Before Angel could ask anything, the man plopped down in the chair and rattled off his request like a machine gun.
His daughter had been missing for nearly a week. He had tried reporting it to the police and hiring detectives, but neither had yielded anything. The detectives had even tactfully told him that in Backlund, there was almost no hope of finding a young woman who had been missing for more than three days.
He had now begun seeking help from the gods, from the elusive art of Divination.
Well, thanks a lot...
Hearing that he regarded Divination as his last straw after exhausting every other option, Angel could barely keep the smile off her face.
Taking the crumpled missing-person notice he handed over, Angel stopped grumbling inwardly and read it carefully.
The notice depicted a girl of around fifteen, with sweet features and long hair. Beneath it were several key details: Emily O'Neill, brown hair, black eyes, wearing a pale yellow dress when she vanished, carrying a shoulder bag containing grammar and arithmetic textbooks.
"Mr. O'Neill, could you tell me in detail what happened before Emily disappeared?"
Setting down the notice, Angel looked at the haggard father again. He instinctively pulled out a cigarette to light it, but after glancing at Angel, he put both the cigarette and lighter back into his pocket.
"She went to school that day. It was nearby, the comprehensive school at the border between North Borough and Cherwood Borough. But she still hadn't come home by late that night..."
Mr. O'Neill rushed to the school overnight and questioned her teachers. He learned that Emily had left school with her classmates that day. After repeatedly searching the road between the school and home without success, he reported it to the police.
Of course, like