Author's Note: I own nothing.
28 No Time To Lose
Dev blinked at them for a moment before snapping into action. He ushered the Fentons into one of the rooms set aside for just such an occasion. It was a much homier version of an interrogation room, with a plush couch and wooden table rather than the steel versions down the hall. He hurried through the bullpen and into the Captain's office. He looked up raising an eyebrow at Dev.
"I heard the Fentons were here, but I thought you could take care of their debrief Devlin. I mean.." Dev cut him off.
"They're not here about that. Their youngest is missing. Dani Fenton?" The Captain stiffened and swore. It had been a while since Amity had a missing child case. Despite her being fifteen Dani Fenton was still a minor and her disappearance was a big deal. Every second counted on a case like this. The Captain turned in his desk chair, pulling out several sheets of paper.
"You go talk to the family, I'll get the paperwork started. Get me the most recent photo we can find." Dev nodded rushing back to the room. Patrica was there with a pot of tea, comforting both of the parents. Dev patted her on the shoulder, silently thanking all the higher powers for people who could keep a level head in a disaster like her. She nodded to him, leaving quickly as he sat down and pulled out his notebook.
"Ok. I need you to tell me everything you can, where she was seen last, anything you might think is relevant. And I need a recent photo." Jack nodded pulling out his wallet. He pulled a photo out of it and handed it to Dev. It was a photo of Dani and Jazz in somewhat fancy dresses. Dani looked to be rolling her eyes at the camera, a small smile on her face as Jazz wrapped an arm her sister a grin on her face.
"That's from a few months back, she and Jazz came to our college reunion with us." Jack sniffled, he was clearly trying to hold it together for the rest of his family. Jazz was a mess, sobbing into her hands as Maddie rubbed her back, the tea forgotten on the table. Dev nodded.
"If you can find a more recent photo that would be helpful, but this will work for now." Jazz scrambled in her pocket and yanked out her phone. She managed to unlock it through her tears and open the camera roll. She shoved the phone at Dev who managed to catch it. On the screen was a photo of Dani drumming her pencil on what must be the kitchen table. She was so focused on the homework in front of her she hadn't noticed Jazz. Her tongue was sticking out of the corner of her mouth, just the tiniest amount, she looked like a cat and under any other circumstances it would have been funny, which was likely why Jazz had taken the photo. Dev nodded. "Can you tell me when this photo was taken?" He asked keeping his voice low and gentle. Jazz took a moment to catch her breath.
"Two days ago. She was being a dork. I thought it was funny." She buried her head back in her hands. Dev nodded as Maddie went back to comforting Jazz, who was inconsolable.
"When was the last time you saw Dani?" He asked Jack. "Any of you?" It was Maddie who piped up this time, her voice raw.
"I dropped her and Jazz off to school, yesterday morning. She had detention, for skipping class to go to the opening ceremony of Circus Gothica on Thursday. She's grounded, she was supposed to come home after detention. She didn't come home at all last night." Maddie managed, her voice sounding dead. Dev nodded writing a few things down.
"Is there anyone who may have seen her between when you dropped her off and when she was supposed to be home?" He asked. Jack nodded.
"Her friends Sam Manson and Tanya Foley. They said she headed home after their teacher let them out early from detention. Oh he would have seen her too, Mr. Lancer. I'm not sure of his first name. He's the English and Biology teacher at Casper high." Jack said looking down at his feet. He was clearly close to bursting into tears just like Jazz. Dev nodded, standing, still holding Jazz's phone in his hand. He stepped over to the door. Poking his head out of the room he beaconed Patrica over.
"Pat, get this photo in our system, it's the most recent for our missing persons case. And do we have a box of…" Patricia handed him a box of tissues before he could finish his sentence. He nodded. "You're the best." He said handing her Jazz's phone. She nodded taking the phone.
"You know it. I'll get this back to you in a few minutes." He nodded taking the box of tissues back into the room. Ten minutes later found him in a debrief with most of the rest of the station.
"OK, we're splitting up the town into sections. Dev takes the lead on this one since he's liaison to the Fentons anyway. Dev, take who you need, question the youngest Manson and Foleys see if they actually did see the kid before she went missing. Currently no one can get a hold of Lancer at the school. Parker, West, you take that angle. Sie you head up the search on the west side of town. I'll take the east." Chan Sie shook his head.
"Cap, what about this fucking Circus in town? They've got the parent groups going wild." A few other officers nodded.
"And isn't the newbie supposed to be chasing down our bank thief ghost?" Another called out. The Captain grimaced.
"We got a living kid to find, who might not be living much longer if you don't nut up and do your damn jobs! Sie, you've just volunteered yourself and Burns for crowd control, take two beat officers with you. Everyone else is looking for the kid." They all nodded and headed out. Dev had sent the Fentons home, with the hope that Dani would show up there soon. He headed off to the Foley household first. Angelica opened the door looking confused.
