"Oh my god, I am so sorry. Let me help you! Are you okay?"
He started to gather her things back up and placed them on top of the mailbox outside the door.
"Oh no it was my fault. I was in a hurry and didn't see you coming out the door. Thank you." She held out her hand for him to help her stand up.
James felt the paper between their hands as she grasped his, she stumbled forward just a bit as she got to her feet then she whispered to him through clenched teeth, "Do me a favor and don't open that note until you're a few blocks away."
She dusted herself off and picked up the stack of books James had created. "Sorry again. And thank you."
James slipped his hand into his coat pocket and started his walk home. He wasn't sure what had just happened, but playing along for a little bit wouldn't hurt he didn't think. If nothing else it might make for a good story.
When he was a few blocks away from work he reached into his pocket and pulled out the note.
I need to ask you some questions about Joanna.
Please meet me in Lincoln Park by the fountain.
I'll return your cell phone when you get there.
When he read the last line he reached into his other coat pocket to grab his phone and sure enough it was gone. Son of a bitch, how had she done that? And Joanna? She wanted to talk about Joanna? Now his mind was reeling. He had already become paranoid about her disappearance. There had been too much around it already, but now this? Well if he wanted his phone back he guessed he needed to head to the park. And honestly just mentioning Joanna would have been enough.
He spotted her sitting on a park bench near the fountain. She was reading one of the books she had been carrying. Not looking at all like the mugger she was.
"Do you mind?" he asked.
"Oh no. Go ahead have a seat." she smiled at him.
"Oh no. Go ahead have a seat." she smiled at him.
"I meant, do you mind giving me back my phone?"
She handed him a small bag. "Your phone is inside and if you don't mind I'd like you to keep it in there while we talk. Just to be safe."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Oh, right, sorry. I'm Dr. Alice Boxman but you can call me Alice."
"Okay, Alice, what do you know about Joanna and why is my phone in a bag?"
She raised her hand and waved it. "I'm bringing over my friend Claude, together we can explain a little bit more. But what we really need from you is information. I'm hopeful we can patch together what we know and what you know and maybe figure out what happened."
"What happened?"
"That's what we are trying to figure out. Hello, James, I'm Claude. Alice and I worked with Joanna, though we knew her as Jean. I found your missing persons notice on...well online and thought we should chat."
"You knew her as Jean? Why was she using a different name when she worked with you? And where is she now?" As soon as he asked he saw the answer in Alice's eyes.
"Oh."
She reached out and patted his knee, "I am so sorry."
He shook his head, "I honestly figured she had to be. I mean she would have contacted me by now if she wasn't. It's been too long. She would never have just abandoned me not even for a job. Especially not for a job. So tell me, what is it you do? I mean you must be something in the government with all of the spy moves right?"
Alice laughed a little, "Not exactly. We're just a little paranoid about being followed. Claude had the idea to block your phone just incase you were being tracked. That's the bag. It blocks your GPS. You can keep it if you want."
"But you got my phone in the first place."
"Oh that was easy. In college one of my professors wanted to show how easy it was to manipulate what people think they are seeing, and what they remember seeing. He used magic tricks. Misdirection. I thought it was great and so learned some tricks myself. Pickpocketing is all part of the show."
"A professor taught you how to pickpocket in college? What sort of Dickensian Institute did you go to?"
Claude laughed at that, "Nice. I think Johns Hopkins should add that to their brochures."
Alice smiled, "I'm a neurobiologist."
"Wait, what?"
"Neurobiologist, it's a person who..."
"I know what one is. That's what Joanna wanted to study. That's why she was so excited about this new job. She would be working in the field and they promised her tuition help."
"I thought you didn't know where she went to work? The police report said you didn't know."
"You tracked the report?"
"You posted about it on the board. It was easy enough to find."
"Right. Okay, so you are one of those that doesn't just use the boards, you hack the world."
Claude shrugged, "A little of this, a little of that. I'm not full time in research, I dabble. But it keeps me entertained. The information in the world is like the neural pathway in the brain. Just little jolts of electricity storing everything we need."
"Right, now you sound like Joanna again. She was always talking like that."
Alice and Claude exchanged a quick glance and she nodded, "Tell us everything you know."
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