Jesse stood as Hook entered followed by the police. Ever since
Hook's announcement that he had contacted the police over Lona's
disappearance, he had been debating the best way to handle the situation.
Obviously at this point denial that anything was unusual about Lona's sudden departure wasn't going to work any longer. And if he had to admit it to himself, he knew that there was something off about the resignation letter. He just couldn't understand how it could have ended up in his office if it wasn't genuine, though. Surely no one would play such a mean joke on Dr. Massingale.
"Dr. James, these are Detectives Ryan and Rogers. They're here about the situation with Dr. Massingale." Hook told him. He just hoped that Jesse would finally start taking this seriously and not try to downplay it. They needed as much help as they could get to find Lona.
"Yes, the situation with Dr. Massingale. The more I think about it, the more I've begun to feel a bit concerned as well." Jesse said with a serious look. Okay, he normally tried to cover up stuff to protect the hospital but if something serious had happened to Lona and with how long she had been gone without contacting someone, he could only assume that it had.... Best to do everything that he could to aid the police. Surely they would find out what had happened quickly so things could return to normal.
"You'll be wanting the note, of course." Jesse said as he fumbled around in his desk for a moment before extracting the paper. "I do hope that you can bring this to a conclusion swiftly. Very disconcerting matter."
"How many people have handled this, do you know?" Detective Rogers asked as he extracted a bag from his coat pocket and slipped the note inside.
"Probably anyone who was at the staff meeting." Jesse said with a frown. Maybe he should have been a bit more careful with the note, he was thinking, now, but at the time he had just taken it at face value and had been focusing on his annoyance with Dr. Massingale for leaving him in the lurch. "Dr. Hook, did you notice who might have handled the note?"
"No idea. We were a little in shock about Lona." Hook said,
shaking his head as he spoke.
Well, that would complicate things slightly if there turned out to be foul play involved, both officers knew. "Tell me, why do you think the note isn't genuine?" Detective Ryan asked.
"You really have to know Lona to understand but the entire thing with the sudden resignation just is totally out of character for her."
Hook told them. "Lona's a dedicated researcher and for her to just suddenly leave her work like this just doesn't make sense. Also, she had an appointment set up with one of the other doctors for the morning we first found out she was gone and she had several research grants that were due to come in as well. For her to just leave like this doesn't fit with her character at all. Also, there's the font that the note is written in.
Two of our other doctors who work frequently with Lona pointed this out.
The note's in a font that almost looks handwritten and is a bit hard to read. Lona typically uses plain fonts, nothing like this. Also, her car's still down in the parking lot and when we checked her house, everything was still there, clothes and all. This just doesn't fit."
The officers were silent for a moment, both going over the proper procedures for a situation like this in their heads before speaking.
"We'll need to set up interviews. Do you know the last place she was seen and by whom?" Detective Rogers asked.
"Dr. Havens was the last person to see Lona. He said she looked a bit pale like she might be sick. That's one of the reasons we're so concerned about her. That was down in the basement. Elmer, Dr. Elmer Traff," Hook mentally laughed as he thought of the goofy younger doctor actually being a sort of full fledged doctor, "he was the person who saw her before that down in the sleep lab. I'll be happy to show you."
"I'd like to go down there and take a look." Detective Rogers said as he stood. "In the meantime, I'll need you to put together a list of anyone who might have seen or spoken to Dr. Massingale in the days leading up to her disappearance. We'll need to speak to all of them."
"That would be pretty much the entire neurosciences team." Jesse shook his head slightly as he thought of that. Steg definitely was not going to be pleased when he got contacted for an interview by the police due to a missing co-worker. "I'll see what I can do. Everyone should be here today." One benefit of his new policy on time off anyway.
"Good. We'll start the interviews as soon as we check out the basement. Doctor, if you'll show us the way?" Detective Rogers said,
motioning for Hook to take the lead.
Obviously at this point denial that anything was unusual about Lona's sudden departure wasn't going to work any longer. And if he had to admit it to himself, he knew that there was something off about the resignation letter. He just couldn't understand how it could have ended up in his office if it wasn't genuine, though. Surely no one would play such a mean joke on Dr. Massingale.
"Dr. James, these are Detectives Ryan and Rogers. They're here about the situation with Dr. Massingale." Hook told him. He just hoped that Jesse would finally start taking this seriously and not try to downplay it. They needed as much help as they could get to find Lona.
"Yes, the situation with Dr. Massingale. The more I think about it, the more I've begun to feel a bit concerned as well." Jesse said with a serious look. Okay, he normally tried to cover up stuff to protect the hospital but if something serious had happened to Lona and with how long she had been gone without contacting someone, he could only assume that it had.... Best to do everything that he could to aid the police. Surely they would find out what had happened quickly so things could return to normal.
"You'll be wanting the note, of course." Jesse said as he fumbled around in his desk for a moment before extracting the paper. "I do hope that you can bring this to a conclusion swiftly. Very disconcerting matter."
"How many people have handled this, do you know?" Detective Rogers asked as he extracted a bag from his coat pocket and slipped the note inside.
"Probably anyone who was at the staff meeting." Jesse said with a frown. Maybe he should have been a bit more careful with the note, he was thinking, now, but at the time he had just taken it at face value and had been focusing on his annoyance with Dr. Massingale for leaving him in the lurch. "Dr. Hook, did you notice who might have handled the note?"
"No idea. We were a little in shock about Lona." Hook said,
shaking his head as he spoke.
Well, that would complicate things slightly if there turned out to be foul play involved, both officers knew. "Tell me, why do you think the note isn't genuine?" Detective Ryan asked.
"You really have to know Lona to understand but the entire thing with the sudden resignation just is totally out of character for her."
Hook told them. "Lona's a dedicated researcher and for her to just suddenly leave her work like this just doesn't make sense. Also, she had an appointment set up with one of the other doctors for the morning we first found out she was gone and she had several research grants that were due to come in as well. For her to just leave like this doesn't fit with her character at all. Also, there's the font that the note is written in.
Two of our other doctors who work frequently with Lona pointed this out.
The note's in a font that almost looks handwritten and is a bit hard to read. Lona typically uses plain fonts, nothing like this. Also, her car's still down in the parking lot and when we checked her house, everything was still there, clothes and all. This just doesn't fit."
The officers were silent for a moment, both going over the proper procedures for a situation like this in their heads before speaking.
"We'll need to set up interviews. Do you know the last place she was seen and by whom?" Detective Rogers asked.
"Dr. Havens was the last person to see Lona. He said she looked a bit pale like she might be sick. That's one of the reasons we're so concerned about her. That was down in the basement. Elmer, Dr. Elmer Traff," Hook mentally laughed as he thought of the goofy younger doctor actually being a sort of full fledged doctor, "he was the person who saw her before that down in the sleep lab. I'll be happy to show you."
"I'd like to go down there and take a look." Detective Rogers said as he stood. "In the meantime, I'll need you to put together a list of anyone who might have seen or spoken to Dr. Massingale in the days leading up to her disappearance. We'll need to speak to all of them."
"That would be pretty much the entire neurosciences team." Jesse shook his head slightly as he thought of that. Steg definitely was not going to be pleased when he got contacted for an interview by the police due to a missing co-worker. "I'll see what I can do. Everyone should be here today." One benefit of his new policy on time off anyway.
"Good. We'll start the interviews as soon as we check out the basement. Doctor, if you'll show us the way?" Detective Rogers said,
motioning for Hook to take the lead.