“And no new clues have turned up in the Dory Lovett case. She is just one of many in this town that has disappeared within the last five years.”

“Turn that off, Thea!” Mina scolds her friend. Thea obeys the command but makes a show of being hesitant.

“You won’t find your sister if you listen to the news the whole time,” she points out as they look through Dory’s room, searching for any clue of where she went.

“But Mina, what if the police found something?” Thea asks, but Mina immediately shakes her head.

“If they found something concrete, they won’t say it on the news. They can’t alert a serial kidnapper and killer if the police actually has something to lead them to them.”

Her friend’s expression turns thoughtful as her eyebrows almost meet each other in deep concentration. “The police already looked in her room. What will we find that they didn’t?”

She shrugs. “You know her the best as her sister. Maybe we’ll see something that wouldn’t mean anything to them but would for you and Dory.”

Both of them meticulously sweep the room. They go through every drawer, every nook, and every cranny.

“We need to review all the information we have.”

“Again?” Thea whines, drawing out the single word sentence. “Yes. Where was your sister the last time you saw her?”

Thea paused in her search of the desk, closing her eyes, bringing herself back to that day. “She and I went out to a party and then I didn’t feel well, so she told me she would get a ride from her friend.”

“She didn’t have any enemies?” Mina questioned. She feels bad for invading her new friend’s life and pushing her but this could be someone’s life on the line. No stone left unturned.

“No. She’s never even looked at anyone the wrong way.”

A quietness blankets them as they work.

“I bet you didn’t think when you moved here that you would get involved in a disappearance case,” Thea says in a weak attempt at humor as she pulls out books from her sister’s bookshelf.

“Well my mom always said I needed to get a hobby.”

She glances at the door which has post-it notes all over. Some just have some encouraging words. Others are little drawings.

“Dory and I would write each other notes. That’s why both our doors are so colorful.”

Mina smiles at the obvious love between the sisters. She’s never met Dory, but she could see how much Thea missed her.

As her eyes slide over the notes, she catches a glimpse of her doorframe.

There are engraved notches. They appear to be height markers like you do when you’re a kid. The most peculiar thing to Mina is the names above them.

“Hey Thea? What’s Dory’s full first name? I thought it was Dorothy.”

She absentmindedly thumbs through some of the books, “Adora. She never liked it, so everyone calls her Dory.”

“So if she’s Adora, then your name is Dorothea?” Mina asks, gesturing to the name on the doorframe.

“Yeah. With her being older, she called dibs on Dory. Only God knows why my parents decided on Dorothea when they already had a Dory.”

The world falls away for Mina. Her mind races with this new information. “We’ve been looking at this all wrong. Everyone has.” She needs to get out all of her theories before she loses her train of thought.

“What?” Thea has that questioning look again. “I’m not following.”

“We’ve been thinking who your sister could have made angry when we should have been looking at your enemies.” All the pieces are fitting into place. At least for Mina.

“What are you talking about, Mina? My sister is the one missing.”

“But they think she’s you. If anyone looked at your names, most people would think Dory Lovett would be you, Dorothea.”

Looking at Thea’s wide, unbelieving eyes, Mina says, “So the question is, who would want to hurt you?”