John's people found nothing.
The report reached him while he was sitting in the back seat of his car on the way to the college. His assistant sat in front, holding a phone in one hand and a small file in the other.
"The cafes near the campus were checked again," the assistant said. "Cheap hotels, bus stands, rental rooms under his name, old classmates, pawn shops around the first route. Nothing useful. No clear sighting."
John looked out the window.
Students were moving along the road, carrying bags, laughing, arguing, living ordinary lives without knowing that one missing student had become more interesting than all of them.
"Too much trouble," John said softly.
The assistant did not answer.
John leaned back and closed his eyes for a second.
