Chapter Twelve

     Gabiola watched as Marie placed her drone carefully on the ground. It lifted off the ground and flew over the field, searching for any further signs of the missing children. As Marie controlled the drone, another person watched the screen of their phone. The drone lifted higher into the air. The person holding the phone tapped Marie’s arm.

     “Can you go higher?” he asked her.

     “I suppose,” she shrugged.

     The drone lifted higher into the sky. Gabiola hovered over his shoulder to see what he was talking about. Marie glanced at the phone and nearly dropped her controller. There were circles and lines in the corn maze.    

     “Did,” he was trying to find the words. “Is that a crop circle?”

     “Did we find some any signs of the children?” Gabiola asked.

     Marie shook her head, “I think I need a better look at this maze.”

     “I am going to need to speak to Warren,” he said. “Don’t let anyone else know what we found so far.”

     Gabiola left and headed back to the station. He was brought to a private room where Warren sat at a table.

     “How’s business with the corn maze?” Gabiola asked.

     Warren smirked, “What business? Corn maze?””

     “You made the corn maze didn’t you?” he asked.

     Warren sat lost in thought, “I have no idea what a corn maze is. Why am I even here? I didn’t even do anything wrong.”

     “The cornfield was has passageways and even a booth for admission,” said Gabiola.

     “The cornfield came out of nowhere,” he said. “It was just an empty field. I saw the corn one morning and I went to investigate. You don’t want to go in there.”

     Gabiola wrote notes in his notepad. He clicked his pen in thought. This conversation was going to go nowhere.

     “How long have you owned the property?” Gabiola asked.

     “My family has owned the property for many years,” he explained.

     “You’re telling me that corn just popped out but a nowhere?” Gabiola asked in disbelief. Warren nodded his head. “I have some more information to look for. Once we are done searching your property you can go.”

     “Seriously? I’m not breaking any laws,” he said. “I just didn’t have the right keys. That cornfield brought me to a different time.”

     “There are missing children,” Gabiola said. “They could possibly be on your property. You are giving us more reasons to search your property.”

     “Why?” Warner asked.

     “What does that corn maze have to do with anything?” He asked him. “I think you’re lying. What is going on in that field?”

     “People are dying in the field!” shouted Warren. “There are horrific murders.”

     “Who is killing people?” He asked.

     “I don’t know, but it is horrifying,” he said. “If those children are in there, they might be dead.”

     Gabiola decided that it was time to end the meeting. He exited the room and nearly ran to Schneider. Schneider handed him a folder.

     “There’s something really weird about this property,” said Schneider.

     “Tell me about it; they have a crop circle in the corn maze,” Gabiola begin leafing through the folder.

     “A crop circle shaped corn maze,” said Schneider.

     Gabiola stopped, “What is this?”

     “That is Warren Smith’s,” he answered. “Warren vanished in 1955 without a trace. The house has been vacant for a couple years.”

     “Was the owner related to Warren?” Gabiola asked.

     “Not to my knowledge,” Schneider ran his finger down the document in the folder. “Nope, I believe the house was sold a couple times.”

     “Okay, but that doesn’t say much about the gentlemen we have in custody,” he and handed the folder back to Schneider.

     “Why don’t we have what we search the house then?” asked Schneider. “He might be a squatter.”

     Gabiola nodded, “Yeah, there’s already suspicious events going on there. I think he may have murdered the children. He doesn’t even have a phone or identification.”

     “What if he’s telling the truth? He doesn’t even come up in our system,” Schneider stated.

     “We will cross that bridge when we get there,” Gabiola said.