After the events of the previous evening, the members of the investigative team, which could probably be considered an agency at this point, decided to split up into two groups. Harper, Amanda, Todd, and Curtis would go to Joanna Henry's to try and find out what she knew, and whether or not she was a real part of the case. Dirk, Farah, Louisa, and Nate would take a drive down to Lyttleton Industries and see what they could find out about from the public standpoint, then see what they needed to sneak around to find out later on.

The first four got on the bus outside of the Winthrop apartment, and they found their seats in the back of the bus. With a call to Oliver's agency, Harper had gotten the confirmation on an address for where Joanna lived from Oliver's assistant, a young lady who happened to be a fan of Harper's. They knew where to go, but what they would say when they got there was a bit of a mystery.

"So, what exactly is the plan, here? We go in, say, 'Hey, you were supposed to meet with this missing guy. Tell us what you were gonna say'? Does that even work?" Curtis asked, keeping his voice down as he talked with the other three people.

"I'm not really sure what else we can do besides that. But, there is the possibility that she's at risk too, so we could ask if she recognizes any of the band members, or maybe Taylor and her friends?" Todd suggested, using a low voice as well. "I mean, it's not the best idea, but we just need to get any information we can from her."

"Yeah, I guess that'll work. What stop do we need to get off at to get to her place?" Amanda inquired, looking over at Harper.

"Yeah, we get off at King Street and walk a block, then we're at her building," Harper answered, leaning back in her seat a bit. She pulled her phone out of her pocket to verify the information she was about to say before she said so. "That assistant, Janice, she said that Joanna lived on the sixth floor, apartment 610."

The group of four nodded and relaxed in their seats, watching others board and exit the bus. Harper glanced out the window as they sat there, and for half a second, she could have sworn she saw Patrick Sullivan walking down the street outside. She froze, then let out a sigh of relief when she saw that it was not who she thought it was initially. She relaxed against Curtis's shoulder and ran a hand through her blonde waves.

"You okay over there?" Amanda inquired of her friend, turning around a bit to look at her.

"Yeah. I just...I thought I saw Patrick, and I, well, kinda freaked out a bit inside for good reason, but thankfully it wasn't actually him," Harper explained.

"Patrick, the guy who worked in the science lab? The one you're the most suspicious about?" Curtis asked, looking down at her with eyes searching for clarification.

Harper nodded. "Yeah, that would be the guy. I thought I saw him walking around outside, but it was just some other guy with dark stubble and hair like he had," she explained.

"Well, hopefully he won't show up around Joanna's while we're there," Todd commented. "God knows it could happen, but hopefully not," he murmured.

The bus stopped and picked up a passenger or two, and it continued on. The group sat in silence, not running the risk of saying anything around somebody who would possibly be connected to the idea.

After what felt like an eternity, the bus pulled up at the King Street stop. They all stood and exited the bus, getting their bearings a bit under the shade of the bus shelter. Once they knew which way they had to walk, the four of them exited and made their way down the street towards the building.

They stopped outside of a building called Kirkman Towers, which Harper had heard was the building Joanna lived in. "So, basically we just need to go in there like we belong there. Don't let anybody question us, otherwise we might have a bit of a problem explaining why we're there," Todd commented.

"True. So, ready?" Curtis asked. When everybody nodded, he strolled right up to the door and opened it, letting the others in before following them inside.

The lobby of Kirkman Towers was much nicer than the Winthrops' apartment building, for good reason. Kirkman Towers was for the rich, and it was beautiful there. The lobby had a red and gold theme, with dark wood all around. It didn't look like a palace, but it definitely fit the mold for a rich person's apartment complex. People in suits and dresses strutted around the lobby, in and out of elevators, and up and down the grand staircase in the back of the lobby.

"Louisa should start working harder. I wanna move here," Harper murmured, to which Amanda laughed.

Before anybody could notice them, or how badly they stood out from the rest of the people there, they went over to the elevator and waited patiently, shielding themselves from view thanks to a column. Todd pressed the up button, and they waited for about a minute or two before the doors slid open. The four filed in and closed the door as quickly as they could behind them, so they could make their way up to the sixth floor without disturbance.

Silently, the four of them ascended to the sixth floor, thinking about what they were about to do. They didn't have much time to think about that, though, because they reached the sixth floor fairly quickly. They all exited the elevator and Harper checked the sign to see where apartment 610 would be. After seeing the arrow pointing right, they turned and walked in that direction.

