"Okay," Hook said as the group entered the sleep lab once more.
He stopped, running his eyes around the room, trying to figure out where in the world they could best look for answers. They didn't even know why Lona had vanished, after all, if she had left of her own free will or not. That would definitely complicate things. How would they even know what might be important and what might not.
"I'll check the computer." Chris said with a frown. Okay, it was looking like the new job offer probably wasn't too likely but maybe there was something on there, a schedule of what Lona had planned or something that would show what had been last written on the computer, something to prove that the resignation letter wasn't from her. As she moved the mouse to deactivate the screen saver, she realized there was going to be a problem, though. The files that she likely needed were probably password protected.
"It's the day that she graduated med school." Elmer said as he looked over at Chris and saw the sudden look of concern on her face.
"Elmer, could I ask how you know the password to Lona's files?"
Louis frowned as he looked over at his son. If he had been snooping and poking around in her things... Was it possible that Lona had actually left of her own free will to get away from him?
"I was kind of curious about what all of those tests she was running on me said." Elmer turned slightly red, knowing that that wasn't the whole truth, though. He had been wanting to check and make sure that Lona hadn't included anything along with the files saying what a loser he was or something similar. And it wasn't really snooping, after all, he reassured himself. The files were on him. He was just wanting to check his own files. He was sure that he was allowed to do that.
"Guess we might be getting some use out of you following Lona around like you do after all." Hook laughed slightly trying to lighten the moment, to keep Louis from exploding at his son. Yelling at Elmer wouldn't help and his knowledge of Lona might come in handy no matter how he had happened to come across it. "So, did she say anything last night, mention anyone or any sort of problems she might be having?"
Elmer shook his head. "Nothing. She just wanted to try out a new experiment she had thought up but I was just so tired last night." He shook his head as he thought of that. Lona had worried that his exhaustion might interfere with the test results but he had been concerned for another reason. If they ended up in that morgue again like they had in Lona's last little test with him, he didn't want to be practically ready to fall asleep in the middle! Okay, Lona had been plenty ticked at him over their first little morgue visit but he was pretty sure that if he fell asleep on her,
she would be even more upset. He had a feeling women took those things the wrong way.
"She just talked to you about tests?" Hook asked. Now if they had just talked about tests then why in the world was Elmer suddenly looking so embarrassed? He shook his head slightly not sure if he really wanted to know what might be going on in Elmer's head or not. "She didn't say anything about say, a sick family member or...."
"Closest relatives that Lona has are some cousins and they don't really talk." Elmer said with a shake of his head. "The only thing she said was about the experiments and she was really eager to get started with those. Why would she leave if she was...."
"Do I even want to know why you know about Lona's family situation?" Hook grinned once more before something suddenly occurred to him and he slapped his forehead at his own stupidity. "Chris, ring her cell phone. We need to know where Lona is, we should probably just ask her."
Chris picked up the phone, looking more than a little embarrassed as she dialed. Why hadn't they thought of this before and saved themselves some trouble. After several rings the embarrassment faded, though. "Hook,
the company says that the phone's out of service." she said quietly.
Phone out of service. That definitely didn't sound good but Hook tried not to let his reaction to the news show. All it would do would be to make Elmer freak even more than he already was. "Try back in a few minutes. It could be a problem with the company." he told Chris before turning to Louis and Elmer. "Why don't the two of you spread out and talk to as many people as you can, see if anyone saw Lona last night after you did, Elmer. Maybe someone else will have a clue as to where she might be."
He stopped, running his eyes around the room, trying to figure out where in the world they could best look for answers. They didn't even know why Lona had vanished, after all, if she had left of her own free will or not. That would definitely complicate things. How would they even know what might be important and what might not.
"I'll check the computer." Chris said with a frown. Okay, it was looking like the new job offer probably wasn't too likely but maybe there was something on there, a schedule of what Lona had planned or something that would show what had been last written on the computer, something to prove that the resignation letter wasn't from her. As she moved the mouse to deactivate the screen saver, she realized there was going to be a problem, though. The files that she likely needed were probably password protected.
"It's the day that she graduated med school." Elmer said as he looked over at Chris and saw the sudden look of concern on her face.
"Elmer, could I ask how you know the password to Lona's files?"
Louis frowned as he looked over at his son. If he had been snooping and poking around in her things... Was it possible that Lona had actually left of her own free will to get away from him?
"I was kind of curious about what all of those tests she was running on me said." Elmer turned slightly red, knowing that that wasn't the whole truth, though. He had been wanting to check and make sure that Lona hadn't included anything along with the files saying what a loser he was or something similar. And it wasn't really snooping, after all, he reassured himself. The files were on him. He was just wanting to check his own files. He was sure that he was allowed to do that.
"Guess we might be getting some use out of you following Lona around like you do after all." Hook laughed slightly trying to lighten the moment, to keep Louis from exploding at his son. Yelling at Elmer wouldn't help and his knowledge of Lona might come in handy no matter how he had happened to come across it. "So, did she say anything last night, mention anyone or any sort of problems she might be having?"
Elmer shook his head. "Nothing. She just wanted to try out a new experiment she had thought up but I was just so tired last night." He shook his head as he thought of that. Lona had worried that his exhaustion might interfere with the test results but he had been concerned for another reason. If they ended up in that morgue again like they had in Lona's last little test with him, he didn't want to be practically ready to fall asleep in the middle! Okay, Lona had been plenty ticked at him over their first little morgue visit but he was pretty sure that if he fell asleep on her,
she would be even more upset. He had a feeling women took those things the wrong way.
"She just talked to you about tests?" Hook asked. Now if they had just talked about tests then why in the world was Elmer suddenly looking so embarrassed? He shook his head slightly not sure if he really wanted to know what might be going on in Elmer's head or not. "She didn't say anything about say, a sick family member or...."
"Closest relatives that Lona has are some cousins and they don't really talk." Elmer said with a shake of his head. "The only thing she said was about the experiments and she was really eager to get started with those. Why would she leave if she was...."
"Do I even want to know why you know about Lona's family situation?" Hook grinned once more before something suddenly occurred to him and he slapped his forehead at his own stupidity. "Chris, ring her cell phone. We need to know where Lona is, we should probably just ask her."
Chris picked up the phone, looking more than a little embarrassed as she dialed. Why hadn't they thought of this before and saved themselves some trouble. After several rings the embarrassment faded, though. "Hook,
the company says that the phone's out of service." she said quietly.
Phone out of service. That definitely didn't sound good but Hook tried not to let his reaction to the news show. All it would do would be to make Elmer freak even more than he already was. "Try back in a few minutes. It could be a problem with the company." he told Chris before turning to Louis and Elmer. "Why don't the two of you spread out and talk to as many people as you can, see if anyone saw Lona last night after you did, Elmer. Maybe someone else will have a clue as to where she might be."