A/N: I'm so excited to say that I am almost finished writing this story, maybe two more chapters! It is just the beginning of fall and I've completed my goal! I can't believe it! Stay tunes, those of you who have been reading my Five-O stories for a long time. My friend bought me another prompt book, so I'm going to be bring back Danny's things to rant about!

Chapter 10: Puzzled

Returning to the office, Steve and Danny found the bullpen in a state of complete disarray. One whole wall had been taken up to mount documents and photos, that were mostly for research and came out of previous cases. As Danny scanned the wall he found many of his own notes from the case and the connections he'd made.

Kono was stationed on the floor, surrounded by boxes and Chin moved between her and Toast at the computer table. They didn't notice Danny and Steve until Danny was standing in front of the wall.

"I see the bigger picture," Danny said as he turned his back on the wall, "but what is going to help us right now?" He asked.

"Well, we have hours of footage that we are trying to scan through. I called

Jerry in to deal with the old information," Toast answered. "That way, when you do catch this monster, you'll have a tone of stuff to hand over to the DEA."

"Jerry is killing the copier with all his research," Chin added as he handed another stack to his cousin who sat crosslegged on the floor. "But he's building a solid case."

"Okay," Steve said as he stood next to Toast at the smart table. "How about the van and the license plate the we got from the little girl?"

"I've set a DMV search for the partial plate, we've gotten a fair number of hits to plates with the combination of numbers and letters you got from her. Now I'm cross referencing with the city owned vehicles and also general white vans on the island. This guy could be posing as city, but isn't actually one of their workers," Toast explained and motioned to the laptop beside him on the computer table. "The smart table is combing through the EMS feeds watching the island as we speak." He added as Steve looked down to see six feed cameras, and their views, scrolling through footage at a rapid pace.

"And still nothing?" Danny asked disheartened.

"No, we found the van the girls had seen in front of Aubrey's house, but we're looking for others. That is likely how this guy is doing his business. It's kind of a needle in a hay stack scenario but at least it's something," Toast said as he through the feed onto the monitors. "Nothing happens with regards to the van in front of the Strachan house. It was actually on a service call across the street. We're trying to find the company and the van so that you can ask the worker what he'd seen on the street that day."

"And Mrs. Strachan was home but she said Aubrey never made it there but clearly we see her go around her house into the back," Steve added. "So what happened to that little girl?"

"Aubrey, where did you go?" Danny asked and made Toast run the footage again. "Are there any other vantage points?" He asked the hacker.

"I looked, there is another pole down at the end of the block but you can't see the house from it and the van leaves the other way," Toast explains.

"We should have stopped at the house," Danny practically cursed.

"We wouldn't have know what we're looking for," Steve protested.

"We don't know now," Danny said and ran his fingers through his hair. "Go back through the footage again and see if you see anything at all. Steve, we're going back to that house," Danny said and headed for the door.

"What about the van man?" Kono asked.

"Call us with details when you find the company, or go yourselves," Danny answered and swerved to grab a forensics kit.

Back at the house Steve parked the Camaro right where the van had been on the video.

"I see the pole from here," Steve said as he followed Danny toward the house.

They rang the bell, and not surprisingly, they found that no one was home. They turned their attention to the side of the house and the path that Aubrey had taken. It was a small space that led to the back yard. It was clearly well traveled and the main point of access to the back of the house. The gate was closed when they reached it and on it was a pull string to lift the latch on the other side.

Danny and Steve moved on through the back yard. It was lush and green, well kept with an avocado tree that was dropping huge fruit onto the ground. There was also a pool, a patio and a covered lanai that were all enclosed by a rod iron fence, unlike the wooden fence that encircled the yard. At the back of the yard was another gate and it was locked from the inside but as they moved closer Danny noticed that the lock wasn't actually locked.

"Not a good sign," Steve said as they unlatched the back gate and swung it open. The back opened to a green space, with a baseball diamond, a soccer field, and at the far end a playground and park. Off to the corner was a community centre and a large black top parking lot where children were skateboarding.

Immediately Danny scanned the sky. "Closest pole is on the next street, clear on the other side of this field and probably aimed right at that playground," Danny said and there was despair in his voice.

"This is a city park," Steve commented as he looked around.

"We need to talk to those parents again, and we need Toast to look at that footage," Danny said as he turned back to the gate. "Why leave the gate unlocked?" He asked as he moved back into the yard.

Then, as if by divine intervention, he heard a sound from inside the house. A dog was barking. A large Golden Retriever appeared at the patio doors and barked viciously at Danny and Steve. "They leave the gate open to run the dog in the field," he said to himself. "Aubrey came home, found the dog in the back yard and without thinking went to the park to play."

"And was snatched from there. The dog came home on his own," Steve said and the parents thought nothing of it because I bet you the dog is smart enough to knock the padlock off on its own."

"It wouldn't take much and then the gate swings outward," Danny said and put his phone to his ear. "Toast, behind the house is a city park. Get that camera footage from one street over and pray that Aubrey is on it!"

Meanwhile Chin and Kono headed off to the heating and cooling company once Toast had identified the man and the van in the footage. They walked into the small business store front, having already called ahead, and were greeted by the man in question.

"Are you Joel?" Kono asked as she reached to shake his hand.

"I am," he answered with a nod.

"Did you see anything suspicious on your service call two days ago, on Maui Crescent?" Chin asked.

"No, I was there to install a new outdoor grill and fire pit," Joel answered.

"Why did you park across the street?" Kono asked and showed the man a photo captured from the surveillance camera.

"When I arrived, the home owner was home, or rather all of them were home. The driveway was full and to be able to maneuver my lift into and around the house, I had to park on the street while they moved their vehicles out onto the street as well. I was there from about 1pm to about 4pm, and most of that time was spend dealing with the installation. The city hydro and gas company came later in the afternoon to check the lines for me, I did have to dig to set up the glass powered pit," Joel explained.

"A little girl went missing at about 3:30pm from the house where you parked your van. Does anything stand out to you about that visit? Did you see anything out of the ordinary?" Chin asked and there was urgency in his voice.

"I'm sorry, after I moved the items from the van to the back of the house, I didn't leave the back yard until I was finished. The home owners will vouch for me," Joel answered.

"And the hydro and gas people, were they familiar to you?" Kono asked.

"Yes, same guys I work with all the time," Joel added with a nod.

"Do you have numbers for them so that we can call and see if they have any further information," Chin asked.

"Sure, and I'll give you the house number for the clients as well. Maybe they saw something," Joel offered.

"Thank you, we're sorry to bother," Kono said and cross his name off of her note pad. This really was a dead end.