Free Unidentified by Mikel J. Wisler Page B

Surprise? Relief? Evans wasn’t sure. But his expression was certainly softer. It was clear to Evans that whether Mitchell believed it or not, she’d said the right thing to build a little trust with Tim.
    “I would like to look over Stephanie’s room,” Mitchell continued.
    This brought back the squint to Tim’s eyes. “Why is that?” he asked.
    “We have to cover all of our bases, Mr. Clark,” Mitchell explained. “What if Stephanie is telling the truth? What if someone was there last night? This kidnapper’s pattern is to abduct his victims multiple times. So we have to seriously consider the possibility that someone was, in fact, in Stephanie’s room last night. And if so, maybe they left some evidence.”
    Tim’s squint moved over to his wife. She shot him a pleading look. Evans figured this meant there must be some kind of ideological divide between the two, at least on this matter. Tim was the one that had insisted Stephanie be brought in to a mental ward in the middle of the night. Dorothy, on the other hand, seemed ready to comply with anything Mitchell asked of them. Possibly she did not think her daughter was mentally ill or suffering some sort of emotional or psychological breakdown. Either way, Tim seemed to relent at her look. He glanced at Mitchell, nodding.
    “Thank you,” Mitchell said, sincerity in her voice. “We’ll head right over.”
    Evans frowned. They’d driven all this way to have this conversation? She didn’t want see Stephanie? Granted, the girl was sedated. But it seemed like so little for such a long drive. Maybe she felt this could not have been done over the phone. Or maybe he was missing something. Either way, Evans felt the need to jump in.
    “Pardon me,” he said.
    Suddenly all eyes were on him. Evans pulled out a business card and handed it to doctor.
    “I’m Dr. Alan Evans. I’m working with the FBI. Would you please make sure that everyone working today knows that when Stephanie wakes up, I would like a phone call. It’s important.”
    The doctor looked down at Evans' card. “She’ll be out for a while, but we’ll be sure to call when she wakes.”
    “Thank you,” Evans said.
     
    ***
     
    They stepped out into the hot summer air. Mitchell walked down the steps, thoughts rushing through her mind. Stephanie had claimed someone was at her place and now she was in a mental ward, sedated no less. It was clear now what her father’s view of the situation was. Or was he in some strange way trying to save face? Obviously he was well aware of what had happened to the Ferguson family only a year ago.
    “Does it strike you as noteworthy that Stephanie’s father felt it important to bring her here?” Evans asked her as they walked down the steps. He clearly was thinking along the same lines.
    “I guess we know what he thinks is going on here,” she said.
    “Do we, though?” Evans raised his eyebrows.
    They reached the end of the stairs and continued walking to the car.
    “All we know for sure,” Evans said, “is that Mr. Clark might at least prefer having what appears to be a mentally ill daughter than one being abducted by UFOs. But what if there’s more to his motivations?”
    Mitchell looked over at Evans as they walked. “You think it’s suspicious?” she asked.
    “I don’t know. But I think he might be right about one thing: Stephanie is disturbed. But the source of her distress may not be a kidnapper or aliens.”
    “Her father?” Mitchell said.
    “Just a theory,” Evans shrugged.
    Mitchell looked off, mulling this over.
    “You don’t agree?” Evans asked.
    She stopped by her car and turned to Evans. “Are you coming around to my way of thinking? Someone’s behind this?”
    “Well, not exactly” Evans said.
    “Why kidnap her and drop her off in the middle of nowhere?”
    “I didn’t say he was alone in this, or that he’s even the one doing this. Look, I’m still not convinced that there is an actual kidnapper behind Stephanie’s