Chapter Two: "Miller Brinkman"

From the Desk of Miller Brinkman, P.I.

January 13th

Dear Ms. Fryman,

Thank you for your letter. Allow me to extend my deepest sympathies to you during this time of sadness. Though I appreciate it and am flattered that you would seek me for help with your crisis, I’m afraid it may just be a little above my pay grade. You see, Ms. Fryman, I typically get calls for simple things like cheating spouses or blackmail attempts. Things that the average person can’t, or won’t, go to the cops for. It’s true that I have been involved with the occasional missing person case during my career, but from the sounds of your letter, your friend may have been involved in a situation she didn’t want anyone to know about. Of course that’s just speculation. For all we know, she just got bored of this town and ran off with the boy that Mommy and Daddy didn’t like. It wouldn’t be unheard of for someone her age, but even as I write this, I know it’s probably not likely.

I don’t know, Ms. Fryman, I just think you should go to the proper authorities on this one. I know you said in your letter that you’d already tried that and they were less than helpful, but I think your grief may be clouding your vision a bit here. Sometimes people do just seemingly vanish without foul play being involved. Are you certain she wasn’t hiding anything? Have you tried contacting her parents to see if they’d allow you to take a look through her things? If you two were as close as you say, then you would have the best chance of recognizing anything out of place or finding any clues hidden within her room. The first thing I’d do in your situation is see if she kept a diary or journal of some kind. I know it can feel intrusive, but it may contain some idea of where she is. Just some free advice for you.

Keep your chin up, Ms. Fryman. It may not feel like it right now, but I’m sure everything is going to turn out just fine. Please consider what I’ve said and perhaps conduct your own mini-investigation. If you do uncover something of interest, try the authorities again. They won’t be able to ignore you if you’ve got a lead. I wish you the best of luck and I hope your friend shows back up soon.


Yours truly,

Miller Brinkman, P.I.