Where is Emily?

He could hear her screaming before he exited the black sedan. Her wailing was heart wrenching. Tom Dalton, with only ten months on the job as a detective, walked up the front walk toward the sound of that grieving mother.

“What have we got? Tom asked the young officer at the door.

“Mom woke up this morning and 10 month old, Emily, was gone from her crib.”

Tom’s head dropped. He hated the ones involving kids.

He went into the house and found Mom sitting on the couch with her head in her hands. Glancing at the other officers in the room, they shook their heads sadly.

“Mrs. Hunter, can you tell me what happened?”, he asked the sobbing mother.

Eve looked up at Tom and wiped her face with the back of her hand. She composed herself and started talking.

“I got up at 6:00 am like I always do and made Dennis his breakfast.”

“Dennis?” Tom asked.

“My husband.” Eve continued. My nine year old, Brian, was still sleeping and the baby wasn’t due to wake up until about 7:30 am. I was having my coffee when Brian bounded down the stairs asking for Captain Crunch. I got his favorite cereal and made his lunch for school. Dennis left for work about 6:20 and Brian’s bus picked him up at 7:45 like always.

I came back in the house and went upstairs to see if Emily was awake. She wasn’t … wasn’t in her crib.” Even started to sob again.

Tom, being reminded again how much he hated the ones with kids, sat down next to her. “We will find her. I promise. Is she walking. Could she have wandered?” Eve shook her head.

“Her bedroom window is broken. Someone must have come in during the night,” Eve continued to cry.

At that moment, Dennis came rushing in the door. One of the officers had called him at work and told he needed to come home. He immediately went to Eve to console her. Eve retold her story for Dennis and fell into his arms.

Dennis looked at Tom and without saying a word, pleaded with him. “We will find her Mr. Hunter. I just need a few more details and we need to look around the house and at Emily’s room.” Dennis waved his hand “go ahead. Do whatever you have to do.”

Her bedroom window had been broken. Being on the first floor, she was very accessible. Glass was all over her windowsill. Someone had snatched her our of her crib and taken her. But where and why?

Tom left the house, after getting everything they possibly could from the search. Standing in the front yard, he ran his hand across his forehead and through his dark curly hair. “Susan is right. I need a haircut,” he thought. “Susan is always right.” They had met in college and married right after graduation, while he was still a rookie. He had worked his way up through the ranks, having dealt with burglary, breaking and entering, shoplifting, mostly misdemeanors. He was now a detective and dealing with more felonies which kept him away from home more. Susan kept reminding him that his kids needed him to be home more often. He knew that’s why he hated the ones with kids. He knew what kind of human waste was out there and worried about his own kids.

He could still hear Eve crying. “What a nightmare for those parents.” Tom knew something was off about this case but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Time passed quickly that day and before they knew it, Brian was home from school. Eve thought, “How am I going to tell him his sister is missing?”

Police came into the house and motioned to Tom to come outdoors. “We found her in a shallow grave,” the officer whispered.

She was just into the edge of the woods behind the house. A shallow grave, badly dug and poorly concealed. She was still hugging her favorite stuffed bunny. She had a piece of green ribbon around her neck. Her sweet little face was blue, her pajamas were dirty.

Eve and Dennis were devastated at the news that their little girl was dead. “Who would have done this. And why?” Dennis asked.

Dennis tried to console the inconsolable Eve and asked to see the baby.

Tom showed him where Emily was while they waited for the coroner.

The coroner said she had been dead for about 6 hours. She died between 6:00 am and 7:00 am. When the coroner looked at her closer, he could see had something in her mouth. He asked for an evidence bag and pulled two pieces of Captain Crunch out of her mouth. Just then, reality smacked Tom in the face…the glass in Emily’s room. The window had been broken from inside. “Oh God, this is gonna be just awful,” Tom thought. He and Dennis went back inside and looked at Brian. Tom looked at the six year old and asked, “Brian, did you do something to your sister?” Eve gasped as she saw the evil grin cross Brian’s face.

Epilogue

Emily had discovered she could climb out of her crib and gone downstairs. She found the cereal and as she was eating, Brian appeared in the doorway.

“Hey, that’s my cereal, you brat.” He took the ribbon off the counter and wrapped it around baby Emily’s neck, “This will teach you to eat my cereal.” By the time he realized he had pulled it too tight, she had stopped breathing.

“Oh man, I am gonna get in big trouble.” He watched lots of police shows and an idea popped into his head. He went upstairs and as quietly as possible, broke her window. Then he took her into the woods and put her in a shallow hole and covered her with leaves and twigs, skipped back to the house and went back to his room. When he thought it was time, he raced down the stairs and reached for his cereal.

“You’re gonna turn into Captain Crunch if you keep eating that stuff,” Mom teased him. Brian finished his breakfast and left for school wondering if he was gonna get in trouble for breaking the window.