Chapter 4:

They had left the Thomas' house late the last evening after interviewing Mirandas' parents and had agreed to not take any further step in the investigation that day. It was already too far into the evening to get a hold on anyone at school or even disturbing them at home.

They had gotten back to the office and held a briefing in which they had recalled the differences in the information the parents had given to Martin, Jack and Vivian – seeing that the mother hadn't been any help after all. It probably had been the best decision to seperate them – though Jack already had been pretty sure the mother would hide things – now he was sure.

He was also informed by Sam and Danny about Miranda's medication in her private room. They had gotten the pills to the lab, but they wouldn't have a result on that till the next morning or probably even midday. They would have to be patient about that. Yet Jack was pretty worried about that little piece of information. It matched to the information the father had given, that Miranda felt like under pressure and this left a whole range of probable reasons for her disappearance. Jack right now was fearing the worst case – the girl hadn't gotten along any longer and had just ended her life... But there still remained hope and a whole bunch of other outcomes. Giving up wasn't an option – not after all.

Now at the next morning, with bright sunlight streaming through the wide window into the room and to the conference table they sat at to coordinate their forces for the day, everything looked a little better – less hopeless – and Jack was just about to order his team into different directions of investigation.

"Viv, Martin – I would like you to get a hold on that woman the father was talking about. The student, who took Miranda to school several times. We need to find her, hopefully she knows something about her..."

"Sam, Danny – I want you two to get to see Miranda's class teacher Rachel Parker. She already agreed to give her testimony as the mother was talking to her. She informed me about that yesterday – and she was openly accusing Miranda's teacher to be responsible for the delay in reporting the girl's disapearance..."

"Is she then?"

Danny asked Jack with a sarcastic tone in his voice. He had experienced Miranda's mother and he knew she had a pretty specific way of seeing the world, which meant that she wasn't responsible for anything. But Jack didn't give in to Danny's sarcasm.

" I actually don't believe that's true, I believe she didn't even listen to the teacher. I would like to find out what actually happened..."

Jack gave the class teacher's private adress to them as they left the department and then drove off into direction of the class teacher's appartment. It was her free day of school today. Rachel Parker lived in a small flat in Brooklyn outside of downtown New York. Her teacher's loan didn't allow her much luxury, but she was happy with where she was – just that she wasn't happy with how things were right now. She had agreed to meet the FBI agents at once, so she – now – would be able to help as soon as possible, as she hadn't been able to help about Miranda earlier.

Ringing the door bell and waiting, Sam and Danny found themselves looking at a mid-fifty year old women, with dark hair that already showed signs of grey and a friendly face. She seemed slightly nervous as she smiled at them and gave them a slightly questioning look.

"Mrs. Parker?"

"Yes, that's me. I guess you're here for Miranda Thomas?"

She had a close and knowing gaze at them as she said that and there also seemed to be some curiosity in it. She probably was interested in getting to know about her pupil's fate, finding out if there were any news already. If it was for a feeling of guilt because she hadn't reported the girl's disappearance earlier or if it simply was pure curiosity they couldn't tell.

"Indeed we are. We would like to ask you some questions about her abscence yestrerday morning..."

Now a slight expression of guilt seemed to flush over the teacher's face, but it was mixed with something else, something that astonished the two agents. It seemed like there was some anger mixed with her major feeling...

"I already told her mother, that there was nothing I could've down any earlier. I didn't know there was anything unusual about her abscence, I hadn't known she had vanished.!"

"Easy, Mrs. Parker – we aren't accusing you of anything. Would you just tell us what happened?"

"Sure...

Flashback

"Mrs Parker...?"

The classteacher slightly entangled in fetching all of her things to finally be able to leave the class room, looked up at the voice addressing her and gave the young girl standing in front of her an encouraging smile – Miranda Thomas. The shy, but very smart young lady sitting in last line of her class.

"What is it Miranda?"

" I got a slight problem...?"

"About what?"

"I got an appointment tomorrow, a doctor's appointment, but I forgot to inform the principal's office and it's too late to do that now. I just wanted to inform you about it and I'll get the doctor's Attest to the office tomorrow. Would that be okay?"

