Chapter 5

'You guys have done good, as always.' Captain Williams smiled after Fred and Daphne presented him with their findings.

'The only thing is, we're no closer to finding him, or even getting a name.' Fred replied.

'Other than the three magic names you guys have been given.' Officer Garrett commented, he sat in a chair opposite Captain Williams. He had been in his office to give the captain a leaving present and a card. The present was a box of chocolates for the captain to share with his wife and a pair of thermal gloves and a woolly hat. The captain spoke several times about visiting his brother in Alaska, now that he was retiring, he would have more than enough time.

'Hmm…' Daphne agreed.

'None of the parents said anything else?' Captain Williams asked.

Daphne shook her head, 'No they didn't.'

'Well, then how are the cases linked?' Garrett asked, 'Obviously all the children went to a party before they went missing but there were only magicians at 3 of the parties?'

'I hoped that would be our link.' Fred replied.

Daphne thought, she looked down at her notepad she held in her hands. At the three names she had written on it, not the magicians' names, but the parents' names. 'What if the parents are somehow linked to it?'

'What do you mean?' Fred asked.

'There were only magicians at 3 parties, so what if the parents recommended the magician to the other parent? I know they never shared a magician's name, but what if he knew they were connected?' Daphne suggested.

'Where are you going with this?' Williams asked.

'Do we know where the kids went to school?' Daphne asked.

'Compass Halder and Max Preston went to the same school, but different grades, Prissy Rossman was not old enough to go to school yet but she went to Sunshine's Pre-School, Russell Thomas and Dylan Townsend went to the same school – but again in different grades – and Nina Jackson went to a different school.' Williams said, reading off the paperwork in front of him.

'There is a possibility that the parents of Compass, Max, Russell and Dylan know each other, but what about the other two?' Garrett asked.

'I dunno.' Fred replied.

'If we can find out who this guy is, then we can move on to investigate the parents some more.' Daphne spoke.

Daphne, Fred, and Garrett looked at the Captain. It was his last day and this would be the last day anyone at the station would be taking orders from him. There were a couple of boxes stacked up in the corner and he had left the important case files on his desk so the team could get access to them.

Captain Williams looked at the 3 and he stood up from his desk and made sure his office door was shut properly before he turned back to them.

'It's my last day, alright.' He began, 'I'm not going to throw myself into a new investigation or whatever you think it might be. But whatever you want to do, let's just say that I gave the all-clear.'

'We can speak to the parents?' Fred asked.

Captain Williams nodded, 'You can, but I suggest you drop it if you see it doesn't go anywhere.'

'What do you think he meant by that?' Fred asked from the bathroom.

'I don't know.' Daphne replied, she was in the bedroom getting ready for the party.

'Do you think he knows something we don't?' Fred asked, he stood in front of the mirror, making a mess of his bowtie.

'I don't know Freddie, but I think we should look more into the parents.' Daphne replied, 'And maybe Williams just gave us a hint of where to start.'

'But why wouldn't he suggest it?'

'It was his last day, he probably wanted nothing to do with it after today.' Daphne replied.

'I guess s-oh wow.'

He went into the bedroom where Daphne was, and he saw her standing in a beautiful baby blue dress which was subtly decorated with sequins. It was the first time he had ever seen her in a dress before.

They had known each other for a long time, and he had only seen her wear jeans with dark t-shirts and hoodies, or black jeans with a white shirt for work. Occasionally in the summer, she wore shorts when they weren't working, but he had never seen her wearing a dress.

'What?' She asked, completely oblivious to why Fred was looking at her like this, then she caught sight of his scruffy bowtie and stepped towards him.

Fred's eyes widened when she came close to him and goosebumps shivered through his body when he felt her hands brush against his neck as she fixed his bowtie.

Even after she had fixed it, he was still staring at her.

'What?' She asked again.

'You're beautiful.' He muttered swallowing the lump in his throat.

Daphne smiled a little, her cheeks turning pink, and she stood on her toes and pressed a kiss firmly to his lips, 'Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself.' She winked.

Fred's cheeks turned pink too and they stared at each other for a few seconds before Fred tucked a loose lock of red hair behind her ear, 'I love you.' He whispered, his hands shook a little as he spoke, and his cheeks darkened. Daphne's did too.

'I love you too.' She replied as Fred brought his lips down to hers.

He wrapped his arms around her. She ran her fingers through his thick blond hair as he deepened the kiss.

One hand slid up her body, brushing against her back where the deep cut of the dress exposed her ivory skin – feeling her goosebumps under his fingertips - before his hand found her hair.

Daphne gasped as she felt the cold tiles of the bathroom wall against her back. She pulled away from the kiss. Their cheeks red as fire, but neither of them could stop smiling.

Daphne cleared her throat, 'Are you nearly ready?'

Fred looked down at his feet, he had no shoes on, 'Nearly.'

Daphne nodded, 'Ok.'

And she exited the bathroom, returning to the bedroom where she grabbed her phone and went into the kitchen.

Fred turned back to the bathroom mirror, his heart was racing but he smiled to himself before he grabbed the bottle of cologne and put some more on. He wiped the lipstick smear off his lips and fixed his hair before he went back to the bedroom for his shoes.

He slid them on and went into the kitchen.

The sexual tension between him and Daphne still lingered thickly. They stared at each other across the kitchen, Fred smirked, and Daphne blushed.

He stepped closer to her until Daphne was trapped between himself and the kitchen table. He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, 'Do you think anyone would notice if we don't go?'

Daphne shivered as the feeling of his warm breath sent goosebumps running through her body, and then she felt his lips against her neck, and she gasped. Fred chuckled.

Suddenly, Daphne's phone vibrated loudly on the kitchen table, causing them to jump at the sudden loud noise followed by her ringtone.

Daphne turned away from Fred and she grabbed her phone, seeing it was officer Garrett she accepted the call, 'Garrett everything ok?' She asked.

'Yeah, I'm outside. Are you guys ready?' He asked.

'Yeah, we're coming.' Daphne replied and she ended the call, 'Garrett is outside.'

'Fuck I forgot he was picking us up.' Fred said and he quickly went to the bedroom and grabbed his wallet and his phone, and he put both his phone and Daphne's into his jacket pocket.

That was another thing, Daphne hated carrying a bag. A bag for all her work stuff and a bag for travelling was different than a "party bag" which she just thought would be a waste of money as she only took her phone and some cash, which she put into Fred's wallet or hid it into her phone case.

Fred grabbed the keys and flicked the light switch off, he and Daphne stepped out of the apartment and Fred locked the door behind them and put the keys into his inside pocket.

He took Daphne's hand and they walked to the elevator.

Garrett sat in his car outside their building, and Daphne suddenly felt like it was a super cringy dad moment, but Fred laughed when they saw Garrett.

They knew he had purchased a new car, but this was the first time they had seen it. Garrett would arrive at work in his old BMW, which he would also use to transport his dogs around so one could imagine the smell.

Tonight, Garrett had arrived outside the apartment building in his brand-new Toyota Corolla. The city's lights shone on the black car and it looked as if it had recently been polished. Garrett had the window rolled down and he was almost hanging out of the window as he greeted Fred and Daphne.

'Hey, guys!' He waved from the window, 'Wow you guys look great.'

'Nice car, Garrett.' Fred said in awe, he released Daphne's hand as he admired the car.

'Come on let's go!' Garrett exclaimed excitedly and Daphne and Fred climbed into the car.