A/N: Okay for those at Maple St. - If you did your homework, the next
chapter will be much more powerful. The song mainly sets the tone for the
whole scene in the apartment. For those who have no idea of what I am
speaking, the song I am referring to is Haunted by Evanescence. Download it
if you want to have the full effect of this chapter and the next. Anyway,
I'll shut up now. Once again, thank you so much for all the reviews. It is
quite encouraging- gives me warm fuzzies. This chapter isn't too exciting,
but just you wait. Heh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 40 hours missing
Sam, Jack and Danny walked into the office, bags in hand. They headed to the back and placed their new evidence on the large conference table. Danny sat down while Sam walked to the window for a second, then turned at took the chair beside Danny. Vivan and Martin showed up not long after, with coffee for them all, and took their seats. Jack walked up to the white board and wrote "Slept at apartment last night?"
When they'd reached the apartment, it was evident that she'd been there recently. The most obvious sign was that her cd player was still on, playing the same song over and over again. It was a hard song, very tormented sounding. The kid was obviously angry or distraught about something. Sam tried to stop and just listen to the song, but there was too much to be done. Checking what song it was stuck on, Jack told the forensics team that he needed the cd bagged up and checked for prints so it could be analyzed as soon as possible.
As far as the apartment went, it was a small one-room apartment, with the tub and toilet right next to the bed. Sam figured if the girl were laying at just the right angle in bed, the girl could fry eggs on her stove and shave her legs in the bathtub at the same time. Unfortunately, the only objects of use that they could find were books of all types. These books ranged from African culture to the classics to almost 20 psychology and sociology related books. There was no phone in the apartment and there was only one light.
Danny opened up the discussion by relaying to Vivian and Martin what they'd found at Melanie's place. The team's consensus was that she was still in the city at this point.
Vivian and Martin returned full of information as well. Vivian started off, listing their most important information first.
"She had four professors at least twice and she worked with two of them on that research project. She won a fellowship and an award for the project as well."
"Which professors were these?" asked Danny.
"Christine Mackenzie and Jonathan Raymond. Dr. Mackenzie is the department head of Psychology. We spoke with her, but Dr. Raymond was at some appointment in Albany and won't be back until this afternoon. His assistant, Clayton Hodges, was there and we spoke with him briefly."
"Clayton Hodges?" Sam said incredulously.
This elicited a raised eyebrow from Vivian.
"Yeah. Know him?" she asked.
"No - I, I think I read about him in one of these reports," said Sam quickly while shuffling through some papers. "Ah. Maybe it isn't him. I'll double check when we're done."
"Thanks. Hodges is working towards his doctorate and looked like he'd been working on his dissertation a bit too long. He told us his paper is on social behavior and he kept using passing students as examples."
"Yeah like right now, the way Sam's head is cocked to the side shows she is interested and alert, but the pencil tapping also shows that she is anxious," said Martin with a smug grin. He quickly shrugged his shoulders as everyone turned and gave him questioning looks and raised eyebrows.
"What?" he said, leaning on his desk with a boyish smile.
"Anyway, he said he'd spoken with Melanie around the time of her supposed disappearance," stated Vivian.
"She was kind of off," Hodges replied while rolling up his sleeves. "Compared to some of the professors around here, she was one of the most normal people I've worked with I months. It was very easy to detect that something was wrong. She kept shuffling about, wouldn't maintain eye contact - clearly demonstrating that she was bothered by something that had just happened, but she wouldn't tell me what was wrong."
"What did she come by for?"
"I think she was looking for Dr. Thompson, but I couldn't tell. All of their offices are located in the same general area, so this is mainly an assumption."
"Who is Dr. Thompson?"
"He is one of the new sociology professors around here. Kind of tall, shaggy hair, very friendly. All the students love him."
"Do you know where he is right now?" asked Martin. Hodges checked the clock. "He should just be getting out of class right now, you could check by his office. It's right around that way," he motioned with his hand. He grabbed a coffee cup and filled it with a strong brew.
"Want any?"
"Nah, we're good thanks. So, where were you Wednesday night?" asked Martin.
