The Call Came at 11:42 P.M.

At 11:42 p.m., Detective Mason noticed something strange about a missing-person call.

A man had contacted police twenty-three minutes earlier and reported that his wife had disappeared. According to him, she had vanished without warning.

When Mason arrived at the house, the husband stood outside waiting for him. He looked frightened, although something about his behavior immediately caught the detective’s attention.

Mason asked the first question that came to mind.

“What was she wearing?”

The husband hesitated.

“I don’t remember.”

Mason stared at him.

“You just told dispatch she left ten minutes ago.”

“I was panicking,” the husband replied.

Even so, Mason wasn’t convinced.

He walked into the house and began looking around.

Something already felt wrong.