1.15 - Syd, Part 1

Hello listeners. It is midnight in Mercy Mountain once again and I, Julian Glass, am here to comfort your nocturnal souls.

[intro]

Tonight’s broadcast is a story. A story about local sharpshooter and newest Missing Persons Investigator, Syd Jones.

Syd was working late again. There were two reasons for this. The first was the most significant: these cases would not leave Syd alone, not even during bathroom breaks or in the release of sleep. The second reason was that ze felt ze had to prove zemself. Ze was the newest Missing Persons Investigator, after all, and younger than most who joined the MPI team. Syd’s coworkers didn’t seem bothered by zem, but they had given Syd the most baffling case in decades, perhaps ever for Mercy Mountain, in Syd’s first week.

Syd hadn’t the slightest idea why none of the others had vied for the case. It made zem nervous. Almost as nervous as ze felt about potentially failing to find a single missing person. And ze hadn’t found a single person yet.

Syd pored over a transcript of an interview with Lia Davis, Alton Davis’ wife. Nothing unusual had happened in the days before Alton had disappeared. No conflicts, no upsets. Nothing. All had been well.

Just like with the 42 others who had gone missing.

Their lives were typical and happy. They had good reasons to come home again. They just hadn’t.

Syd’s phone rang. Ze recognized the number as Lia Davis’. Ze answered. “Hello, Mrs. Davis. What can I do for you?”

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you, something just occurred to me,” Lia said, her voice tight.

“Don’t worry about it, I was awake anyway. What is it?”

“It seems so small, almost silly, really, but…you said to think of anything unusual.”

Syd waited.

“Alton told me that a salesman came to the animal shelter where he works a few days before he vanished. It was strange because he didn’t recall his boss telling him he had scheduled any kind of representative or salesperson to come, and it was late when he stopped by.”

Syd thought.

“Does that help?” Lia asked worriedly.

Something started to grind in Syd’s brain. “I think it might,” ze said slowly. “Anything helps,” ze added, more quickly. Ze didn’t want to give false hope. “Is there anything else you can tell me?”

Lia hesitated. “I…I asked Alton—jokingly, really—whether he bought anything, because, well, it’s not like he was authorized to buy anything for the shelter. He said he couldn’t remember, and I wasn’t sure if he was joking.”

Syd frowned more deeply than ze already had been. That was…odd. “Thank you, Mrs. Davis. I will keep this information in mind.”

“I just—I just hope it helps,” Lia said weakly before hanging up.

Syd lowered zir phone, lost in thought. Ze thought ze had felt a niggle of familiarity when Lia told zem about Alton not remembering whether he had bought anything. Where had Syd heard that before?

Ze pulled out the transcripts for every one of the people who had been interviewed about their missing loved one, colleague, boss, or acquaintance. Syd skimmed for mention of the salesman.

There were two mentions of him: Penelope Dunlap’s partner, Theo Marshall, had mentioned him when giving Syd a rundown of the days leading up to Penelope’s disappearance. The day before she vanished, Theo recalled being busy in the laundry room when someone stopped by their home. Penelope had answered the door and spoken to the visitor. Theo later asked who it was, and she said it was the salesman, to whom she had given a glass of water, as it was a hot one out. She did not seem to remember what exactly they had chatted about, and she was gone the next day. Theo had not seemed to believe there was a connection, but then, neither had Syd.

Don’t get ahead of yourself, Syd, ze thought. There was a chance this wasn’t a connection at all.

Ze moved on to the second mention. The salesman had been spotted in the same area as Noah Smith—one of the rambunctious Smiths—around the time young Noah had disappeared. Noah was walking home from the post office, having dropped off a package for one of his fathers. The salesman was leaning up against the hood of a car in the post office parking lot. No one had seen them interact. Noah never made it home.

Syd tapped zir pencil against zir lips thoughtfully. Ze thought ze knew where ze had heard mention of forgetting the salesman before, but ze needed to verify. Luckily, ze didn’t need to wait until morning, as the person ze needed to ask was always up this time of night. Ze looked up Julian Glass’ number in zir contacts and called her.

“Syd?” Julian answered. Their voice was tense, as if straining not to erupt with questions about the investigation.

“I have a quick question for you, Mx. Glass. Did anyone happen to stop by your house in the days leading up to Shinji’s disappearance? Think as far as a week out.”

“Let me think,” Julian said, and fell silent.

Syd impatiently tapped zir pencil against a pile of paper.

“I was sick, so I didn’t answer the door,” Julian said finally, “but if I remember correctly, the salesman came by.”

Syd resisted pumping a fist in the air. “Do you know what was discussed?”

Julian paused. “No. Shinji seemed a little confused when I asked them. They said they didn’t know, but they didn’t think they bought anything.”

“Is there anything else you can tell me? The date the salesman came by, perhaps?”

“No, sorry. I was sick, the days all blurred together. It could have been anywhere between a week and a half to four days before Shinji went missing.”

Syd pursed zir lips in irritation that was not focused at Julian, but at the illness that had afflicted her. “Thank you,” ze said. “Those are all the questions I have for now.”

“Are you making progress?” Julian asked hopefully.

“I might be.” Syd hung up, forgetting to say goodbye, so wrapped up in zir thoughts.

Ze made a note to talk to all the other witnesses again the next day.

But now, it was time to start looking for the salesman.