Just in time for Friday there is a new chapter. This time we go deeper into the investigation.
Chapter 7 – Everyone is a character
A new morning dawned, and this time Natalia woke up before the alarm clock rang. She looked forward to the day. Finally she had a task, a goal. Something to work with. She got up cheerfully, got dressed and went down to the diner. James was waiting for her. He was sitting at their usual place, just like the other days.
"In such a good mood today?" he asked with a grin, pushing a full cup of coffee towards her as she sat down next to him.
"Can't a woman be in a good mood?"
"Yes, of course. I just wonder if it has something to do with our new project? Or are you just happy to see me?"
"Maybe?" she replied, taking a sip. "Maybe I'm just happy to finally have something to do."
"So it has nothing to do with me?" James pretended to be deeply affected. But a few seconds later, they both burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Ruby asked, joining them.
"Oh, nothing. We're just in a good mood," Natalia said.
After she and James ordered, they discussed what they were going to do next.
"We know that there are already three missing persons cases. We've already been to Sneezy's Pharmacy. I think we should also take a look at the other two places where the missing persons were last seen. Maybe we'll find some clues there," Natalia suggests.
"Very good. I had a similar thought. The other two places are the school and the home of the missing person's parents".
"I say we look at the school first. The janitor just disappeared the night before last, so if there's evidence and a fresh lead, we'll go there."
After breakfast at the diner and discussing the theories they had developed, Natalia and James walked to school. James had the day off because his class was going on a field trip with the physics teacher. Natalia saw the famous Sherlock Holmes standing in front of the school building. And he wasn't alone.
"Good morning," she greeted him. Much to James' displeasure. But she skillfully ignored it. When did you ever get the chance to meet your hero? Even if it made Natalia feel a bit unreal. Just a few days ago she wouldn't have believed that she was talking to Sherlock Holmes or that he was even real.
"Good morning," he greeted her. "Will you be escorting the professor to his workplace?" he asked.
Before Natalia could correct him, James took over the conversation: "That's right. She's getting to know the town and wanted to see the school today. I have some time and wanted to show her around."
That he would make up a lie was strange to Natalia. But maybe he didn't want anyone to think he was investigating. If you could even call it an investigation.
"Oh, you haven't been here long either? I'm John Watson," the man next to Sherlock Holmes introduced himself. He was a bit shorter and more sturdily built than his friend.
"The famous doctor. It's an honor. I'm Natalia and this is James."
"James?" he asked, looking expectantly at his partner. Natalia didn't miss the exchange of glances between James and Mr. Holmes.
"We shouldn't keep them. We still have a lot of work to do ourselves. Tempus fugit," Sherlock Holmes interrupted his friend, pulling him away from the building.
"A few days ago I would never have thought that I would meet the famous Sherlock Holmes and his partner John Watson," Natalia enthused, gazing dreamily after them. As a child she had loved the stories of Arthur Canon Doyle, as an adult she had absorbed them in all media. She loved the detective stories, the vivid descriptions of deductions and the biting comments.
"He's not that famous," James said grumpily and stomped off to school.
Natalia had to run after him to keep up.
"What do you mean?" she asked him, but he was already in the building.
-Change of View *Emma*-
She drove to the police station in her yellow Beetle with Hook. They were both lost in their own thoughts. The last few days had not been easy, not even for them.
"Did you talk to Grumpy?" Emma asked into the silence.
"No, the dwarves were in the mines. I think they were looking for Sneezy," Hook replied, looking out the passenger window the whole way.
"Then we'll go together later," Emma suggested, looking at her husband, who was still staring out the window.
"Have you seen her?" he asked.
Emma knew he meant Hope. Her thoughts were almost entirely focused on the young woman.
"Only briefly. She was at the pharmacy yesterday."
"What did she say?" Hook turned his head toward Emma.
"Not much. She still keeps her distance. Henry talks to her a lot, but she doesn't seek contact with me or my parents. She needs time. I needed it too."
Hook just nodded. "I'll give her that. In the meantime, I want to find the man who stole my little girl." Emma saw his expression harden into a grimace. She understood his anger. The time with her daughter had been stolen. Neither with Henry nor with Hope had she been able to see them take their first steps, or go to school, or experience so many other firsts. They had been robbed not only of their daughter, but of the time they would have spent with her. Emma was just as affected as Killian. But they each dealt with it in their own way. She threw herself into work and wanted to solve the missing persons cases with David. Killian, on the other hand, went to sea and searched ashore for the intruder who had taken Hope from her bed the night before the curse.
"Maybe you should talk to her? Find some common ground. At least introduce yourself. She doesn't know you yet." Emma looked back at her husband.
"Yes. I will do that. But first we have to find Sneezy and the others," Killian replied.
"We have support now," Emma said with a slight grin. She already knew what her husband thought of this so-called help.
"You mean this Holmes? He's no help at all. He just smokes that pipe, talks nonsense, makes up theories and is an idiot," Hook complained.
"The pipe is typical of him, and so far all his theories have been right."
"Maybe so. But the guy's more than a little odd. Where was he when we had that trouble with that Hyde fellow? And now he suddenly shows up? Something's not right."
Before Emma could say anything, they were already at the police station. A small crowd had gathered in the small parking lot and David was the center of attention.
"What's going on?" Emma asked as she got out of the car.
The couple approached David to find out more.
"Emma, glad you came. We want to put together a search party and search the woods."
