Thank you Fiend89 for editing!
Emma investigate Kathryn's crashed car, taking mental notes as she inspects it.
"You mind if I take a look, too?" Sidney arrives on the scene with a camera.
"What for?" Emma questions him.
"Well, just because I got fired from The Mirror, doesn't mean I can't do a little freelance reporting," Sidney explains. "So, what do we got here?"
"Gym teacher found this thing on the side of the road abandoned. Engine running, no one around. Registered to Kathryn Nolan. She's MIA."
"Kathryn Nolan, whose husband very publicly left her? I mean, the story writes itself. If I get a scoop like that, The Daily Mirror would have no choice but to take me back." Sidney got excited, he needs Regina to trust him again.
"Calm down, tiger. You don't work for Regina anymore," Emma points out.
"We need to prove to her that she can trust us again. To get the right facts. And by facts, I mean the right way."
Emma just studies Sidney, seeing if he was lying but no sirens went off. She would like a reason to get close to Regina for any kind of time. Even if it was two seconds.
"Kathryn got accepted to a law school in Boston. Maybe, after David dumped her, she decided to leave town. Car broke down, she hitched the rest of the way. That's what I would do if I was running away from my problems."
Opening the trunk of the car, they find a suitcase inside. There goes that theory.
"And, uh, would you leave your clothes in the car?" Sidney was new at investigations and could be wrong but something tells him that he isn't.
Emma sighs, great, this is getting to be more work than it has to. "Time to pull Kathryn's phone records and find out who she spoke to last."
Sidney nods his head in agreement. "Yeah, you know, if you go through the Sheriff's Department, it'll take you days to get those. I've got a contact over at the phone company, who used to help me out when I was at the newspaper. I can get those in a couple of hours."
"Great. Call me the minute you get your hands on those phone records." She knew he was lying but if he can get those phone contacts sooner, the faster this is over.
David's truck pulls up along the side of the road.
"There he is."
"Time to break the news." Emma never liked giving bad news.
"You really think he doesn't know?"
Emma sighs, and shrugs. That was a very good question. She doubts it, but the break up between David and Kathryn, you never know. "I'm about to find out."
As David got out of his truck and walks over the two, he knew something bad had happened. Kathryn's car was there, empty. Emma meets him half way and explains what's going on.
"She's just gone?" David asks, confused.
"You really don't know anything, do you?" Emma questions him.
David shakes his head. "I-I don't… I don't understand. What happened?" He never wished any ill will for anyone. Not even Kathryn.
Emma shrugs. "I don't know. I'm trying to find out. What can you tell me? When was the last time you spoke to Kathryn?"
"Yesterday afternoon."
Emma looks closely to David, getting a read on him. "Okay, look. I know there has been lies and deceit, and I'm really not judging you, but is that the truth?"
David nods, there was no reason to lie. He has nothing to hide. "Yes. I haven't spoken to her since we… I ended things. And I came home yesterday, and all her things were gone. I assumed she was going to Boston. That's what she told me. Am I a suspect or something?"
Emma shakes her head. "No. I know when people are telling the truth, David, and you are. She hasn't even been gone twenty-four hours. She's not even technically missing. But, if she is, trust me – I will find her."
Emma slams the file case on Kathryn's car accident on her desk. She wasn't any closer to solving this case. She runs her hand through her blonde hair, trying to release her frustration.
"What's wrong?" Sidney asks.
"I just got off the phone with Kathryn's school in Boston. Registration was this morning, and she never showed up." This wasn't turning out to easy. The 24 hours will be over and she'll have to report this. Kathryn will be considered missing.
"Well, what suspects do you think would have motive to behind Kathryn's disappearance?"
"I don't know... There is nothing to go on."
"What about Miss. Blanchard? The affair between her and David is known all over town." Sidney lists off a possibility.
