Black to the Past

Chapter 36

Outside the large home, Brooke sat and waited. An hour had not yet passed but she was growing nervous. She'd been texting Halle with no response. Clicking onto her search engine Brooke typed in the address where she was at. Images popped up of the house for the first couple pages but Brooke knew there had to be more information than just the house itself. Brooke typed in what she knew about the professor so she typed in the address along with Professor Harold. A missing person's case appeared. Brooke started to read the article:
   
        Nothing is more sad than a case that goes unsolved, but it's been ten years since Professor Harold Van Der Haven went missing from his own home. Mrs. Jane Van Der Haven reported her husband missing at midnight on July 3, 1987. She reported to the police that the last time she'd seen her husband he stated he was going to the basement for just a few minutes. Mrs. Van Der Haven thought nothing of it as her husband often disappeared to the basement. He had a work room down there where he worked on little trinkets that he built with wood and glass. The children were little yet and he didn't allow them down there. She went about her afternoon, chasing after children, cooking, and cleaning. Hours had passed before she realized that she hadn't seen him in a while. She cooked dinner. She called him up for dinner with no response. She went in search of him in the basement and he was nowhere to be found. Thinking he'd left without leaving a note she searched the garage. His car was still at home. She went back into her home to find her two small children screaming and crying. She gathered them up and locked up her home. She knew that a missing persons' report could not be filed until twenty four hours had passed. Not wanting to panic she called different family members. No one had seen or heard from her husband since the morning. Mrs. Van Der Haven waited with her small children in her bedroom then called the police the next day.
    The police searched the basement to no avail. They put out alerts and searched the community. Thinking that this was simply a man who had walked away from his family the police felt sorry for the young wife. They encouraged her to lock her doors. She was afraid to, since they always left their doors unlocked in case one of them forgot their keys. Around midnight, several nights later, she heard a strange noise in the kitchen. She was tired after having stayed awake many restless nights wondering where her husband had gone and why he'd left her. She listened carefully when she heard footsteps on the stairs. Fortunately, due to the build of the house her bedroom was right at the top of the stairs. Whoever was in the house would have to go through her before getting to her children's nursery. She grabbed the bat her husband kept as a weapon under the bed. She tiptoed to the door and came face to face with an elderly man. Mrs. Van Der Haven screamed and screamed. So loud in fact that the neighbors were the ones to call the police to report a disturbance.
    The man reported to the police that he was her lost husband returned home. The police tried to hide their laughter from the crazy old man who had obviously heard of the young wife and thought this would be an easy way to get a young family for himself. The man begged and pleaded with the young woman who was hysterical. The police called EMS to have an ambulance transport the young wife to the hospital to be treated for hysteria. A neighbor took the small children. The man was escorted off the property and told not to ever come back to disrupt this family again.
    Ten years later, Mrs. Van der Haven still locks all her doors, and no one has seen or heard from her husband ever since.

    Brooke couldn't believe what she'd just read. The older man had to be Professor Harold. What Brooke couldn't figure out was why would he lie about being her missing husband. Or was he? There was no way for Brooke to know the truth waiting out here but she didn't want to go inside and risked not getting out alive. So she waited.