The Accidental Fall of the Horrible Henderson

Sullivan's Begins His Adventure

Sullivan finishes readying himself to go to the crime scene with Flip. The second Lily wakes up, Sullivan gets his regular strength back.

"Hey, I'm back to normal, just without Lily. Wait a minute, how did I know Lily's favorite song was Closer, she never mentioned that near me. Did she?" he thinks to himself.

"Hey mom, I am going to go to Lily's house to see if there is anything I can tell is incorrect. I have never been in her house, but I know Lily better than the cops do,"

"Ok, but take one of the dogs please."

"Already have Flip's leash ready, mom."

"Good luck! I hope you find something interesting."

"You too! Wait, I don't know what to say to that, honestly."

"Lily needs you right now, go find her."

"Will do."

He starts walking over to her house.

About five minutes in, he feels weird again but this time it's different. It's like he is resentful. It also feels like someone is reading his mind. The feeling stops in a couple of minutes.

When the feeling stops, he is in front of the corner where he turns to go home after taking Lily home. He observes that there is caution tape around the whole street.

"Hey officer, can I go in the scene, please? I know you usually don't allow people into the crime scene area, but I think I can help you here," Sullivan says.

"Sorry, mister, but how could you and your tiny dog help us find Lily?" exclaims the officer.

"First of all, never underestimate the power of small. Second of all, I'm Sullivan Harris. I'm the last person to see Lily. No offense here, but you guys might see something that's odd that really isn't odd to Lily. You might also see something very small and skip over it. I could help you guys with seeing what's odd about her room, what's not, or maybe even a teeny tiny clue."

"Why should I never underestimate the power of small? Why would that offend me here? I actually wanted someone who knew her that wasn't happy to be on TV. We tried to bring in all of her friends, but if you look over there, all her friends are being interviewed. The ones who didn't get goofy about being on TV, all said you knew her better than them. We haven't had anybody go in yet."

"So, may I go under the caution tape?"

"Of course you can!"

"Thanks! By the way, when I was walking home I saw two suspicious men walking to her house with heads down. One looked like he didn't really want to go where the other guy was going. The other guy walked with his head down like he did it twenty times already. They looked up just as I passed by."

"Really? Nobody has ever seen our suspect or his henchmen. What did the two gentlemen look like? Start with the guy who had regret in his face."

"First of all, one was more of a gentleman than the other. Second of all, she was tall, skinny, had short, brown hair, and wore glasses. The guy that has done this before was small, muscular but otherwise skinny, had shoulder length, dirty blonde hair, had a strong unibrow, and a Van Dyke beard. His Van Dyke beard actually had red and black hairs. It was weird."

"Is it ok if we get a sketch artist down here?"

"Of course, anything to get Lily back home safe and sound."

They remove their shoes and go into the house. The police officer leads Sullivan to Lily's room on the second floor.

"Anything yet?" asks the officer hopefully.

"Well, the door wasn't wide open like I see on TV shows. I see a taser sitting on the ground there. I wonder if that is why she didn't fight them off. That's really the only weapon other than an actual gun that she is afraid of. A person with a knife, she can fight off easily. Wait a second, you're saying nobody was in this room since she vanished?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Why?"

"Because I see two sets of footprints. One right there, over by the closet, and one right there, right between us and the taser. The one between us and the taser looks like the owner of it shifted its weight a lot. The one by the closet looks like the owner of it was on the balls of its feet."

"Really? Wow, you're correct. But, how do you know what a footprint looks like when the foot is on its heel vs when it's on the balls?"

"I remember when I was younger, I looked down at my footprints and wondered if I could make them look different. I stood on the heels of my feet and my tippy-toes. Both times, it changed."

"Cool!"

"Yeah. The place underneath where the pillow is, looks like it used to have a phone on it."

"Why would someone hide their phone?"

"Because she wasn't supposed to have her phone. Let's try to find it!"

"OK"

They start searching for the phone. It takes them half an hour to find it.

"OK, let's see what's on her electronic journal that can help us."

"Isn't that a bit weird?"

"Hey, I am weird. Plus Lily's in trouble, so that's not my biggest worry."

They skim through her journal from this week. Finally, they find something from that Tuesday. It reads: I have been listening to someone else's thoughts today. I don't know whose thoughts I have been hearing, but it's someone I know. Whoever's thoughts I'm listening to loves the Flight of the Conchords. Someone has also been following me everywhere I go. I don't know if that's whose thoughts I am listening to, but it is creepy. I go to Fazolis and they're there. I go to the dentist, and they're there.

Sullivan says, "Her kidnappers followed her before making their move."

They keep reading. The next journal entry read: I was just told I can't go to the Valentine's Day Dance unless someone asks me. I can't believe they would do that. This morning at school, I started asking my friends if they loved the Flight of the Conchords. Only one of my friends loves them enough to listen to them only. It was my school brother, Sullivan. I also heard Sullivan telling his friend, Adam, that nobody shall mess with me and get away with it. Those people are still following me. Now I know though, that I was listening to Sullivan's thoughts. It's still very odd.

This makes Sullivan blush and smile from ear to ear.

His dog Flip has been sniffing everything in the room. He starts to sniff the air. Then, he starts walking out of the room.

"Where are you going, Flip? Well, this is why you never underestimate the power of small. Let's follow him," laughs Sullivan.

Flip goes outside and goes the most direct path to the highway while still staying on the roads. He then starts walking down the ramp to the highway.

"Hey Flip, let's do this tomorrow, ok? It's getting dark. We'll start here tomorrow," uttered Sullivan.

Flip comes back to Sullivan.

"What the heck was that about? Why did your dog run off?" asked the officer.

"He caught Lily's scent!" Sullivan said ecstatically.

"Really? Why are we stopping?"

"I need sleep right now. Plus I need a suitcase of stuff. Trust me here!"

They go back to the crime scene and Sullivan threatens whoever did this.

Sullivan and Flip are back at the highway at sunrise the next morning. Sullivan has his backpack, full of hiking material, on his back. The police officer isn't showing up.

"Ok then, Flip. We have to do this alone. Find Lily's scent," Sullivan tells Flip.

Flip smells the air, and starts walking. Sullivan turns on his music and his speaker