After hanging up, Dr. Lamb looked at the phone as though she thought David might jump out of it. (Maybe she really did. April had learned not to overestimate her former employer's competence with technology.)
Then she held out the flip-phone - still folded open - to April. "Find my son," she commanded.
"On it." April palmed the phone, turning towards her computer. She knew a database where she could do a reverse look-up, locating the street address associated with the phone number. In a few button presses she had brought up the cell phone's call record.
She got two paces further and then stopped, her computer chair still an arm's length away.
"What's the matter?" Dr. Lamb asked.
"The number is screened," April said. "It's all zeroes." She turned around to show her former employer the problem. "Whoever owns this number doesn't want to be found."
Splinter had declined to view the string of zeroes on the phone's monochrome screen, but he lowered his ears at April's explanation. "When someone does not want to be found, it often is not a good sign."
"Right," Dr. Lamb agreed. "What do we really know about this Casey Jones character, not to mention about any contacts he may have?" She looked at Splinter. "You said Raphael wouldn't be friends with a disreputable person. But - he's the loud complainer, right? Is he really such a good judge of character?"
Demonstrating impressive restraint, Splinter was silent a moment and then said, "It serves nothing to discuss Raphael's personal qualities at this time. Miss O'Neil, what other methods might we employ to locate our sons?"
"I think it serves a lot," Dr. Lamb said. "If our kids have been duped into accepting a ride from a near-stranger with questionable motivations, and if he deliberately took them to some untraceable location for nefarious purposes, that seems important to know."
"I might still be able to get the number," April said to Splinter, ignoring Dr. Lamb's comments. "While I work on that, you can search maps of the Northeast, looking for any place called Northampton."
Splinter nodded. "We will proceed as you say."
"Excuse me," Dr. Lamb said, as April went into the kitchen to rummage through her drawer of highway maps. "To my point?"
"Believe me," Splinter said, "I understand your concern. We will continue our search with all possible speed. I do not think attacking my son's judgment will assist us in doing so."
"His judgment isn't the only thing I want to attack," Dr. Lamb said. "Your kids kidnapped my son. I don't think they realize how much danger they've put him in."
"I assure you," Splinter said, as April returned to the living room with a sheaf of accordion-folded maps, "right now our children are much safer with each other than they would be with us. My sons are trained for many eventualities and will take excellent care of David. Nonetheless, when they return him, their adventure will not go unpunished."
Dr. Lamb seemed only slightly mollified as she snatched the maps from April and settled on the floor in front of the TV to spread them out. April was fairly certain her former employer was north of fifty by now, but she had the energy and agility of a much younger woman. Splinter, of course, seemed to prefer sitting on the floor, and had no difficulty lowering himself onto the carpet.
"You take north," Dr. Lamb said, separating out the maps for New England and passing them to Splinter. "I'll take south, and we'll meet in Pennsylvania. April, get to work on that special reverse look-up."
"Excuse me," April felt compelled to say. She was no longer a college student, and even when she had been, she had felt that this behavior from her boss was somewhat unacceptable. "I don't work for you anymore, Dr. Lamb. You broke into my apartment and threatened me with a knife. I'm helping you out as a favor, because David is a great kid."
"Technically," Dr. Lamb said, without looking up from her intense scrutiny of the state of Virginia, "Splinter broke into your apartment and threatened you with a knife. I just followed him."
"Right," April said. She didn't usually back down from that kind of fight, but right now it wasn't in anyone's interest to bicker about the inappropriateness of Dr. Lamb's behavior, and whether any of her actions had crossed the line from inconsiderate to illegal. She moved back towards her computer. "By the way, what did David want to say to me on the phone?"
"Just hi," Dr. Lamb said absently.
"Hi?" April said. She couldn't help smiling as she settled into the chair and got to work. "Is he flirting with me? I swear he was flirting with me when he was eight."
"Better not be," Dr. Lamb said. "He has a girlfriend. Also he's not allowed to date seriously until he's at least sixty."
"Is that why you're still single?" April couldn't help asking.
"Watch it, young lady."
"This girlfriend," Splinter said carefully, as he studied the map of Maine. "May I ask, is the Anna who is David's girlfriend the same Anna whom I met yesterday?"
"Oh, yes," Dr. Lamb said, and she didn't seem especially pleased about it.
"I do not mean to be insulting," Splinter said, "but have I misunderstood what is meant by hot?"
"You have not," Dr. Lamb said.
"Wait," said April. "Is the Anna who is David's girlfriend the same Anna who he used to always complain about being not so bright?"
"The very same," Dr. Lamb confirmed.
"Why -" April started, but Dr. Lamb interrupted, stabbing her finger at the edge of the map.
"I've got it. Northampton County, Virginia." She looked up. "It's way out on the barrier island. Who knows how they got there, but let's go."
April didn't move. "There has to be more than one Northampton, Dr. Lamb," she said. "Let's find them all, and then try to narrow it down."
Dr. Lamb wasn't happy about this plan, but April's hunch turned out to be right. In short order, Dr. Lamb also located a Northampton County in North Carolina, along the Virginia border. With a ruler and some math, however, she calculated that it would take at least six hours to drive from Manhattan to either of those counties, putting them well outside the distance David thought he and his brothers had traveled.
Further study of the maps turned up a Northampton in central New York, a Northampton on the east end of Long Island, and a Northampton in western Massachusetts. When Splinter and Dr. Lamb converged on the map of Pennsylvania, they located two Northampton Townships and a third Northampton County. While they worked, Splinter related to April the additional clues that David had been able to give them during the phone call.
"Now what?" Dr. Lamb asked, after recording all of their findings on a pad of post-it notes that April tossed to her.
"Now we do some detective work," April said. "A big house with a lake and some woods. It's not much to go on, but we can take a look at which Northamptons might have rural areas with large properties."
"Remember where David has grown up, though," Dr. Lamb said. "He might be talking about a modestly-sized single-family home with a puddle and two trees."
"Good point," April said. "I'll do the best I can - and we'll hope he calls us back."