Michael got off the phone, with a dilemma that he hadn't faced in a long time and had hoped he would never have to face again: involving his family on what was fast becoming a job and trying to work out how much he should tell them.
"What do the police want?" Fiona asked as soon as he got hung up.
"Am I in trouble?" Asked Charlie.
"No, you're not in trouble." Michael replied, thinking fast. "Charlie, I need you to call Finlay's house and tell them that you need to speak with Finlay."
"Okay, what am I speaking to him about?" Charlie asked.
"I'll be speaking to Finlay once you get him on the phone." Michael replied, handing Charlie his handset.
"What is going on?" Fiona asked as Charlie waited for someone to answer the phone.
"I'll know more after I speak with Finlay." Michael replied.
"Hello. Ms Weiss, can I speak with Finlay?" Charlie asked. Then he turned to Michael. "She's gone to get him."
"I'll take it from here," said Michael as he took the phone off Charlie.
"Hello?" said Finlay.
"Finlay, this is Michael. I need you to pretend that you're talking to Charlie so your mom doesn't know. Can you do that?" asked Michael.
"Sure Charlie. No problems." Finlay replied cheerfully.
Michael frowned. It should not have been so easy for the child to lie.
"Okay, a couple of days ago, you reported Ms Richards missing to the police." said Michael.
"They called you?" Finlay asked, excited.
"Yes they did," Michael replied.
"They found her?"
"Yes."
It wasn't a complete lie. The police had answered Michael in the same way.
"Now, I need to know why you called them when you did." said Michael.
"Oh yeah, sorry about that. My mum would kill me if the cops called her. So er… yeah, sorry I didn't tell you about it sooner." Finlay tried to explain.
"No that's not what I'm asking. How did you know to call missing persons?" said Michael.
"You normally call twenty four hours after you don't see someone so I called a day after Ms Richards didn't come to school." Finlay explained.
"You timed it Finlay," Michael accused. "You waited for a day and you didn't tell anyone. Not your mom. Not even the school principal. You went straight to the police."
"But she's been found right." Finlay replied. "Is she okay?"
As an adult, your first instinct is to protect the child no matter the consequences. But Finlay was not behaving like a child. In fact, if it had been any other twelve year old, Michael would not have released the truth.
"She's gone," Michael replied, knowing that Finley would understand what gone meant.
The boy did not immediately answer and the line was silent for a moment.
"Finlay, you knew that something was wrong before anybody else did. I need to know what happened. How did you know that something was wrong?" Michael asked.
"What's going on?" Charlie asked, becoming worried about the turn in the conversation.
Michael did not answer him directly.
"Fi, could you?" He turned to Fiona.
"Charlie, let's give him some space. Michael will tell us what's going on after he finishes the call." Fiona said as she led Charlie out of the kitchen.
"It started about a month ago," said Finlay. His voice had gone deeper and it sounded like he was trying to hide the fact that he was he was crying.
"Finlay, I know this is difficult. But I need to know what happened." Michael tried to encourage him to open up.
"Finlay you alright in there?" Ms Weiss's voice could be heard in the background, along with a loud knock. Presumably, Finlay was hiding in his room.
"Yes, I'm okay mum. Just helping Charlie with his homework." Finlay shouted back.
Michael smiled. The kid was a natural.
"Now, what happened a month ago?" Michael prompted.
"You're gonna laugh." said Finlay.
"I promise I won't laugh," Michael replied.
"Our classes became too much fun," said Finlay. "Not that Ms Richards is normally a boring teacher but it was just like she was too cheerful and she had too much energy."
It was interesting to see that this was what separated Finlay from his peers. While most children can usually tell when their teacher is putting on an act, few children question why.
"And you never told anyone else about this?" Asked Michael.
"I didn't think anyone would take me seriously. I mean you don't normally complain about someone for being too happy." Finlay replied.
"What else happened in the month leading up to now?" Michael asked.
"She just got more and more cheerful. And she was on playground duty a lot. Like all the time. I think normally the teachers take turns." said Finlay.
"She must have been swapping shifts with the other teachers." Michael replied.
Finlay became quiet again.
"You still there?" Michael asked.
"Yes," said Finlay.
"Finlay, you did the right thing." said Michael. "I will find out what happened to Ms Richards but I'm going to need your help."
"What do you want me to do?" Finlay asked.
"I need you to come with me to the police station." Michael instructed. "I know you reported it under Charlie's name but he doesn't know what happened. You do. I need you to tell the cops what you just told me."
"But my mum doesn't know about this." Finlay protested.
"You told her that you were helping Charlie with his homework, right?" said Michael, checking.
"Yes, but how do I explain why I need to get out of the house?" Finley asked.
"Tell her that Charlie invited you to our place for a sleep over because it's easier to do homework together face to face. I'm going to come pick you up in about half an hour."
As a responsible adult, Michael should have known better than to encourage a child to lie to his family. But given Michael's own history... perhaps he and Finlay were more alike than he wanted to acknowledge.
"Michael Westen, I cannot believe this." Fiona yelled angrily.
Although the situation wasn't funny, Charlie did find seeing Fiona berating Michael to be hilarious and he couldn't help but laugh.
"You're actually encouraging a child to lie to the police." Fiona continued, furious.
"I didn't start that lie, he did." Michael replied.
"And you're continuing it." Fiona said, raising her voice again.
"If the police find out that Finlay is not who he says he is, they will want to speak to Charlie. And Charlie doesn't know anything about it. No point in traumatising him."
This was Michael's protective side - the one that almost got him killed too many times to count. Fiona hadn't seen this side of Michael in a while now. Aside from genuine concern for Finlay, Fiona was more worried about how far Michael was willing to take this.