The Disappearance of a Pied Piper

Piles of Scorpions

After work, Bud headed home to find George and Stan talking with Cynthia, and taking copious notes, regarding the events of the day.

"What have you found at my place, Boys?" Bud asked.

"Honestly, Sir, we've found precious little, that points to a crime of any sort connected to the disappearance of your children," George said, "but what we did find was your wife with a baseball bat over her right shoulder, bristling at anything that moves."

"Do tell," Bud said, "Cynthia, how is life treating you, my Dear?"

Cynthia dropped the baseball bat and melted into a puddle of tears in his arms. "Boys, we need a moment," Bud said, "Go over my boys' rooms once, again. I catch up with you in a little while. We've got Jewel's room covered."

George and Stan backed into the hallway, and Cynthia took a huh, huh, huh heaving breath, that one takes when trying to be able to talk, again. "They're everywhere!" Cynthia blurted out.

"Who are everywhere, Cynthia?" Bud said. "You're my wife. I believe you already. I just don't know what we're talking about."

"Did you not see the scorpions when you walked into the room, Bud?" she asked.

"No, I didn't, Sweetheart. Let me look, again." Five feet away Bud found what was left of five average-sized scorpions. "What was left" describes the job Cynthia did on them with her trusty baseball bat. One death blow wasn't enough for each scorpion. She used about 15. She was determined they would never move again.

"There are five scorpions in every one of the children's rooms," Cynthia said. "I started pulverizing them about 15 minutes after you left, and it took me two hours to round them all up and destroy them."

"Looks like you did a thorough job, my Dear," Bud said, "but you look hyped up on five or six cups of coffee."

"Not coffee. Adrenaline," she assured him. "My muscles haven't relaxed all day until I fell into your arms. I was so afraid, that I would find another scorpion. We've never had scorpions on this island. Where did they come from?"

"That is a very good question, my Dearest Lady," Bud said, "but since I don't know yet, I'll have to add that question to our new workload."

"Are you patronizing me, Bud," Cynthia started to tear up, again.

"Absolutely not, Cynthia," Bud said. "I just don't have a better answer for you right now. I'm really confused by everything, that has happened to us, today. The scorpions just add to the confusion."

"What're we going to do, Bud? First, the kids, and now this. Am I going crazy?"

"Not unless I am, too. I feel what you feel. I'm just trying to keep going toward finding answers. I'm sure we will find something. I just don't know when." He held his wife in big strong arms as she started to cry, again.

"Do you think you would be okay if I went and talked with the other officers?" Bud asked.

"I might be if can find some safe space between me and the floor," She said.

"How about the bar stools? They're metal. So I don't think scorpions can climb them if there are any more."

"I think, that will work if I sit in the middle of the kitchen where I'm a distance away from anything they could climb on."

"Agreed," Bud said. "That's a great idea. I'll walk you there right now."

When she settled in, nodding, that she was okay, Bud left her to discuss what the evening shift officers had found to that point.

Bud found George and Stan in Jeff's room. "Bring me up to speed. What have you found?"

George said, "Chief, that's a hard one. It would be easier to tell you what we haven't found."

"Alright. What haven't you found?"

"We haven't found any signs of a struggle. If the children went with the preacher somewhere, they went willingly, and apparently without alarm. The clothes your children wore to bed are just as you said, 'Immaculately arranged as though each child was asleep, but no child was in the clothes. The only really suspicious thing we found was the fact that your children's rooms have no toys or playthings on the floor. What kind of a parent makes their children live in an immaculately kept bedroom with no signs of playing going on?"

"That would be me," Bud said. "Every night our bedtime ritual includes picking up toys and putting them back into their places. My dad had a saying, 'A place for everything, and everything in its place.' https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/14400.html. I've taught that rule to my kids since they were very small. So you don't think my children's rooms look lived-in. Is that right?"

"To be perfectly honest, Chief," George said. "No."

"You're right," Bud said. "I stand corrected."

"Chief, we've gone over your house and your yard," George said. "We can find nothing amiss anywhere. Everything is right where it should be. Cynthia confirmed this fact. Everything is just where you put it last night when you went to bed, including the children's clothes. The only things, that are missing are the children."

"You still have a question on your face, George," Bud said. "What is it you are not asking me?"

"How are we going to increase the manpower? 22 citizens have been missing for approximately 12 to 22 hours. If they're running away to regions beyond, how will we catch them before we lose their trail? We're finishing up our first investigation right about now at the home of the Chief of Police. We have nine more homes to investigate. None of us have begun to comb the woods or even check out Nevermore Grand Beach, and the little piers and boathouses, that dot the circumference of our island. We're so far behind the curve, that we may never find them with all due respect, Sir."