"Wednesday? Mmm. Dr. Raymond and I met at the bar up the street and played pool for an hour or two. Dr. Thompson was coming too, but he had a migraine so he took a rain check. I headed back to my apartment after that."
"What bar was this?"
"The Wilted Rose."
"Great name. How well do you know Dr. Raymond?" asked Vivian.
"Pretty well. I've been here for the past two years, so I've gotten to witness the man and his magic."
"Magic?"
"Oh yes. Raymond's a great guy. Very charismatic. One of those people that in a room full of hundreds he could single you out and make you feel as though you were the only one there. He's quite a charmer with the ladies. Helps me out a bit. But uh, we used to go to the park and run little experiments on people. It was an attempt to see how one's behavior can affect the outcome of any situation."
"Sounds exciting," said Martin with a hint of sarcasm. Vivian turned away to smile.
"Oh you have no idea," said an oblivious Hodges, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He was one of those men that if he wouldn't act like a geek all the time, he would be very attractive. Kind of the Steve Urkel syndrome. "Listen, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I've got to get to the library."
"Did he really go to the library?" asked Jack.
"Couldn't tell. He was headed in the general direction though," replied Martin.
"We may be speaking with him later. If he was the last person to see Melanie, he probably knows where she is," said Jack.
"No doubt," said Vivan. "Dr. Thompson said he hadn't seen her since Monday and she seemed fine then. He's only known her since the beginning of this year, and hasn't really worked with her much."
"Did he know why she was looking for him?" asked Danny.
"We don't even know if she was. That was speculation on Hodges' part," said Martin.
"Gotchya. So, where was he Wednesday?" countered Danny.
"He's epileptic. Gets migraines as a side effect from the epilepsy and all the medication. His story is that he was in fact at his hotel that night."
"Hotel?" asked Sam with a furrowed brow.
"Oh yes, hotel. Seeing as he only moved here in August, he hasn't 'gotten around' to finding an apartment yet. Apparently he's friends with the owner of the hotel, got a deal," said Martin making various hand movements. "Did you get anything else on him?" said Jack.
"Yes, actually he isn't as big a fan of Dr. Raymond as his lackey is. His words were much less praising of Raymond's abilities, but could confirm that he had in fact worked closely with Melanie in the past few months."
"What about the other one - Dr. Mackenzie?" asked Sam.
"Dr. Mackenzie said only wonderful things about Melanie," said Vivian. "Apparently she was one of the most promising students they'd had in years. This was the first time in almost ten years since the school had received any substantial merit for their work."
"We couldn't get much more out of her. Seeing as it is the end of the quarter, it was crunch time and she had three hundred essays left."
"It's not like they read them anyway," said Danny stacking his notes in order.
"She had Raymond most recently before she took off a quarter," said Sam as she scanned her notes. "He is the one she spent the most time with on the project as well."
"Yeah Viv, I want you and Martin to check him out," said Jack. "Bring him in if you need to. Samantha did you ever get in touch with the grandmother?"
She looked up and shook her head. "No, I'll keep trying though. No one is answering the phone."
"Well, you and Danny, as soon as you are finished processing what we found in her apartment, I want you to look into this project she was working on. I am going to get Troy Harris and that Hodges kid in here for a friendly little chat."
They dispersed again, Danny remained with Sam at the table.
"Sam can you hand me her schedule?" he asked while sorting through a pile of books. Sam's head was bent, she was reading one of the files. It read that Melanie had been awarded the Dubois Fellowship for her work in adolescent female study. Sam's face grew hot immediately, the blood rushing to her head. She stood abruptly, not listening to Danny's request. Danny watched her leave with a puzzled look then reached across the table, sighing.
