Sir, I was never in Hallmark this past week." " Uh,huh" replied a not convinced Sargent. " Mr. Snapsticks, I need to bring you in to the station for further questioning, I will be arriving to pick you up shortly." "Okay," replied Tim, who was upset that the police believed he stole something from Hallmark, and he still hadn't heard anything from Paulette. When the Sargent arrived to pick up Tim, he asked for Tim's cell phone, to check for voice mails, or text messages, giving any hints that Tim was a definite suspect.