M ss ng Persons 3- Start From The End ng

Finding a clue is an important part to an investigation. Unfortunately, one clue does not close a case.

It would be nice to find that one clue and confidently say-

“Colonel Mustard did it with the pipe wrench in the library!”

Alas, one clue is only the beginning. A crack in the dam that will hopefully lead to more stress fractures and eventually break the case wide open.

Our once, well known investigator has found one clue.

The investigation continues.

————-Part 3 beg ns——-

After the inevitable conversation of whether or not he was on board to help with the ongoing investigation, he returned to his ranch to relax and take in the unfolding events of he day. He stopped at the mailbox, retrieved its contents and drove up to the house.

He exited the vehicle and walked toward the porch while flipping through the envelopes from the mail.

Water bill

Electric bill

New car insurance cards

Junk

Junk

” i ”

He stopped before reaching the front porch and stared at the envelope. Before opening it, he flipped it over and held it up to the light…..

He thought, “I can almost bet this isn’t a gift certificate for a free iPad.”

He took the mail inside, threw the rest of the envelopes on the table and went to the sofa to open the only important one.

It was a one page letter written on a sheet of yellow legal pad paper. Block lettering was used throughout-

Welcome back “Puzzle Man”

i have been a fan of yours for some time.
i was quite saddened by your departure from the solving business.
Fading out on a losing streak must have been rough on your psyche.
Have no fear my intuitive friend,

i am here

To give you a shot a retribution.
To have a chance to solve the puzzle of the now
You must return to where the puzzles began
Learn to start from the end ng.
A new beginning is reborn from the ashes of your past.

i was there

The race is on
The game has begun
The clock is ticking
Time for i to have some fun

i am everywhere

He tossed the letter on the table, sat back and exhaled.

“Learn to start from the ending” he pondered confusingly, “the ending of what?”

As he sat and attempted to figure out what was meant in the letter, his cell phone rang…

He looked at the number. His stomach began to tighten as he hit the answer key….

“Yeah, Chief what’s up?”

“You need to come back down to the station….We have another disappearance.”

He hung up the phone, gathered up the envelope and the letter, walked over to the bookshelf and stashed it in between two books.

“I will keep this to myself for a while,” he said aloud.
___________

He drove back to the station and went into the police chiefs office.

“I have 2 of my guys talking to the parents right now and filling out the missing persons forms. 9 year old girl. The Mother sent her to the neighbor’s apartment to borrow a DVD. Neighbor lives below them. She never made it there or back. We have a current picture and here is the address. Check it out for us.”

The chief handed him the address and the photo. He looked at the picture of the girl. The image made him a little woozy. He shook it off and headed to the address.

He reached the apartment complex and again got that uneasy feeling. He found where the apartment was and took the trip the young girl took before she vanished. On the very last step of the stairwell, the letter “i” was carved into the grain finish.

He drove back to his ranch still unable to shake that uneasy feeling in his gut. As he put the car into park it hit him like a sledgehammer.

“It can’t be….”

He practically ran inside clutching the picture of the missing girl. He went to his computer and logged in. He pulled up an old newspaper article from a case he knew all too well. The headline and photo on the screen confirmed his gut feeling.

-9 year old Massachusetts girl missing

is what the headline read. The picture that went with the story shared an uncanny resemblance to the photo of the girl who went missing earlier in the day.

The case that he could never solve and the cases they asked him to help solve. 8 years separating the events. Apparently, 1 person responsible.

” i ”

“Learn to start from the end ng.
A new beginning is reborn from the ashes of your past.”

It made sense now.

That fact did not make it any easier to face.

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