The sixth floor had the same color scheme as the lobby, with a red carpet with gold accents, dark wood panels on the bottom half of the wall, and yellowish-gold paint on the top portion of the wall. Lights were spaced out every ten feet or so, with doors occasionally positioned in between the lights. Apartment 610 was at the farthest end of the right hall.

The four of them paused in front of the door at first, composing themselves before Amanda knocked on the door. They couldn't hear much going on inside, just the click of some shoes against the floor as somebody walked to the door.

The voice of a young woman flowed around the door, which hadn't yet opened. "Who are you and why are you here?"

"We're friends of Oliver Archer's. We're here to talk," Harper stated, deciding that was the best route to take with this.

There was some hesitation on the other side of the door, then the sound of a door unlocking could be heard before the dark wood door swung open. A young woman stood there, dressed in some loungewear and her light brown hair in a messy bun on the top of her head. "Come in, I guess," she said softly, gesturing inside.

"Thank you," Curtis said politely, and he allowed everybody into the apartment before following them in himself. The young woman, whom they were pretty sure was Joanna Henry herself, gestured to the couch as if to say sit down, and they all complied with that request as well.

As the four investigators settled onto the couch, Joanna sat on a chair across from them, crossing her legs and her arms as she looked between each of them with her big brown eyes. "Okay, who exactly are you, then? Besides friends of Oliver's," she inquired.

The group looked between each other, then Harper spoke up. "My name's Harper Winthrop. I'm one of Oliver's oldest clients. These are some of my friends, Todd and Amanda Brotzman, and Curtis Whaley," she introduced, gesturing to each person in turn. "We're here to see what you could tell us about why you were meeting with Oliver, and what you might know about his time here. Were there people you personally knew of who would want to harm him, or people that would be tied to him that we wouldn't be aware of?"

"What, are you guys investigating his disappearance or something? Shouldn't you leave that to the police?" Joanna was clearly confused, but definitely intrigued about this whole situation.

"We believe his disappearance has ties to two other major crimes that occurred the same night," Todd replied. "Basically, from prior experience, we know that the police likely won't believe it unless we have solid proof, so that's kinda what we're going for, although we aren't specifically looking for clues."

"Okay, that makes absolutely zero sense. You're looking for solid proof, but aren't specifically looking for clues. Aren't the clues going to help be your solid proof for the police?" Joanna pointed out.

"Tell that to Dirk," Curtis murmured with a bit of an eye roll.

"Dirk? Wait, like Dirk Gently, the guy who solved the Patrick Spring murder and Lydia Spring disappearance?" When the group nodded, she smiled. "Okay, that makes sense. And aren't you his assistant?" Joanna pointed at Todd as she spoke.

Todd nodded with a shrug. "Yeah, that would be me. That's kinda who's conducting this messed-up operation, but he's investigating another part of the crime with the other half of the team."

Joanna nodded. "I see. So, what you want is information on Oliver, yeah?" When the group nodded yet again, she leaned back in her chair slightly. "Alright. Well, he was supposed to meet with me for dinner the day he disappeared, and we were going to talk about signing on to his agency. I want to be an actress, so I can make my own money and stop living off whatever's left of my inheritance from my father," she explained. "I've gotten some offers from other agencies, but for some reason, Oliver's stood out as the right fit for me. I'm pretty sure he assumed that I was going to say no, and that he was going to have to convince me to sign, but he wasn't going to need to if he had been able to show up.

"Enemies...I don't really know. I mean, you could always talk to Janice, his assistant, about stuff like that. He did abruptly stop a few of my calls to him so he could answer a call from some other people. The only two names I really remember were Ty and Stella. I doubt they were enemies, but I don't really know. I never heard a last name for either of them, so I can't help much more than that in that regard. Sorry about that," Joanna finished, fixing her bun a little bit as she spoke.

With the names, Harper's eyes widened. Stella...could that be the Stella that Louisa worked for? Stella Clermont herself? She made a mental note to get that figured out. But who was Ty? What did he have to do with any of this?

She pushed that thought aside as Amanda started to speak up, asking a last question. "Have you ever met any of these people? Or, do you know who they are?" As she spoke, she pulled out her phone and showed Joanna a photo of the "Hard Knock Life" band members.

