16

 

Maven opened the door.

Trent Snoddy stood there, not looking terribly happy. “Good morning, Mrs. Morris.”

“Come in, Agent Snoddy.” She opened the door wider.

“Just call me Trent.” His smile seemed genuine. Maybe he didn’t have bad news.

Paul shook hands with him. “So, what’s the news, Trent?”

“Nothing like getting right to the point.”

“Well, I don’t want to prolong the agony for Maven. Do you think there’s anything in the drawings that could give us a clue as to where Moses came from?”

“Moses? I thought we didn’t know his name.”

“We didn’t,” Maven said, “but I couldn’t keep calling him ‘the boy.’ So I called him Moses.”

Trent looked confused. “That’s an unusual choice for a name. Why not Bob or Tom?”

“It’s from the Bible,” Paul explained.

“Oh, OK.” From his tone and his expression, it was obvious he didn’t get the Biblical reference.

Maven explained. “I picked the name Moses because just like the biblical Moses, my Moses was abandoned by his parents.”

“And just like the biblical Moses, this Moses was rescued by the beautiful princess.” Paul winked at Maven as he spoke.

“Alrighty then, let’s get to the business at hand.” Trent rolled his eyes.

Maven led the men to the dining room. “Let me get some coffee.”

Paul stood back up. “I’ll help.”

She turned her back so Paul couldn’t see the smile. He was acting like a jealous teenager. It was sort of cute. “Not necessary, Paul.”

Maven went to the kitchen, returned and served the coffee. She stared at the agent. “OK, give me the bad news.”

“What makes you think it’s bad?”

“Because if it was good, you would have told us the moment you got in the house. “

Trent looked at Paul. “Smart lady.”

“Yes, she is. So what’s the word?”

He opened the folder. “The profiler believes the boy…Moses is fixated on comic books and these are simply scenes from his favorite that he copied.”

Maven felt her cheeks heating up in anger. She took a deep breath. “Is that what you believe?”

“I believe in the profiler. She’s very good. If she says these aren’t based on reality, then I tend to think she’s right.” He pulled out two pictures and laid them side by side. One was of a comic book character and one was of the mystery lady. “Look, as you can see, they are in the same style. We know the comic book character so it makes sense that she is one, too. We just don’t know which comic book—oops, I mean graphic novel.” His finger tapped the mystery lady.

“But what about the picture with him in the middle of the chained women?” Paul asked, his voice skeptical.

“The profiler said it’s not unusual for kids to put themselves in the middle of their fantasy drawings.” He shook his head. “Look, I’m just as sorry about this as you are. I wanted there to be a clue for us to follow up on. Believe me, I’m not happy with the way this case is going, either. I want to find this little boy. He’s been through enough.”

Maven bit her lip to keep from crying. “How could the kidnapper not have left some evidence behind when he came in the window?”

“Obviously he knows what he’s doing. Maybe, he’s done it before. Maybe someone in law enforcement?” Paul asked.

Maven had no words. The thought hadn’t even entered her mind. She looked at Agent Snoddy for his reaction.

His expression was grim. “I hate to think of that, but it’s a possibility. At the very least, someone who knows how not to leave evidence.” The FBI agent riffled through the pictures, then pushed them towards Maven. “You can keep these if you want. We don’t need them any longer.”

“Even if the profiler doesn’t think they’re important, shouldn’t we at least check it out?” She pulled them towards her.

Trent shook his head. “Nothing to check out. It would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.”

Maven couldn’t just let it go. Moses needed someone out there—looking for him. “So, what now?”

Trent didn’t meet her gaze. “The Amber Alert is still in force. His picture has been forwarded to FBI offices and police stations across the country.” He sighed. “The case is still active, but there are no real leads to follow up on at this time. But when one becomes available, we will check it out. Trust me on that.”

“In other words, you aren’t doing anything.” Maven tried to keep the anger from her voice but failed.

“Not true.” He was adamant. “We’re doing all we can. We’re still trying to figure out his identity. If we can do that, it will give us a place to start.”

She rolled her eyes. “I suppose.”