“Not at the moment.”
Theo sent Chase the links to three fraternities. “Sigma Nu has eighty members,” Chase said. “How many-”
“Let’s do five from each fraternity. Pick them at random. Of course, you’ll have to use pages with open profiles and no security.”
“I know, I know.”
Theo went to the page of a Chi Psi member named Buddy Ziles, a sophomore from Atlanta. Buddy had a lot of friends and hundreds of photos, but nothing from a party the night before. Theo plowed ahead, as did Chase, with little being said. Both boys were soon bored by the endless shots of groups of students posing, yelling, dancing, always with a beer in hand.
Chase perked up and said, “I got some shots from last night. A party with a band.” He went through the photos, slowly, and then said, “Nothing.”
A hundred photos later, Theo stopped cold, blinked twice, and zoomed in. He was on the unsecured Facebook page of an Alpha Nu brother named Vince Snyder, a sophomore from D.C. who had posted a dozen photos from last night’s dance. “Chase, come here,” Theo said, as if he were watching a ghost.
Chase scurried around behind Theo and leaned in. Theo pointed to the screen. The photo was a typical party shot with a mob of kids dancing. “You see that?” he said.
“Yes, what is it?”
“It’s a Minnesota Twins jacket, navy with red-and-white lettering.”
In the center was a small dance floor, and whoever took the photo did so with the intent of capturing some friends as they moved to the music. One girl in particular had a very short skirt, and Theo figured that was the reason for the photo. To the left of the dance floor, almost in the middle of the mob, was the lead singer, holding a guitar, mouth open, eyes closed, wailing away, and just beyond him was the point where Theo was pointing. Behind a set of tall speakers, there was a small person who appeared to be watching the crowd. The person was standing sideways, and only the T and W of the word TWINS were visible across the back of the jacket. The person had short hair, and though most of her face was lost in the shadows, there was no doubt in Theo’s mind.
It was April.
And as of 11:39 p.m., the time of the photo, she was very much alive.
“Are you sure?” Chase asked, leaning closer, their noses almost touching the screen.
“I gave her that Twins jacket last year after I won it in a contest. It was too small for me. I told the police about it and they said they never found it in her house. They assume she was wearing it when she left.” Theo pointed again and said, “Look at the short hair and the profile, Chase, it’s gotta be April. Don’t you agree?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“It’s her,” Theo said. Both boys backed away, and then Theo stood up and walked around the room. “Her mother had not been home for three straight nights. She was scared to death, so she called her father, or maybe he called her. Anyway, he drove through the night, got home, unlocked the door with his key, got April, and away they went. For the past four days she’s been on the road, just hanging out with the band.”
“Shouldn’t we call the police?”
Theo was walking, pacing, thinking, rubbing his chin as he pondered the situation. “No, not yet. Maybe later. Let’s do this-since we know where she was last night, let’s try and figure out where she’ll be tonight. Let’s call every fraternity and sorority at UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, and the rest of them until we find out where Plunder is playing tonight.”
“UNC is the hot spot,” Chase said. “There are at least a dozen frat parties.”
“Give me the list.”
Theo worked the phone as Chase watched and took notes. At the first fraternity house, no one answered the phone. The second call was to the Kappa Delta sorority house, and the young lady who answered the phone was not sure what their band’s name was. The third call went unanswered. At the Delta house, a brother gave the name of another band. And on it went. Theo was growing frustrated again, but he was also thrilled to know that April had not been harmed and he was determined to find her.
The eighth call was magic. A student at the Kappa Theta fraternity house said he knew nothing about a band, was late for the football game, but to hang on a minute. He returned to the phone and said, “Yep, it’s a band called Plunder.”
“What time do they start playing,” Theo asked.
“Whenever. Usually around nine. Gotta run, pal.”
The pretzels were gone. The truth was that Theo had no idea what to do. Chase felt strongly that they should call the police, but Theo wasn’t so sure.
Two things were certain, at least to Theo. One, the girl in the photo was April. Two, she was with the band and the band would be playing at the Kappa Theta house in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that night. Instead of calling the police, Theo called Ike.
Twenty minutes later, Theo, Chase, and Judge ran up the stairs to Ike’s office. He had been eating lunch in the Greek deli downstairs when Theo called. He and Chase introduced themselves as Theo found the photo of April on Ike’s desktop computer.
“That’s her,” Theo declared. Ike studied the photo carefully, his reading glasses perched on the tip of his nose. “Are you sure?”
Theo gave the history of the jacket. He described her height, hairstyle, and hair color, and pointed at the profile of her nose and chin. “That’s April,” he said.
“If you say so.”
“She’s with her father, just like you said, Ike. Jack Leeper had nothing to do with her disappearance. The police have been chasing the wrong man.”
Ike nodded and smiled but was not the least bit smug. He continued to stare at his computer screen.
“Chase thinks we should notify the police,” Theo said.
“I sure do,” Chase said. “Why not?”
“Let me think about it,” Ike said as he pushed back his chair and jumped to his feet. He turned on his stereo and walked around the office. Finally, he said, “I don’t like the idea of notifying the police, at least not right now. Here’s what might happen. The police here would call the police in Chapel Hill, and we’re not sure what they would do down there. They would probably go to the party and try and find April. This might be more difficult than you think. Let’s assume it’s a large party, with lots of students celebrating and drinking and other stuff and anything might happen when the police show up. The police might be smart; maybe they’re not. Maybe they have no interest in a girl who’s just hanging around while her father plays in a band. Maybe the girl doesn’t want to be rescued by the police. A lot of things might happen, and most of them not good. There’s no warrant out for the arrest of her father because the police here haven’t charged him with anything. He’s not a suspect, yet.” Ike paced along behind his desk as the boys watched every move and hung on every word. “And without a positive identification, I’m not sure the police here would do anything in the first place.”
He fell into his chair and stared at the photo. He frowned, pinched his nose, and rubbed his whiskers.
“I know it’s her,” Theo said.
“But what if it isn’t, Theo?” Ike said gravely. “There’s more than one Twins jacket in the world. You can’t see her eyes. You know it’s April because you really want it to be April. You’re desperate for it to be April, but what if you’re wrong? Let’s say we go to the police right now, and they get excited and call their buddies down in Chapel Hill, who also get excited, and tonight they go to the party and (a) can’t find the girl, or (b) find the girl and it’s not April. We’d look pretty stupid, wouldn’t we?”
There was a long heavy pause as the boys considered how stupid they would look if they were wrong. Finally, Chase spoke. “Why don’t we tell her mother? I’ll bet she could identify her own daughter, then it’s out of our hands.”
“I don’t think so,” Ike said. “That woman’s crazy and she might do anything. It’s not in April’s best interests to have her mother involved at this point. From what I hear, she’s driving the police crazy and they’re trying to avoid her.”
Another long pause as all three looked at the walls. Theo said, “So what do we do, Ike?”
“The smartest thing to do is to go get the girl, bring her back, then call the police. And it has to be done by