"That's an excellent assessment of our situation, George," Bud said. "I have been thinking that we need a lot of help. You don't need to continue here. I'll keep poking around here to see if we missed anything. You both go back to the station and finish your regular shift. I would like to ask the two of you to make a sign for posting around the businesses on Main Street and at the schools. One of you volunteer to make the sign. Let it read something like 'If you would like to help the Police Department increase the strength of its investigation of the missing children and the preacher, please meet the Chief at the Freshly's Diner tomorrow at noon.' We'll deputize some of our citizens to help with the investigation to include the woods and the circumference of our island. They'll be deputized to investigate, but they will have no authority to arrest, nor detain any suspects. Everything they learn must be reported to one of the five deputized police officers in this town, and on the island. Sound good?"

"That is a great idea, Chief!" George and Stan agreed. "Have as good an evening as you can under the circumstances."

As soon as the door shut behind George and Stan, "Eeeeeeeek! No, you don't. Where's my bat," Cynthia screamed, running to Jewel's room, and back in a heartbeat.

"What's wrong?" Bud asked.

"There's another scorpion in the kitchen!" she screamed. "Where are they coming from?" BLAM! She beat the scorpion with her bat. "That makes 16 in this house, today. I repeat where are they coming from?"

"I guess since we live on an island, there's plenty of flotsam for them to arrive here at the coast. But why, now? I'm just as perplexed as you are."

During the drive back to the station, Stan said, "I'll make the note, George. I'll make fifteen copies, and post them before the shift is out. That'll leave you free to start the rounds. I'll catch up with you when I'm done. Good?"

"Fair enough, Stan. Thanks for taking that off my shoulders."

"You're more than welcome."

"Enough of the niceties," George said. "Looks like we've got a crowd at 8:00 o'clock at night. What's gone wrong, now?"

"What are you going to do about the scorpions?" "We can't live like this!" "I tried to cook bread, and a scorpion fell out of my flour bin!" "They're all over the place!" "I'm afraid to go to sleep for fear, that one will sting me in my bed!" "You're law enforcement. Can't you do something?" The voices came all at once, filling the men's ears with a cacophony. The confusion was real.

"Slow down, Everybody," George said, holding up his right hand. "I can't answer everybody at once. Please, give me your report one at a time."

Grady said, "I've killed ten scorpions in my house, today. I found them five in each of the boy's rooms."

Lem said, "I've killed ten scorpions, five in each of my girl's rooms."

Myrtle said, "Me, too. Ten scorpions, five each in Eustace and Begonia's rooms."

Pace said, "Same. Five scorpions each in Darius and Liesha's rooms."

"I'm starting to see a pattern here," George said. "Let's take a roll call. How many of you have killed scorpions, today?"

Every hand went up.

"Keep your hands up, if the scorpions were found in the rooms of children, that disappeared."

Every hand stayed up.

"If the number of scorpions you killed was five in every child's room, then keep your hands up."

Every hand stayed up.

"Is that everything?" George asked.

"No. It isn't," Bubba John said. "My wife screamed in the kitchen when a scorpion fell out of her flour bin."

Calvin said, "Us, too. All we wanted to do was cook a meal, and a scorpion was on our stove, trying to strike us with its tail."

Altimus said, "Susita was dancing around in the kitchen, trying to stomp the scorpion to death, screaming at me in Spanish because she had forgotten how to speak English."

Israel said, "Nosotros tambien." He started waving his hands in frustration. "Us, too. The scorpions have scared the English out of us, too."

"Okay. Let me get this straight," George said. "There are five dead scorpions in the rooms of every missing child, and one dead scorpion in the kitchen of every one of these homes. Is that right?"

All heads nodded, "Yes."

"Got it, Everyone," George said. "I think y'all need a breather. Go to the diner, find a place to sit, and have a cup of coffee or tea on us. Tell Pa to put it on the tab for the Police Station. Besides, I've got to call the Chief. We already know about the five scorpions in each of his children's rooms. I just need to ask him about the one in the kitchen. As soon as I learn some more, I'll come to the diner, and tell you folks."

"Thanks, George," Grady said. "That sounds like a plan."

"By the way, while I'm calling the Chief, it would be good for you to call friends and neighbors to find out if they have any scorpion sightings to report. It will be good to know if anybody else on the island has seen scorpions other than the families with missing children. Patterns are important in investigations, like this one."

Once the door closed behind the crowd, George told Stan, "Get on that note, and have them in hand when we go to the diner in fifteen minutes, sharp."

"On it," Stan said.

"Chief, we've got more of a situation downtown," George said into the phone.

"What now, George?" Bud asked.

"Everyone of our families has found scorpions in the missing children's rooms. Precisely five for every child," George said, "but there's more. Every one of these families found a scorpion in each of their kitchens."

"Same for us," Bud said. "Cynthia killed it shortly after you two left."

"The patterns keep getting more and more intricate, Chief."

"I'll say. You need my help?"

"I think we can handle it for now, but if I do, I'll let you know. Get some rest, if you can."

"Got that right," Bud said, "Enjoy the rest of your shift."