Joanna said nothing at first, looking at each of the people on the screen intently. Had she seen any of them before? They looked vaguely familiar as a group, but in reality, the only one who seemed strongly familiar was the one to the far left of the screen. That just so happened to be Patrick. "He seems the most familiar. I think I might have seen him at the restaurant when I was waiting on Oliver, like, after his disappearance. I didn't know until I got home that night that Oliver had disappeared. I think that guy had been at the restaurant, but I'm not a hundred percent sure. Sorry, I can't really help much else with that."

Amanda took the phone back and looked at who she had pointed at. "It's Patrick, unsurprisingly. He was the most suspicious," she commented, putting the phone back in her pocket.

"What, is he a person of interest? Are they all persons of interest in the case?" Joanna inquired of Amanda.

"Well, yeah, I guess you could say that. The group has ties to the cases, so we're not sure how much that extends. He was suspicious when we met him, so we're not ruling him out just yet." Curtis shrugged and stretched his arms out directly in front of him.

Harper sighed. "Okay, so Patrick's looking suspicious, and a woman named Stella was often mentioned on phone calls. I'm gonna go relay this to the other group, do you mind?" she asked, looking at Joanna.

Joanna nodded. "Yeah, go ahead and make a call in the kitchen if you need to," she replied, gesturing towards the room in question.

Harper thanked her and stood up, walking out of the living room and into the kitchen. Before she pulled out her phone, she just looked around a bit in awe. Everything was stainless steel and she had the best brands of cooking tools and other materials. Someday, she promised herself, she would be rich enough to afford a beautiful kitchen, and a beautiful place to live like Kirkman Towers. For now, she was alright with staying with her siblings, but someday...

She pulled out her phone and dialed Louisa's number, having the correct assumption that Nate would be driving and Louisa could answer any call. She leaned slightly against a counter as she waited for Louisa to answer the phone.

Across town, the rest of the group was in Nate's car. Nate was driving, Louisa was in the passenger's seat, and Dirk and Farah were in the back. There was some music playing quietly on the stereo as Nate drove around the outer suburbs of Seattle. He had thought that it would be quicker to go around the outside than to attempt a drive straight through downtown. It wasn't entirely the case, but they wouldn't be much later than they already had anticipated.

Louisa's phone rang, and that old Sister Sledge song, "We Are Family", sounded through the car. She quickly answered it, immediately greeting her. "Hey, Harper. What's up?"

"Are you still in the car with the rest of them? Because I've got some information for all of you," Harper told her, resting her phone between her shoulder and cheek while she stretched her arms out over her head.

"Yeah. Here, let me put you on speaker so everybody can hear what you've got to say. That cool?"

"Yeah."

On the other end of the line, Louisa pressed the speaker button and turned to everybody in the car. "Harper's on the line," she informed them, just in case they hadn't heard the beginning of the conversation.

"Sup, sis," Nate greeted, not taking his eyes off the road.

"What do you have for us, Harper?" Dirk asked, in lieu of a greeting.

"So, first of all, we got confirmation on what Joanna's tie to Oliver is. She was a prospective client of his. However, what he didn't know was that she was a hundred percent willing to sign with his agency. He thought it would be a whole lot more work to get her into being a part of it, but she was in for it. Oliver was in town not just to talk to me, but to also talk to her," Harper listed off, taking the phone from her shoulder and holding it up to her ear with her hand.

"Alright, what else do you have?" Farah inquired, scooting forward in her seat to hear Harper's words better.

"So, she was going to meet him for a business dinner the day he disappeared, and she's not completely sure, but she thinks she saw Patrick there in the restaurant while she was waiting for him. It was only after she returned home that she had found out about his disappearance."

"So, Patrick shows up at the restaurant...maybe he knew about the meeting. How would he know? I don't think Patrick knew him, did he?" Louisa asked.

"Not that I know. He never talked about a Patrick, and we were close enough that I would think I'd know of a Patrick. That's not all though," Harper explained. "She said that he would stop some calls abruptly because he was getting important calls from one of two different people. One of them was the mysterious Ty, whom she doesn't know a last name for, but the other one was a woman named Stella."

"Stella? Like Stella Clermont? Our boss Stella?" Farah was definitely surprised. If it was really that Stella, what kind of tie would they even have to each other?

"She didn't know a last name either, but that's who I'm thinking. Maybe you two, Farah and Lou, could go in and talk to her, see what she has to do with Oliver and maybe with this mysterious Ty."

