one sitting. Even after his mother fell asleep, he would insert another twenty. Just in case she were to wake up and wonder where he’d gone.
“Okay, I’ve got it for you here, Evan,” the operator said, cheery. “Would you like me to save this number?”
“No, that’s fine.”
“Of course. I’ll connect you, just hold on . . .”
On the wooden table in front of the phone, students etched in pencil markings, absentminded doodles and half-completed pictures, the result of active brains trapped in inactive states, stuck on the phone. In the bottom-left third of the wooden table, the drawings got more concentrated: religious symbols, cartoon drawings overlapping and adding on top of the ideas of the students before them; one particular monster had half the face of a human and half the face of a buffalo growing up from the back of a dragon, the work of three different artists. Near the bottom, curling off the top of the table as the wood rounded at its edge, was familiar handwriting. It was a short sentiment, with small doodles between the letters.
wait for me, with an anchor around the center o.
It was Emma.
“Can I just get your student number, for confirmation?” the operator asked again.
“You already have it,” Evan said urgently.
“Looks like I didn’t get it in there right. Sorry. Can you confirm it for me?”
Evan paused. This was wrong. She’d never gotten the number wrong before. “Alright,” he said slowly. “It’s eight, eight, eight, four, five, two, three—”
The door to the booth screamed open and a pair of hands grabbed him from behind, ripping him out and bringing the phone with him. He let go just in time to keep the wire from snapping against his face. The two massive hands that had taken control of his arms wrestled them behind his back. He fell to his knees, a stinging pain in his shoulder. He kept his head down, afraid a swing for his face was next.
It didn’t come. The room settled, and the light from the booth reflected off three pairs of black boots, surrounding him. From the phone, now hanging a few feet from his face, he could hear the outgoing call.
“Hey, baby, what can I do for you?” a raspy voice answered.
Yanis, the maintenance man, picked the phone up and clicked it back on its base.
emma donahue investigation.
evan andrews—year 2.
transcription by MONKEY voice-to-text software.
YANIS (School Administration) _ Please speak your full name aloud.
EVAN ANDREWS (Student) _ Evan Magnolia Andrews.
Y _ Evan Andrews. We’ve met before. Do you remember this.
EA _ Yes.
Y _ You were in Emma’s dorm. Getting homework. I remember. I’m starting to think maybe you were not there for homework.
EA _ I was.
Y _ So you have this knack. For being places you should not. I am sure you can tell me. Why did you call this phone number.
EA _ I was calling my friend.
Y _ Strange friends you have. Tell me this. How did you meet your friend.
EA _ I don’t remember.
Y _ Have you made this call before.
EA _ No.
Y _ Did you make this call last night.
EA _ No.
Y _ Think very hard about answers Evan.
EA _ My shoulder hurts.
Y _ You can see the doctor when we finish. You told the operator to call a number that Emma don a hue has called before. Did you know that.
EA _ No.
Y _ You’re showing up in her dorm room on the night she goes missing. And you are making phone calls to numbers she used to call. Those are two things I know. They are facts. Can we establish this so at least we come from a common understanding.
EA _ I . . . Okay.
Y _ Great. So now that we know those two things to be facts we can answer important questions. Such as why are you showing up in her dorm room and making phone calls to numbers she used to call.
EA _ I I want to know where she is.
Y _ Good. Me too. But why do you care so much.
EA _ Because she is my friend.
Y _ Were you close.
EA _ V v v very close.
Y _ Perfect. Thank you. See. It’s an easy system. Question. Response. Smile. Gratitude. Trust. Relationship. Now we understand each other. So we can have real conversations. Did she tell you to call that number.
EA _ No.
Y _ Then how did you know.
EA _ I I just guessed.
Y _ How about this. I make you a deal. You tell me how you knew to