I knew this would happen

Angelo hadn't been back at work long when he'd gotten the missing person's report. He wasn't a detective, but then it hadn't been a terribly high profile case. Teenagers went missing all the time, and most of the time they showed up unharmed a few days later. With detectives busy with other stuff, Angelo had been dispatched to go ask questions, make notes, and generally skulk around, all with zero effect.

But then, by sheer chance, he'd spotted a camera still from another case.

A camera still with creatures that looked a whole lot like the missing girl's toys.

It hadn't taken all that long to put two and two together.

Hella had vanished on the same day as the missing Fae and his car. Security footage put small creatures that looked a whole hell of a lot like her stuffed animals at the scene. Even with no body or car, it sure looked like she'd, at a minimum, kidnapped them. She was involved, somehow, and her history--as unclear as it was--with fae courts made things that much more sketchy.

It was enough for a warrant, and Angelo had been allowed to wear his firearms, securely holstered, as he went to serve it. The moment someone had spotted Hella at school, Angelo had been sent over. No sirens. No lights. Lowkey. Casual. Maybe she wasn't going to fight, and if she wasn't, Angelo was going to try and make things as easy as possible.

Dressed in his uniform, papers in hand, Angelo knocked at the door to Hella's dorm room.

A brief scan of the room confirmed, at the very least, the presence of the stuffed animals. It would be impossible to get an exact match from the distance the camera had been at, but it was a very close match. Close enough to get a warrant.

"Miss Magnusson?" Angelo asked, raising an eyebrow. It was pretty obvious with the stuffed animals and pink hair, but verbal confirmation was almost always necessary. "We'd like you to come in for questioning. Were you aware you were reported missing?"

She didn't look quite like her picture, though. Maybe it was just old?

Angelo stared blankly at the door as it slammed in his face.

He'd just had the door slammed in his face. It actually took him a bit to process it, his brain slowly working through the bits. Not even by her, either. Someone else? The stuffed animals? He could hear her yelling, and something that was... well, not a scuffle, but certainly someone sounding really annoyed, and simply held his ground.

A door was slammed in his face. The day was starting off surreal anyway.

Thankfully, the door was popped open again, and with her ears dropping they were hard to miss.

For a moment, Angelo actually wondered if he was talking to the right person. What if she was an imposter?

Angelo paused, shoving the paper in his pocket and pulling out a different piece of paper, squinting down at it.

"Would you mind verifying your birthday, and your first period class for me...?"

Why the hell did she look so different?

"No," Angelo confirmed. "No you do not. You look... uh, pretty different."

He'd almost said human, but that was the kind of thing that cultural sensitivity training had beaten out of him. "Where were you yesterday? You missed both class and work." And by individuals, but those were weighted less heavily than pre-existing commitments that had been skipped.

Fae. Why'd it have to be fae? Maybe it was speciesist of him to say, but Fae were trouble. They were tricky, and they played by their own rules, and you could never expect them to behave the way a human would.

"And you didn't tell anyone you were going to underhill?" Angelo asked, considering how to ask. "Did you go with anyone?"

Maybe... just maybe... she'd just gone with the guy and everything was fine.

Maybe. But that didn't explain the car, and the car was a big issue. A great big smoking gun.