16. Again!
Again!
The bright lights of the television crews mingled with the strobing pulse of the police lights. It made Ben feel unreal and part of something that did exist. Something that wasn’t happening.
He stood with the group of confused locals and out of town media. The locals were subdued muttering to each other and looking shocked. They couldn’t believe it had happened again.
In direct contrast, the members of the media who had rushed to the scene were jabbering non-stop. The TV crews were all trying to get exciting images to show on the late news. A couple of live reports had already gone out. They were all sure that Atlantis had a serial killer.
Ben stood quietly between these two groups. He was as shocked as the other locals and he thought he probably understood what it meant for the town more than they did. He wasn’t standing quietly because he couldn’t think properly or because he was showing respect for the situation but because he knew he could learn a lot if he just listened.
The police had been called just after 9pm by Jenny Sutherland. She reported that her son, Tommy, hadn’t come home after school. At first she hadn’t worried, thinking he’d gone over to one of his friends’ places. She tried calling him but he didn’t answer his phone. She called his friends and one of them had told her that Tommy was walking straight home after his maths class. That was when she called the police.
Usually the police wouldn’t have jumped on Tommy’s disappearance so quickly but they remembered what had happened to Jenna Reigh. Two high school students going missing within a month of each other was bad. Especially when you realised that before Jenna no children had ever been reported missing in Atlantis.
The first thing the police had done was follow the path Tommy used to walk home from school. They hadn’t gone very far when they found Tommy’s phone lying on the ground. A closer look at the ground showed signs of a struggle. They knew Tommy had been taken by the some person who’d taken Jenna. When she’d been taken her phone had been left lying in the ground near the place of her abduction.
Ben listened to the murmurs of conversation coming from the locals.
“…Tommy Sutherland, you know, Stan and Jenny’s eldest…”
“… I knew after Jenna. Nowhere’s safe from…”
“… Maybe it’s terrorists. You never knew what they’ll…”
“… I wonder how Jenny’s…”
“… No, I don’t think so. More likely a tourist…”
“… has to be a local. Who else would know how to…”
“… Who knew where he was? I…”
“… the maths teacher, whatshisname. You know…”
“… It couldn’t be an Anderson…”
“… I think it has to be a teacher…”
“… Jenna and Tommy, both students…”
“… Greg Anderson. I never did…”
“… Not Greg! I was only…”
“… He’s not really like the rest of the family…”
“… Mummy, what’s going on?”
To Ben it sounded like people were thinking it was Greg Anderson the maths teacher who’d taken Tommy. Ben was pretty sure Greg hadn’t taken Tommy or Jenna. He’d done a piece on Greg a few months before. Greg didn’t seem like the type. But, how did you tell if someone was the type or not?
All Ben could say for sure after listening to the locals was that they were shocked that it had happened again.
The bright lights of the television crews mingled with the strobing pulse of the police lights. It made Ben feel unreal and part of something that did exist. Something that wasn’t happening.
He stood with the group of confused locals and out of town media. The locals were subdued muttering to each other and looking shocked. They couldn’t believe it had happened again.
In direct contrast, the members of the media who had rushed to the scene were jabbering non-stop. The TV crews were all trying to get exciting images to show on the late news. A couple of live reports had already gone out. They were all sure that Atlantis had a serial killer.
Ben stood quietly between these two groups. He was as shocked as the other locals and he thought he probably understood what it meant for the town more than they did. He wasn’t standing quietly because he couldn’t think properly or because he was showing respect for the situation but because he knew he could learn a lot if he just listened.
The police had been called just after 9pm by Jenny Sutherland. She reported that her son, Tommy, hadn’t come home after school. At first she hadn’t worried, thinking he’d gone over to one of his friends’ places. She tried calling him but he didn’t answer his phone. She called his friends and one of them had told her that Tommy was walking straight home after his maths class. That was when she called the police.
Usually the police wouldn’t have jumped on Tommy’s disappearance so quickly but they remembered what had happened to Jenna Reigh. Two high school students going missing within a month of each other was bad. Especially when you realised that before Jenna no children had ever been reported missing in Atlantis.
The first thing the police had done was follow the path Tommy used to walk home from school. They hadn’t gone very far when they found Tommy’s phone lying on the ground. A closer look at the ground showed signs of a struggle. They knew Tommy had been taken by the some person who’d taken Jenna. When she’d been taken her phone had been left lying in the ground near the place of her abduction.
Ben listened to the murmurs of conversation coming from the locals.
“…Tommy Sutherland, you know, Stan and Jenny’s eldest…”
“… I knew after Jenna. Nowhere’s safe from…”
“… Maybe it’s terrorists. You never knew what they’ll…”
“… I wonder how Jenny’s…”
“… No, I don’t think so. More likely a tourist…”
“… has to be a local. Who else would know how to…”
“… Who knew where he was? I…”
“… the maths teacher, whatshisname. You know…”
“… It couldn’t be an Anderson…”
“… I think it has to be a teacher…”
“… Jenna and Tommy, both students…”
“… Greg Anderson. I never did…”
“… Not Greg! I was only…”
“… He’s not really like the rest of the family…”
“… Mummy, what’s going on?”
To Ben it sounded like people were thinking it was Greg Anderson the maths teacher who’d taken Tommy. Ben was pretty sure Greg hadn’t taken Tommy or Jenna. He’d done a piece on Greg a few months before. Greg didn’t seem like the type. But, how did you tell if someone was the type or not?
All Ben could say for sure after listening to the locals was that they were shocked that it had happened again.
posted by Supermarez at 10:44 am
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