"The woods, mate, sure? Any indication they're there?" Hook looked at his father-in-law questioningly.
"No. But we have to start somewhere. Every stone in the city was turned twice. All that is left is the forest," Granny answered for him.
"Then let's go right away?" Emma didn't want to waste any time.
David nodded. "Yes, the three of us will form a group. The others are already divided, some have already left. We're the rest," David explained and went to his pickup.
Once all the volunteers had arrived at the outskirts of the forest, and David had handed out photos of the missing, Emma had given instructions, and Killian had assigned areas, they set out.
The twelve-man search party combed through the forest to the border. It was assumed that even the missing could not break the curse that had once again sealed Storybrooke off from the outside world. They crossed the forest at intervals of a few yards, searching for the missing and for clues.
"Ah, the two sheriffs have also found their way into the forest," they were greeted by Sherlock Holmes and his companion John Watson.
"Mr. Holmes," David didn't sound pleased. "You're joining us?"
"No, we're not," Sherlock replied.
"But I thought we were helping," Dr. Watson interrupted.
"No, we just secured all the evidence in time before you to destroy it with this pointless action."
"Don't you think we'll find them in the forest?" Emma intervened.
"No, they won't have retreated to the forest, especially since the closed border leaves a little room for maneuver."
Emma nodded.
"We have to do everything we can. At least it eliminates the possibility that they are in the woods," David said sullenly.
"Emma, we should go back to the others," Kilian said to his wife. She turned back to the detective and asked for a suitable new strategy.
The former pirate just rolled his eyes.
"You don't have to be jealous," David whispered to him.
"I'm not. But I've never seen anything like this from her. She literally hangs on his every word," he complained to his father-in-law.
He just patted him on the shoulder, laughing. "Emma, we're going to continue the search, are you coming?"
"Yes, I'm coming," she called to her father. "Thank you, Mr. Holmes," she said quickly and ran off to join the others.
-Change of View *Natalia*-
After inspecting the janitor's workplace, they returned to the library.
"We need to complete our overview. Natalia used the library's computer to print out the photos they had taken in the office and at school and pinned them to the board.
Belle joined them. "You've been busy. It looks professional," she complimented them.
"Thank you." James put the pen he had used to write on the sheets on the table and pinned the keywords to the board. "We were at the school today. The place where the janitor, the third and last person at the time, disappeared."
"Did you find any clues?" asked Belle, taking a closer look at the photos Natalia had printed out.
She shook her head. "No, not really. His workplace looked clean. There were no signs of a fight."
"I understand. And have you found a connection yet?" asked Belle.
"Yes, we wrote it down yesterday." Natalia walked to the top corner. "All the disappearances happened during the night and it only started when I arrived and the town border was closed."
"No, that's not what I mean. Do the three missing persons fit together? Do they have something in common? Why these three and not someone else?"
The doorbell rang and Belle stood up.
James sat down on the sofa, leaned forward and stared at the cards hanging on the bulletin board. "Belle's right. We're losing track. If we find a connection between the missing people, we can draw conclusions as to why, and sooner or later that will lead us to the criminals."
The two of them put their heads together and considered new theories.
The sun had already set, and Natalia went to the diner to get some strong coffee for everyone.
When she entered, she saw Henry already sitting at one of the tables and joined him. "Hi, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to talk to my sister," he replied with a full mouth, taking another bite of his sandwich. "Mom and Killian are still in the woods with the search party."
"Search party?"
"Yes. They're looking for the missing people and have been scouring the woods all day. But so far they haven't found anything but some broken branches." He put down the sandwich and wiped his mouth on a napkin. "Say, who's this James you're always hanging out with? I saw you outside the school this afternoon."
Blood immediately rushed to Natalia's face and she nervously wiped small crumbs from the counter. "We don't hang out. We're... He's showing me around town."
"Yes, of course. It's none of my business either. Even though I am your big brother. But who is he? I can't find him in my records." He reached over to the neighboring chair and heaved several books onto the table.
"What's this?" Natalia asked, grabbing the top book.
"These are the records of the new residents of Storybrooke who arrived on the airship. All characters from the unfinished stories. But I didn't find your James."
"Why would he be in there?" Natalia still didn't understand why Henry was so interested in James.
"Everyone here in Storybrooke is a fairy tale character. Everyone is part of a story. No matter how small and insignificant. Everyone has a story. Except your James."
"Hey, he's not my James," Natalia complained, flipping through the notes.
"One way or another. He should be in a register. Either in this register. Or in the registers before the airship, which are with my mother. But I've already looked through them several times and haven't found it. So today I looked in these books." Henry tapped the books in front of them. "But I couldn't find anyone named James there either. Do you know his last name? That would help us."
"No, I didn't ask and I never had the chance. But I'll do it and I am certain we will find him." Natalia got lost in the various facts and dates. "Everyone is a fairy tale character?"
Henry shrugged. "Yes, pretty much everyone. They all come from fairy tales. At some point I started listing the fairy tale for each person."
Natalia turned around in the room, and at that moment a woman entered the diner.
She was incredibly thin, almost anorexic. Her angular face with its fixed expression looked sullenly at the counter. Her baggy pants and colorful blouse contrasted with her expression. Her black hair was tied up in a messy bun.
"And who is that?" asked Natalia.
"That's a damn good question," Henry replied, picking up one of the books. "That's a lot of new faces."
Let me know what you think about the new chapter and feel free to leave a comment. I would appreciate it.