She took off for Jack's office, but instead of taking a left turn, she proceeded to the end of the hallway and walked into the ladies' room. She felt like her face was on fire and there were elephants jumping up and down inside her head. Bringing fresh water to her brow and letting it spill down her face, she repeated the move a few more times then turned off the facet, bracing herself on the counter. Fortunately, the room was empty and left her the luxury of not looking insane while she walked around in a circle, trying calm down. Melburne, the Dubois Fellowship, having Raymond repeatedly, Hodges - Sam shook her head. It couldn't be what she thought. There was no way this was happening. Her head pounded with each breath, each step. The room was starting to spin. She leaned against the wall, hoping that her surroundings would come back into focus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 40 hours missing
Sam, Jack and Danny walked into the office, bags in hand. They headed to the back and placed their new evidence on the large conference table. Danny sat down while Sam walked to the window for a second, then turned at took the chair beside Danny. Vivan and Martin showed up not long after, with coffee for them all, and took their seats. Jack walked up to the white board and wrote "Slept at apartment last night?"
When they'd reached the apartment, it was evident that she'd been there recently. The most obvious sign was that her cd player was still on, playing the same song over and over again. It was a hard song, very tormented sounding. The kid was obviously angry or distraught about something. Sam tried to stop and just listen to the song, but there was too much to be done. Checking what song it was stuck on, Jack told the forensics team that he needed the cd bagged up and checked for prints so it could be analyzed as soon as possible.
As far as the apartment went, it was a small one-room apartment, with the tub and toilet right next to the bed. Sam figured if the girl were laying at just the right angle in bed, the girl could fry eggs on her stove and shave her legs in the bathtub at the same time. Unfortunately, the only objects of use that they could find were books of all types. These books ranged from African culture to the classics to almost 20 psychology and sociology related books. There was no phone in the apartment and there was only one light.
Danny opened up the discussion by relaying to Vivian and Martin what they'd found at Melanie's place. The team's consensus was that she was still in the city at this point.
Vivian and Martin returned full of information as well. Vivian started off, listing their most important information first.
"She had four professors at least twice and she worked with two of them on that research project. She won a fellowship and an award for the project as well."
"Which professors were these?" asked Danny.
"Christine Mackenzie and Jonathan Raymond. Dr. Mackenzie is the department head of Psychology. We spoke with her, but Dr. Raymond was at some appointment in Albany and won't be back until this afternoon. His assistant, Clayton Hodges, was there and we spoke with him briefly."
"Clayton Hodges?" Sam said incredulously.
This elicited a raised eyebrow from Vivian.
"Yeah. Know him?" she asked.
"No - I, I think I read about him in one of these reports," said Sam quickly while shuffling through some papers. "Ah. Maybe it isn't him. I'll double check when we're done."
"Thanks. Hodges is working towards his doctorate and looked like he'd been working on his dissertation a bit too long. He told us his paper is on social behavior and he kept using passing students as examples."
"Yeah like right now, the way Sam's head is cocked to the side shows she is interested and alert, but the pencil tapping also shows that she is anxious," said Martin with a smug grin. He quickly shrugged his shoulders as everyone turned and gave him questioning looks and raised eyebrows.
"What?" he said, leaning on his desk with a boyish smile.
"Anyway, he said he'd spoken with Melanie around the time of her supposed disappearance," stated Vivian.
"She was kind of off," Hodges replied while rolling up his sleeves. "Compared to some of the professors around here, she was one of the most normal people I've worked with I months. It was very easy to detect that something was wrong. She kept shuffling about, wouldn't maintain eye contact - clearly demonstrating that she was bothered by something that had just happened, but she wouldn't tell me what was wrong."
"What did she come by for?"
"I think she was looking for Dr. Thompson, but I couldn't tell. All of their offices are located in the same general area, so this is mainly an assumption."
"Who is Dr. Thompson?"
"He is one of the new sociology professors around here. Kind of tall, shaggy hair, very friendly. All the students love him."
"Do you know where he is right now?" asked Martin. Hodges checked the clock. "He should just be getting out of class right now, you could check by his office. It's right around that way," he motioned with his hand. He grabbed a coffee cup and filled it with a strong brew.
"Want any?"
"Nah, we're good thanks. So, where were you Wednesday night?" asked Martin.
"Wednesday? Mmm. Dr. Raymond and I met at the bar up the street and played pool for an hour or two. Dr. Thompson was coming too, but he had a migraine so he took a rain check. I headed back to my apartment after that."
"What bar was this?"
"The Wilted Rose."
