"Excuse me, Officer Marcus, do you not know it's polite to knock before you rush into someone's office?"
"Sorry, I'm really sorry, it's just..."
"It's what?"
"Zach Byrne", he waited for a response, "You know the missing person's case you were working on?"
"I know what I'm working on, thank you. I also know that I still haven't got the document that you were meant to give me three hours ago regarding that case. Are you hear to hand it in?"
"No, but the person you're looking for just turned up."
The detective stared daggers into the officer who started sweating nervously. She closed her eyes and shouted at him, "Get out! Get out know! I don't have time for another one of your pranks."
"But I'm telling you the truth. Look he's sitting right there.", he said pointing at the man sitting by his desk.
"I swear Marcus, if this is another one of your pranks and that's one of your buddies, I will be really mad. I'll give you unpaid overtime for whole month and I'll put your friend in a holding cell for a few days. Bring him in here."
She waited in the office thinking about how crazy it would be if Marcus was actually saying the truth. 'It will be really good to have closed a case like this; I could even get a promotion.' She inwardly smiled. 'It'd be good to get some rest after these past two years of hectic work.'
A minute later the door opened and in walked Marcus and the man she had seen earlier. He had black hair with a light beard and brown eyes. At first glance he looks thin but she could see he had a slight muscular build. 'It seems like he's trying to hide it by wearing baggy clothes. The face fits the one in my file but his build is completely different from the one I got from his family.'
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Zach walked into the office with a pissed off expression. He had expected all this to happen already but he had to look the part for the story he was going to feed them.
As he walked in, he felt the fresh, chilly air seeping in through the open window signifying that winter was arriving soon. The light breeze rustled a large stack of papers on top of a filing cabinet which was in the far right hand corner. The right side of the room also had small cosy looking sofa for extra guest sit down on and relax. Zach swiftly moved his eyes to the left wall adorned with awards and qualifications proudly hung up for all to see. Finally, he gazed straight ahead at the detective sitting on her office chair. She had one hand on a cup as she was putting down and the other was holding a pen. 'Well, look at her trying to look like she isn't interested in him. Expected, after all its a valuable tool for interrogation made to make the person feel less significant.
She motioned for Zach to sit down on the chair making him have to slightly look up to meet her eyes. 'She must really like looking down on others.', Zach thought. She looked at Zach and the air the room suddenly became very tense. Feeling uncomfortable Marcus swiftly walked out of the office.
They continued staring at each for what seemed like hours; one with a judging gaze and the other with an angry expression.
There was an intense feeling in the room, until someone spoke.
"So, are you the on who's going to show me the way back home?"
The detective's arrogant look suddenly became flustered. Not because she didn't expect him to break the silence first, but because of the question asked of her.
"I'm sorry"
"So you don't know. Who are you going to pass the baton onto next?"
"I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about. Could you start from the beginning?"
*Sigh*. He rolled his eyes and explained the reason why was here for the umpteenth time.
This only made the detective even more confused. She thought he was here because he wanted to inform them that he wasn't missing anymore. 'Why does he want directions to where he used to live two years ago? I'm sure someone else is living there by now. Besides all of his belongings were confiscated by the police. That is all assuming Marcus wasn't lying about the identity of this person.'
"Mister Byrne, I regret to inform you but you no longer have tenancy there due to you going missing two years ago. I hope you wouldn't mind...".
She abruptly got cut off, "Two years? Missing?".
It was now Zach's turn to be confused. He had a blank look on his and looked to be trying to digest the information he just received.
"Alright, we seem to not be on the same track, Why don't you tell me where you were on 28th May 2021?"
"I was at home, then I left for a bit to go for a walk... to stretch a bit, you know. Then I realised I was lost so I came here for directions.", he waited for a bit as if he was hit with a sudden realisation, "Holy crap, that means I've been walking around for the whole! What was I even thinking?"
The detective was dumbstruck. 'Is this man retarded? It's been two years since then! Not one day!'. She was speechless; she had no idea what to say to this man.
"Wait, you do realise it's been more than two years since then, right?"
"What? Are you trying to fuck with me? It's still 28th May!", he stood up suddenly and started pacing back and forth in deep thought.
She let him mull through his thoughts for a while. With a worried look she looked at the date and time on her computer to reassure herself that she wasn't going insane instead. She turned the monitor around and showed it to Zach. He stared at it intently for a good few minutes. His breathing started to intensify. He staggered back a bit. He tried to grab something before he fell. Then he collapsed. This all happened so quickly that the detective didn't have any time to even react.