Chapter 6

On Friday evening, Sam McPherson had a change in plans. He was going to pick up the twins from the music school, for them to spend the weekend at home with the family. Earlier on this day, Sam gave his class a test. Four students flunked the test, and he blamed himself for that unfortunate mishap. So, the professor did what he felt was the right thing to do. He scheduled another session with the four students in the evening. First, he did a better job reviewing the subject matter. Then he gave them the test. While the students worked on it, he called the twins to tell them that he will pick them up early on Saturday. He tried to call them twice, but there was no answer. He finally dropped it. He went to the hallway to drink from the water fountain. When he returned, he sat by the desk, and he found the test results of all four students on his desk.

“Done, already? Let me check.” After looking at all four test results, he said, “You passed, fellows.”

“Thank you, sir,” said the students. They left, smiling while Sam nodded.

On Saturday, Sam left at seven a.m. to pick up the twins. It was a chilly morning, and the traffic was light. Sam was nervous, but he didn’t know why. When he got to the twin’s dorm, he parked the car in front and went to their room. Sam knocked on the door, but there was no answer. He knocked again — still no response. He waited for a few seconds, which seemed like an eternity. Carefully, he turned the handle of the door. The door was unlocked, and he opened it. Sam walked in, and he looked around. The twins partially made the beds, and their purses were sitting on shelves. Sam was confused, and he shook his head; something isn’t right here. Where could the girls be? He sat on one of the beds, thinking. Now he believed he knew what happened; while he drove to pick up the twins, they got a ride home, and they forgot their purses.

Yes, that must be it.

Sam called his home.

“Yes, Sam, what is it?” said Jenny.

“Are the twins there?”

“No, they are not. Didn’t you pick the kids up.”

“Jenny, they must be there because they are not here. Please stop playing games with me.”

“Sam, I’m not playing games with you.” Sam looked at his phone, what’s wrong?

“Jenny, I’m going to look around to see if I can find them. If they should show up at home, call me right away.”

“I will, Sam.” Sam left the twin’s room and looked down the hallway. Two students across the hall left their dorm room, “Sir, what can we do for you?”

“Yes, I want to talk to you. I’m the father of the twins that are staying in this room. Have you seen them?” The girls looked at each other, and one said, “No, we haven’t seen them. We haven’t seen them all day on Friday. We assumed that they might have gone home early this weekend.”

“Well, they are not at home. Do you know what could have happened? Why are they not here?”

“Mister, we just told you we don’t know.”

“Yes, of course. I’m sorry. It’s not your fault.” The girls looked at each other, and one said, “We could call Jordan Powell. He lives on campus. He might be able to help.”

“Please do.” One of the girls called, and then she said, “Jordan should be here any minute now. We are going to eat.”

“Thank you, girls.” Nervously, expecting the worst, Sam waited. Ten minutes later, Jordan Powell arrived, out of breath, “Dr. McPherson, what’s the problem?” Sam looked at Powell in disbelieve, “Do you know that my twins are missing?” Powell gave Sam a look of defiance, “What do you mean? ‘My twins are missing.’”

“I know what I said, Mr. Powell. I said that my twins are missing.”

“How can that be. We assumed that your twins went home one day early, Dr. McPherson.”

“Well, they are not at my home. I’m here to pick them up. Where are they?” Powell looked around in the room, “I guess, they are not here.”

“Of course, they are not here. What are you going to do about it?”

“Frankly, Dr. McPherson, I wouldn’t know what to do about it. We never had a case like this in all the years that I have been here.” Sam called Jenny again, and she verified that the twins are still not at home. Now Sam became panicky, “What should I do?”

“Dr. McPherson, perhaps you should call the police.” Sam looked for a door key for the twin’s room. It was on a shelf, next to a cup. He locked the door and said, “I will call you when I find out something.”

“Dr. McPherson, if you cannot find the twins, I would suggest that you clean out the room. We need it.” Sam nodded and left like a beaten man and said to himself, “This man has no compassion.” When he returned home, the twins still weren’t there. Sam sat with his wife in the living room and waited until late afternoon. Then he rose and went to his home office.

“What are you going to do, dear?”

“I’m going to call one of my old friends from college. He became a private detective, and his name is Stan Mallory. He has an office in the Cleveland area. Perhaps he can help us.”