"Shut up! I'm thinking!"
I stared at the phone. It was saying something to me. There was something there…
"Star sixty-nine." I said.
"What?!"
"I picked up the receiver and dialed 69. A number flashed across the caller ID screen. I copied it down. Someone picked up the phone.
"City morgue, Mort Rigor speaking."
"Ha ha very funny." I said sarcasticly.
"What the- hey didn't I just call you?! You're supposed to be out looking for Squee. Good-BYE."
I turned to Nny, who was looking at me questioningly.
"What did you just do?"
"I called our kidnapper. We need a link to the internet. So we have to go to the library, now. Let's go."
"Just one thing. It's five in the morning. What libraries do you know that are open before 9?"
I pulled out a penknife.
"Any one with a door this can jimmy."
Nny grinned.
The library was surprisingly easy to break into. But I guess, who wants to break into a library? It was an easy matter to pick the lock, and there was no sign of an electronic system. They have to put a sticker up, if they have an electronic system. I guess so robbers can tell which system they have to destroy.
It was dark inside, and kind of scary. I've never been in a dark library before, I hope never to be again. The racks of books loomed over us, threatening to collapse. I inched along, certain a book was gonna jump out and scream 'attack!'
The computer terminals were along the back wall. They were all on sleeper mode, so as soon as I clicked a mouse, they all whirred to life.
"I'm checking the phone number." I said, pulling out a scrap of paper. "You search articles for a missing person named 'Mmy'"
"Jimmy."
I opened a Google search, plugged in the phone number.
"About him… how did you get caught on that? And why didn't this psycho just go to the police?"
Nny concentrated on the newspaper's article list.
"The police just forget we were ever reported. I used to think they were just stupid, but now I think there's some department down in hell devoted to making sure we don't get caught."
The white screens lit the immediate area eerily. Nny features were thrown into sharp relief. He looked terrifying, and a spark of the fear I felt earlier returned.
"Mmy found out about me somehow. He came to my house, dressed like me, hair like mine used to be, boots even like mine. He told me he was my biggest fan. He told me about people he'd killed, and it scared me a little too much. I killed him, he's still in the basement, I think. But his brother must have put two and two together."
I looked at the entry for the phone number. There was a name, and nothing else.
"Gregory P." I said. "So we have a name." I ran a search on the name.
"Oooh, Gregory has quite a record. Armed robbery, breaking and entering, and…"
Nny looked at me fearfully.
"What?" he asked.
"Kidnapping and murder."
I looked through the crimes on the record. He served a total of three years. His record was as long as I guess mine would be. Over 15 convictions. Out of a suspect list of over thirty.
"We're looking at something special here." I said softly. "He's done as much stuff as you or me, but he almost never gets convicted. And when he does, they let him off early."
"Any address?"
"Nothing. There's a N/A in the address bar. What the hell does that mean?"
"I got something." I leaned over to look at his screen. The headline blared up at me. I paled.