"Dev? Did you need to talk to me about that we were talking about earlier. He spotted her husband on the couch looking slightly confused, he'd guess she hadn't told her family about her close encounter with Phantom. Dev shook her head.
"No actually. I need to talk to your daughter, Tanya Foley. We've had a missing persons report filed for Dani Fenton and apparently she was one of the last people to see her." Angelica clapped a hand to her mouth, tears sprouting in her eyes.
"Dani's missing?" Dev nodded.
"Seems to be yeah. Can I speak to your daughter?" Angelica shook her head.
"She's not here. She went down to the library." Dev nodded to Angelica as her husband rose and stepped over to them seeming to have noticed his wife's distress.
"What's going on?" He demanded. Angelica answered him before Dev could.
"Dani's missing." His eyes widened and he pulled his wife into a hug. Dev nodded.
"Have either of you seen her in the last twenty four hours?" Both shook their heads. Dev nodded. "I need you to call me as soon as your daughter gets home. You already have my number Mrs. Foley." She nodded clearly not trusting herself to speak.
Dev's next stop was the Manson Mansion, it was garishly painted in bright tones. He shook his head, why was it that rich people never had good taste. He frowned as he rang the clanging doorbell. The door was opened by a butler in a high waisted tuxedo. Dev resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead pulled his badge.
"I'm Officer Wulfric of the Amity Park Police Department, I'm here regarding a case and I need to speak to Sam Manson." The butler nodded and escorted him inside to a sitting room. He didn't sit down. Everything looked just a little too expensive for him to do so comfortably. A few minutes later a red headed woman in a very fancy, fifties style pink dress, pearls and all, barged into the room.
"Oh good! We're finally being taken seriously! The PTA has been trying to get in touch with the police about this Circus Gothica nonsense for almost a month! I mean it's ridiculous! They're trying to poison our precious children's minds with all this dark and gloomy tomfoolery!" Dev cleared his throat.
"Ma'am I'm not here about Circus Gothica. I need to speak to your son, Sam Manson." She stiffened.
"About what? He's a minor. He doesn't have to talk to you if I don't want him to." Dev had to interrupt her again.
"Ma'am he hasn't done anything wrong. This is about Dani Fenton." Again she interrupted him.
"Is that restraining order finally going through? I told my son not to hang around that family!" He cut her off, growing impatient, time was of the essence in situations like this and Pamela Manson seemed to be doing everything in her power to waste his time.
"She's missing ma'am. Your son was one of the last people to see her before she went missing. I need to speak to him." Pamela opened her mouth looking like she wanted to argue when a whirring entered the room.
"Pam, you can't get a restraining order against people for no damn reason. You cannot control who Sam is friends with and you need to stop wasting police time!" The woman in the mobility chair glared at her daughter in law who floundered. She wheeled forward. "Now how can we help you officer?"
"I need to ask Sam Manson a few questions about when he last saw Dani Fenton. She's been missing since last night." True concern flashed across the old woman's face. Whatever Pam thought about Dani Ida did not agree.
"He's upstairs in his room. Third door on the left, it's the only black one you'll know it when you get there." Ida said gesturing over her shoulder and Dev nodded his thanks hurrying out of the room and up the stairs before Pamela could object. Ida Manson was right, Sam's door was easy to set aside from the others in the house. It was painted black with inlayed bats barely visible. It was impressively artistic and closed. Dev knocked and the door opened to an angry teen. He had shaggy black hair and bright purple eyes. He wore head to toe black, save for a pair of silver earrings and a purple vest, embroidered with spiderwebs. He blinked, clearly he hadn't expected a stranger at the door.
"Can I help you?"
"I'm Officer Wulfric of the Amity Park Police Department. I'm sorry to be the one to have to tell you this, but your friend Dani Fenton has been reported missing. I need to know when you saw her last." He went pale but there was no surprise in his eyes, just pain. Dev frowned. Sam knew Dani was missing, but he hadn't expected this visit. Why? He set the thought aside for the moment.
"Yesterday. We had detention together for going to the opening ceremonies of Circus Gothica. Lancer let us out early. She said she was going to head home. I haven't seen her since." He was a decent liar, but he refused to meet Dev's eyes. She hadn't gone home.
"No one can seem to get a hold of your teacher Mr. Lancer either. Any ideas where he might be?" Dev asked and Sam looked up, genuinely confused.
"No. Not since I got out of detention." That was genuine, so as far as Sam knew Lancer had nothing to do with Dani going missing. But why did her disappearance not surprise him? Sam shrugged. "I don't know everything's been really weird since that stupid circus came to town." He said and Dev frowned. He would not have guessed that this goth boy shared his conservative mother's opinion. Sam still wasn't meeting his eyes. "They roll into town and suddenly banks and museums are getting robbed and people are going missing."He hiccuped, scrubbing at his eyes. "Is that all you needed?" Dev nodded.
"Should be yeah. Thank you." He turned and headed off. He knew a hint when one was dropped in his lap. He had a circus to investigate, he just hoped the kid was right.