"She had nothing to do with anything. Trust me." Margaret can't even hurt a fly, so forget a person. Also, Margaret wouldn't be able to keep it to herself. Margaret guilt tends to get the best of her.
"But she's the one-" Sidney tries to argue back.
Emma wouldn't hear none of it. Cutting Sidney off, "trust me – I know her. Just get me those phone records."
"I'll get them as soon as possible," Sidney nods his head, leaving the station.
As Regina was filing papers out, a fax comes through. Looking through the pages, her eyes narrow at the information it provided. Grabbing her phone, she dials a number, waiting for the other line to pick up.
She curses when she gets a voice mail. "Hello, Sidney? Those phone records you wanted – I have them. And I think you'll find them quite helpful."
Hanging up, Regina looks over to her jacket. Something doesn't feel right with Kathryn's sudden disappearance. She needs to get to the bottom of it. Sighing, she grabs her jacket and leaves the office.
Rushing to the station, she finds Emma going through pictures pinned to a bulletin board. The blonde seem completely absorbed to the crash scene in front of her, as she was trying to find an answer within them.
Regina bites her lips to keep from thinking any further about the blonde. Clearing her voice, she gains the blonde's attention.
Not looking away from the bulletin board. "You find something?"
"I have Kathryn's phone records," Regina answers as she saw Emma snapped her head towards her, completely shocked to see her.
Emma wanted to pinch herself. There was no way this wasn't a dream. She must have fallen asleep on her desk again because Regina was standing in the station, holding a folder.
"You were the friend that owed Sidney?"
"Even though what you and Sidney did is still unacceptable, I do owe him from something he did for me in the past." Regina's voice wasn't anything but cold to Emma. She was still mad at Emma for the incident at the town hall.
Emma winced at the tone Regina spoke. "I'm sorry about that. Please let me explain myself," Emma begged. All she needs was five minute to prove to her that she was an idiot and a fool.
Regina ignores Emma's attempt of an apology. "Every call she made the day she crashed her car." Throwing the folder on Emma's desk, "Including an eight minute call between her and David within an hour of the accident."
Emma quickly snatches the folder off her desk, flipping through the pages, scanning them with her own eyes. "That's not possible. He said he didn't speak to her that day."
Regina just shrugs. "Then, he's lying."
Emma shakes her head. "No. I know when someone is lying, and David-"
"It's right there on paper, Emma." She won't be blame for this either. She hates Charming and Snow almost how much she hates her mother but she had nothing to do with this. If she wanted the two dead, they would have been dead by now.
Emma snaps her eyes at the brunette. Regina thinks she's blaming this on her. It wasn't even her intention to do so. "I'm not blaming you. There is no proof that points at you. I learned my lesson the last time." Pointing at the phone records, "it's just that this isn't making any sense."
"No proof, yet."
"That's not what's going on here," Emma points out defensively.
"Phone records don't lie – people do. And your friend David does it better than most." Charming and David might be two different people but they are still the same person. They share the same DNA, mind and heart. She notices the disappointed look on Emma's face. "Don't beat yourself up over this. You're not the only person David fooled."
"He did not lie," Emma repeats herself more stern. She knows when someone is lying and David wasn't. She's 100% sure.
"Did I say that I doubt that ability?" Regina didn't give Emma a chance to answer. "No. I'm actually hoping that ability will be use greatly in the future."
"What do you mean?" Emma asks in confusion.
"Sooner or later, fantasy will become reality. Best to start believing." Regina is starting to feel like a broken record.
"Do you enjoy speaking in riddles?" Emma questions. If Regina just spoke her mind of what she wants to say, getting on her good side would be easier.
"They aren't riddles, dear. They are wisdom that comes from knowledge." Turning to leave, Regina stops before leaving the station. "Something doesn't feel right about this case. Watch your back and look for every detail."
Regina still cared for her. That much she's sure of or she wouldn't have come. At least someone agreed with her. Something didn't seem right and she needs to find out why.