Chapter Two

                                    

                                          
True enough, Rose sends through the missing person files half an hour later. Around six people have gone missing in the space of six days, including the other Doctor and there doesn't seem to be a single feature connecting them all. 
                          
The first was a teenage boy, fresh from secondary school while the third was a mum of two children. The only connecting feature seems to be that they were all of sound mind, apparently happy according to their next of kin which is always unusual in missing person cases. 
                          
Usually if somebody goes missing on their own accord it's because they don't want to be found. Unless it's an abduction, which is always possible. But then again, what would be the motive for abducting these particular people? They don't have money and they're unlikely to have any information someone would need. It's unlikely they were sold for sex either based on the different ages and genders; typically it's young women who are taken for that reason. So why were these particular people taken?
                          
"Getting anywhere?" John asks and I snap out of my mind palace, realising I must have been out of it for hours. He comes in with bags of shopping and puts them on the table and I stand up and start to pace.
                          
"Nowhere," I reply, then look across to dad. Judging by his stiff positioning in his chair, he isn't getting anywhere either. We need to do more.
                          
"It's not like ..." John says, fading off as he thinks, "... I dunno. The Ian Monkford case wasn't it?" 
                          
"Janus cars," I reply thoughtfully. "Sign up for a service who will take you away and make sure you can't be found. " I shake my head in frustration. "No, can't be. You know the Doctor better than me: would he have left Rose?"
                          
"I suppose not," John replies after a second. "But there must be some reason they disappeared - people don't just vanish out of thin air."
                          
"Perhaps not," I respond and rub my temples. "I don't know. We need to start talking to people - do some digging." Dad comes out of his thoughts and opens his eyes. 
                          
"Wants," he says and I snap my head around to face him.
                          
"Sorry?"
                          
"Wants," dad repeats. "That's the connection!" John looks at dad blankly so he explains. "All of those people have reached a point in there life when they want something to happen, something which would affect their lives." He stands up and strides across the room, stepping on and then off the coffee table as he makes his way to the far wall. "The sixteen year-old," he continues, pointing to a picture of Daniel Hardy - the boy who was abducted first. "Just finished his GCSEs. A* student but worried about his results at the end of the year. Wants to go into University, needs good grades. Next - the young mother." He moves his finger across to Ingrid Turner. "Two children, separated and just been made redundant. Needs money, doesn't want to go to her family for help. Need I go on?"
                          
"No," I say, nodding. "I've got you. But why would wanting something lead to them going missing?"
                          
"I don't know," dad admits, stepping off of the sofa and striding back to the other side of the room. "I've got a few ideas but I need to check them first. You two - John, I need you to speak to Robert Banks and Katie Sheffield's families; Sophia, the same but with Daniel Hardy and Ingrid Turner. I'll do Harvey Kilner and William Elliot." John and I nod in agreement. "Find out who they were closest to, who they were most likely to get help from. Hopefully that should shed more light on the situation."
                          
"Pretty loose hope," I reply, smirking.
                          
"But hope nonetheless."