Powell was lost in thought, sitting alone in his office when he heard a discrete knock on his door. He continued staring at the wall of photos he had hanging there even as he heard Officer Morris speak.
"We've finished interviewing the Reeves boy, Chief" He said as the old man nodded without looking at him. "oh, and I brought you this..."
Powell turned around to see Morris standing waiting at the door, a steaming mug of coffee in his hand.
Powell let out a short laugh "you'll go far Morris, could you set it down on desk there ?". He motioned towards the photos he had been studying, finger pointing to one in particular.
"I still miss him you know ? This business with the vanishings...he'd know what to do"
Morris looked over at the photo being referenced. It showed two men standing either side of three teenagers. The man standing on the left was unmistakable – his smile gave it away, it was a younger version of Chief Powell, wearing a uniform not dissimilar to Morris's own. On the other side of the framed shot was a bearded man who Morris also recognised.
"Is that Chief Hopper ?" He asked.
"It certainly is, long before he was Chief, mind you."
"Have you spoken to him recently ?" Morris enquired.
Powell shook his head. "Not for a few years. Not since just after he retired from this place really...I think maybe he had the right idea. Get a little place and just enjoy a quiet life away from everything... "
"I keep telling you Chief, you would miss all this. So who are the others ? That curly haired kid looks like trouble"
Powell laughed again. "You have no idea, but that doesn't matter now...I was just thinking about those times is all. These last few days just reminded me of them..." Powell paused and picked up his still steaming drink "anyway, enough of an old man's reminiscences. What did you find out?"
"The kid is adamant that one second his father was sitting on the bench at the park, next he wasn't. No one else was there either. Oddly, he also says he saw the plane vanish – says it was directly overhead, flew into a cloud and didn't come back out. His mother came to take him home. They've just left, I said we would be in touch."
Powell stood up as he listened intently.
"I'm just heading over to the park now, I could use another pair of eyes if you'd like to ride along ?...Chief? You ok?"
As he was talking Morris saw Powell grip the desk for a second, his eyes seemed to become unfocused, but it passed as quickly as it began.
"what? Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine. I just had the strangest feeling is all. It felt like... Nothing... Just old I guess. I do keep telling everyone. What did I just say..the quiet life. Yeah. Maybe someday, but for now of course I'll come along, four eyes are better than two."