She thought about it for a moment, having a close look at her pupil. The girl was shy – she barely remembered hearing her talking after all. And above all she liked her, she felt pity for her from time to time – wishing her school life would be a bit easier. She wouldn't blame her for forgetting informing the office – it was just human and the girl seemed to feel extremely uneasy about it. She gave her a smile.

"It's okay honey, don't worry about it. I'll take care of it and inform the principal's office tomorrow."

She believed to see a very faint smile on the teenage girl's lips and a feeling of gratefulness appeared on her face – like she couldn't believe anyone would do anything for her by free will.

"Really? That's just wonderful. Thank you so very much Mrs. Parker. I really apreciate you taking all these effort on yourself... I really need to thank you..."

"It's okay Miranda, it's no problem and it's definitely not an effort. Just get the confirmation from the doctor to the principal's office when you're back in school."

"Sure Mrs. Parker – I definitely will."

The young woman gave her another shy smile and rushed out of the room. Rachel Parker couldn't help herself but smile for a few seconds and then sigh. Somehow it was cute and on the other hand it was simply tragic. The girl had acted like a rabbit caught in a trap – she had been so afraid, she just couldn't believe it and her overeagerness to say thank you had somehow seemed cute. But how scared of the world and the people around her must she be, how much must she be lacking of any courage and love for herself that she had been that afraid...

It was the one thing she absolutely disliked about her job – there were always things she could simply observe, but do nothing against it. She was no psychologist, she was no friend and she wasn't the girl's parents. It wasn't her job to get Miranda through that hard time of her life. She was only responsible for her education and she tried to do at least that job the best she could...

End of flashback

She ended her resume of the conversation she had with Miranda and had an expectant gaze at the two agents sitting opposite of her. She knew she had taken a lot of effort in defending herself with telling that she couldn't do that much for her pupils and she actually didn't even know why she had said that. She had nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of and she hadn't done anything wrong. Still she had told the story the way she had done and somehow she had that slight, uneasy, uncertain feeling, that the two agents were sceptical.

"We haven't heard a single word about that by now. Mrs. Thomas didn't tell us about it."

A sarcastic and hard laugh emerged from her lips before she had been able to get control above it.

"That's because we didn't talk about it. We didn't even get that far when she called me. She simply accused me of being responsible for her daughter's disappearance and that I would have to explain my behavior to police. That's it – I didn't even have a chance to tell her what really happened. She didn't listen to me."

She could see the two agents exchange knowing gazes and she could feel her uneasiness slowly vanish. They seemed to believe her – at least in this point.

"So what happened yesterday?"

"Nothing – I went to the principal's office and informed them about Miranda's appointment and then I had my classes as usual. I didn't think about it any more, for I was sure she would be back in school today. She had told me so and I hadn't doubted her. Of course I could've called the parents or the doctor she claimed to go to, but she always seemed a sencere girl to me. She never missed a single day of class since I know her and she never distrusted anyone. I didn't see the necesity to aprove her explanation."

"It's okay Mrs. Parker. Is there anything else you can tell us, anything you know about Miranda? Friends of hers, people she frequently saw or people she was in trouble with?"

"I really don't know her that well, but I don't think she ever was having a fight with anyone. But when it comes to such personal terms as friends, I really don't think I can help you much..."

"Anything you recall might be a help."

"Okay... I actually recall seeing her the one or other time with three other pupils, but I can't say which kind of relation they had with each other, I simply remember seeing them together... That would be Anmary Dale, Violet Shavers and Lukas Wilson.

A few moments of silence followed after her last statement and she waited for anything else to happen or to be asked, but the two agents were down with their questioning. They rose and thanked her for her time, telling her to stay available if their would be any further questions. She leaded them to the door and said goodbye.

A deep sigh emerged her lips after she had closed the door behind them. The silence of her dwelling suddenly seemed unbearable to her and she just wished for any sound to reach her ears. Anything that would distract her from thinking and recalling. Being confronted with the conversation she had with Miranda once again – she now had started to feel guilty. Maybe she should've been more doubtful, maybe there had been more she could've done... But it was too late for such thoughts now, simply too late.