Back at the Alee House, Treen said that her headaches had subsided and that she felt wonderful. She sat up on her bed and pulled on a white turtleneck, while Dr. Moresky put her stethoscope back in its case and said, “You’ll be fine but please get some rest.”
“Easier said than done,” Edwin mumbled in Elizabeth’s ear. Treen heard the comment and winked at her parents; after everything she’d told them, they knew she wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon.
“Call me if you need me,” said Dr. Moresky, pausing in the doorway.
“The way things are going, you should just open a clinic in the guest room down the hall,” said Treen.
Although she was done with the doctor, Treen couldn’t run to the Smile Center just yet. Detective Redworc was still waiting downstairs with questions about the attack at the hospital.
“Dad, after I speak with the detective, can we discuss Lance’s hiring?”
“We don’t have to sweetheart. After what you overheard, there’s no way he’s working at Bookvilla.”
“I think you should hire him,” said Treen, her parents simultaneously raising their brows.
Elizabeth placed her palm on her daughter’s forehead. “Alright then, into bed you go — ”
Treen smiled. “Mom I’m not delirious. Lance is up to something and he’d be easier to watch if we give him a job. Believe me, he doesn’t want to work at Bookvilla because he loves books.”
Tapping his chin and staring at Treen’s computer monitor, Edwin asked, “Are you sure there’s nothing on the Internet about this Arast or Ecnal thing you heard them talking about?”
“Pretty sure,” said Treen. “There’s definitely nothing about it on Blue Neptune’s web page.” Edwin was tempted to call Garrison Blue and simply ask, until Treen reminded him of something else.
“When Mr. Blue donated the computers, didn’t he say he had no plans to open a business in Grevelton?”
“He said he had to think about it.”
“Then why does he have a factory opened there?” she asked, as the doorbell began to ring. While her parents stared at each other, she moved to the intercom.
“Hello, this is Treen.”
“This is Lance. What are you doing here?”
Treen turned away from the intercom and stared wide-eyed at her parents. Then she put her mouth close to the speaker.
“Like it or not, I live here.”
“Pardon me. I — just assumed that you would be — ”
“Dead?”
“Certainly not. I thought you would be lying comfortably in your hospital bed.”
“My father will be down shortly.” Treen released the switch and stepped back to her parents. The three of them shook their heads in disbelief.
“All right then, Sherlock Holmes, what’s the plan?” Elizabeth asked.
Treen stroked her earlobe. “Here’s what we’ll do...”
Edwin and Angela continued down the hall towards the front door to meet Lance. Treen took a right, under the oval archway towards the living room, where she was surprised to find a different officer sitting on the couch.
“Where is Detective Redworc?” she asked, approaching him slowly.
Like a giant redwood growing out of the floor, the officer stood and looked down at her. “He waited as long as he could, Miss Alee,” said the officer, his weighty voice as menacing as his frame. “From what I understand, you were upstairs for quite some time so he radioed for me. I am Officer Tobora.” He extended his huge hand. After the incident at the hospital, Treen was suspicious. Shaking his hand, she studied his uniform carefully. If he was an Awaker, the quicker she found out the better.
Other than the officer’s size, Treen noticed nothing out of the ordinary. However, as she led him to the dining room table, her parents walked by with Lance, who suddenly stopped and glared at the officer through the archway.
“Something wrong, Lance?” asked Treen, walking towards her mother.
“Not at all. I’m just admiring your lovely dining room.”
“It can be all yours for ten dollars — officer not included,” she quipped, walking by him.
Lance smiled then glared over at the officer again. “Edwin, may I use your bathroom?”
“Yes, go back towards the front door, it’s on the left.”
“What’s happened to Detective Redworc?” Elizabeth whispered, after Lance had gone.
“Supposedly he had to leave,” Treen whispered. “Call the station and find out where he is.”
Elizabeth hurried to Edwin’s office. Treen headed back to the table, puzzled as the officer stood and put his hat on.
“Where are you going?”
“Unfortunately I must leave.”
“But what about my statement?”
“It must wait. Goodbye, Miss Alee.”
Edwin adjusted his blazer after the officer had brushed by him. Treen joined her father beneath the archway where they watched, bewildered, as the officer marched down the hallway and out the front door. Lance stepped out of the bathroom after the door had slammed.
“That policeman is certainly in a hurry,” said Lance loudly, his voice echoing down the hall.
“Very strange,” Edwin mumbled.
Treen leaned towards her father. “What’s really strange is Lance knowing the officer left without even seeing him,” she whispered, as Lance approached.
Edwin nodded at Treen and began tapping his chin. He spun around when he heard his office door open and watched as Elizabeth rushed towards him shaking her head. Lance walked up from the other direction.
“Lance, how ‘bout we get started with that interview?” said Edwin, grabbing his arm and guiding him towards the office. Elizabeth snatched Treen’s hand and dashed away.
“Mom, what’s the matter?” she asked, after they’d stopped in the living room.
“I phoned the front desk at the station. They haven’t a clue as to the whereabouts of Detective Redworc — although they did mention that he should be right here.” Elizabeth nervously scanned the house; “Whereabouts is that replacement officer?”
“Gone,” said Treen, who dropped to her knees and began scanning the mahogany floor.
“Sweetheart, what are you’re looking for?”
“Blood — from Detective Redworc.”
“I’ll check the dining room.”
After searching both areas and finding nothing, they stepped out into hallway, scanning the floor all the way to the front door.
However, except for the furniture already damaged by the Newberrys, there wasn’t the slightest hint of a struggle.
Treen opened the front door to check outside. As she scanned the walkway, she suddenly remembered the detective’s car, parked out front when she arrived home. “Be right back!” she shouted down the hall to her mother.
Out in the driveway, Treen found the detective’s car parked in the same spot — doors locked, seats empty. She examined the vehicle a bit closer, found nothing, then sprinted around to the backyard.
Treen slowed down a few yards back from the swimming pool. She crept closer to the edge and prayed for water without a corpse. She exhaled. Luckily, only a few red leaves floated inside the large, baby blue cylinder.
Further inspection of the backyard revealed nothing. Treen jogged to the patio and knocked on the glass, startling her mother. Elizabeth quickly unlocked and slid the door open.
“What’s happened, Love?”
“Bad news, Mom,” she said, stepping into the living room. “The detective’s car is still here.”
“Then, whereabouts could he be?”
“I don’t know but something tells me it was painful getting there.”
“You really think the officer who was in our home — that perhaps, he’s harmed Detective Redworc?”
“It’s possible. I mean, maybe that officer was really an Awaker.
But why didn’t he attack us?” she asked, pacing.
“Phone up Russell Wellbay. Maybe this bogus policeman is the same one who attacked him.”
“You are brilliant Mother,” she said, darting to the phone. Ariel answered the phone at the Security Flat and quickly put Russell on the line. The moment Treen had mentioned the name Tobora, Russell identified him as the police officer that had tried to run him down. “Stay inside the security flat until I get there,” she said.
Strolling under the archway and through the dining room, Edwin and Lance laughed like they’d been partying at the Sea Crystallore again. The grin across Lance’s face when they entered the living room told Treen all she needed to know