"Great name. How well do you know Dr. Raymond?" asked Vivian.
"Pretty well. I've been here for the past two years, so I've gotten to witness the man and his magic."
"Magic?"
"Oh yes. Raymond's a great guy. Very charismatic. One of those people that in a room full of hundreds he could single you out and make you feel as though you were the only one there. He's quite a charmer with the ladies. Helps me out a bit. But uh, we used to go to the park and run little experiments on people. It was an attempt to see how one's behavior can affect the outcome of any situation."
"Sounds exciting," said Martin with a hint of sarcasm. Vivian turned away to smile.
"Oh you have no idea," said an oblivious Hodges, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He was one of those men that if he wouldn't act like a geek all the time, he would be very attractive. Kind of the Steve Urkel syndrome. "Listen, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I've got to get to the library."
"Did he really go to the library?" asked Jack.
"Couldn't tell. He was headed in the general direction though," replied Martin.
"We may be speaking with him later. If he was the last person to see Melanie, he probably knows where she is," said Jack.
"No doubt," said Vivan. "Dr. Thompson said he hadn't seen her since Monday and she seemed fine then. He's only known her since the beginning of this year, and hasn't really worked with her much."
"Did he know why she was looking for him?" asked Danny.
"We don't even know if she was. That was speculation on Hodges' part," said Martin.
"Gotchya. So, where was he Wednesday?" countered Danny.
"He's epileptic. Gets migraines as a side effect from the epilepsy and all the medication. His story is that he was in fact at his hotel that night."
"Hotel?" asked Sam with a furrowed brow.
"Oh yes, hotel. Seeing as he only moved here in August, he hasn't 'gotten around' to finding an apartment yet. Apparently he's friends with the owner of the hotel, got a deal," said Martin making various hand movements. "Did you get anything else on him?" said Jack.
"Yes, actually he isn't as big a fan of Dr. Raymond as his lackey is. His words were much less praising of Raymond's abilities, but could confirm that he had in fact worked closely with Melanie in the past few months."
"What about the other one - Dr. Mackenzie?" asked Sam.
"Dr. Mackenzie said only wonderful things about Melanie," said Vivian. "Apparently she was one of the most promising students they'd had in years. This was the first time in almost ten years since the school had received any substantial merit for their work."
"We couldn't get much more out of her. Seeing as it is the end of the quarter, it was crunch time and she had three hundred essays left."
"It's not like they read them anyway," said Danny stacking his notes in order.
"She had Raymond most recently before she took off a quarter," said Sam as she scanned her notes. "He is the one she spent the most time with on the project as well."
"Yeah Viv, I want you and Martin to check him out," said Jack. "Bring him in if you need to. Samantha did you ever get in touch with the grandmother?"
She looked up and shook her head. "No, I'll keep trying though. No one is answering the phone."
"Well, you and Danny, as soon as you are finished processing what we found in her apartment, I want you to look into this project she was working on. I am going to get Troy Harris and that Hodges kid in here for a friendly little chat."
They dispersed again, Danny remained with Sam at the table.
"Sam can you hand me her schedule?" he asked while sorting through a pile of books. Sam's head was bent, she was reading one of the files. It read that Melanie had been awarded the Dubois Fellowship for her work in adolescent female study. Sam's face grew hot immediately, the blood rushing to her head. She stood abruptly, not listening to Danny's request. Danny watched her leave with a puzzled look then reached across the table, sighing.
She took off for Jack's office, but instead of taking a left turn, she proceeded to the end of the hallway and walked into the ladies' room. She felt like her face was on fire and there were elephants jumping up and down inside her head. Bringing fresh water to her brow and letting it spill down her face, she repeated the move a few more times then turned off the facet, bracing herself on the counter. Fortunately, the room was empty and left her the luxury of not looking insane while she walked around in a circle, trying calm down. Melburne, the Dubois Fellowship, having Raymond repeatedly, Hodges - Sam shook her head. It couldn't be what she thought. There was no way this was happening. Her head pounded with each breath, each step. The room was starting to spin. She leaned against the wall, hoping that her surroundings would come back into focus.