The Chief looked astonished. He poured himself some whiskey, and after some thought, filled a glass for me as well.
“So, you found her alive?”
“Yes, sir. And perfectly healthy… well, almost. There was one subtle thing: she lost her memory.”
“I don’t understand, no one kidnapped her? Why didn’t she take any of her parent’s calls?”
“Yes, it’s hard to believe. Long story short—after the date she went home, but was hit by a car and brought to the hospital. Nothing serious physically, but she has amnesia. Her iPhone worked for a while, before the battery ran out of power. Looks like she made a manual iCloud backup right before the battery died. This was before her parents realized she was missing, and that explains why she didn’t take the calls.”
“I still don’t understand, you said a car accident? That means that the police must have come to the hospital and checked the details. Amnesia and a 17 years old, that would have not gone unnoticed.”
I smiled.
“Chief, remember, she’s tricky. She has a fake ID saying she’s already 18. Very useful for parties, right? Having lost her memory, she did not realize that was not her real ID, and provided it to the police. They didn’t dig too deep it seems.”
“You’re a genius, sonny! Well… Finish your whisky and go relax.”