"Has anyone actually attempted to Google Oliver's name with Ty added on?" Louisa asked. "Because in reality, maybe we could actually find out what he has to do with this."

Dirk leaned forward, a quizzical look on his face. "Why didn't anybody think of that?"

"No clue. Here, I'll look it up right now. Harper, stay on the line," Farah stated and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She quickly typed Oliver's full name into the search bar, followed by the name "Ty", then pressed search.

Her phone hesitated for a second with loading the search results, but then a few hits came up. They were all articles and postings on Oliver's website and blog. What Farah found was pretty interesting. There was an article on Oliver's support of Lyttleton Industries, and a picture accompanied the article of Oliver and a man named Ty Lyttleton.

"The head of Lyttleton Industries is a man named Ty," Farah replied. "If he's the same guy, there's another connection."

There was silence in the car and on the other end of the line at first. Then, Harper's voice came through the phone. "You're kidding."

"I'm not. I've got an article penned by Oliver himself on his website about his pending work with supporting Lyttleton Industries. How he had the money to possibly support anything in the first place, I don't know, and it's not specified," Farah explained. "Ask Joanna about what she knows about Archer Talent Agency's tie to Lyttleton Industries."

"You got it. Stay on the line. I'll just have Joanna talk into the phone to you guys about it," Harper explained. After receiving approval through the phone, she walked back into the living room and turned to Joanna herself. As she sat down on the couch next to Curtis, she pressed the speaker button on her phone. "Hey, Joanna, what do you know about Oliver's tie with Lyttleton Industries? Did you ever hear anything about it?"

Joanna chewed her lip. "Uh, not too much. I mean, when I called the agency at one point, Janine, the secretary, answered the phone and told me to wait for about five minutes, because he was discussing a deal with Lyttleton Industries and would be done in just a bit."

"Where'd he get the money to be able to do that? I didn't think he would have enough money to give up and invest in the lab. He's struggling enough as it is," Louisa commented through the phone.

"Not sure. Maybe he felt very strongly about it and decided to filter some of his income into the research. I do know that the deal fell apart soon after he physically met with somebody who worked there. That was maybe a month ago? I don't know. I think it was around the time we finally arranged our meeting here," Joanna replied, thinking about it.

"Hmm...interesting. And that was the same time Stella stopped sending donations to Lyttleton Industries as well. If Ty Lyttleton is involved, we might just have a motive," Dirk replied with a grin. "And I think I can see the building now. We're pulling up, so we can see what we can find out there."

"We'll call you in about two hours, or maybe earlier if we get done. If not, there might be a problem and you probably should call the police," Nate admitted. "But anyway..."

"Thanks for answering all our questions, Joanna," Louisa told her through the phone before hanging up the phone.

Harper nodded and hung up her phone as well, just as Todd spoke up as well. "Yeah, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. If you remember anything else, or if something weird happens, call us."

"It's no problem. Anything to help find Oliver and solve the other crimes. Here, write your numbers down right there on this piece of paper. I'll definitely call you if anything comes up." Joanna stood up and walked over to a counter, grabbing a pad of paper and a pen off the surface before handing it to the nearest person, which so happened to be Curtis.

"Yeah. And when we mean something weird, we really mean anything. The smallest inconvenience to the craziest coincidence, we want to hear about it. Anything out of the ordinary," Amanda told her.

"So, like the parakeet on my balcony? I mean, it's not that out of the ordinary, but it's still strange," Joanna stated, and Curtis stopped writing in the middle of the number he was recording. Of course, Joanna was confused by that reaction. "What, do you know something about a parakeet?"

"We've got a theory. The owner of the gas station, the one where the murders took place, his parakeet went missing, and then Dirk and Louisa saw it when they were investigating where Oliver went missing," Amanda explained, just as Curtis passed the pad down for the others to write their phone numbers down.

"You people deal with some strange coincidences in your cases, don't you?" Joanna inquired, crossing her arms as she sat down in her seat from before.

"You have no idea," Todd replied with a sigh. The five of them sat in silence, the only sound coming from the scratching of the pen against the paper. When the four of them had all finished writing their names and numbers on the paper, Todd put the pad of paper and pen down on the coffee table. All four stood up and Todd addressed Joanna. "Thank you so much for your help with this. We really appreciate it," he told her.

"No problem. Good luck with the investigation," she replied politely as the other four made their way towards the door. She followed and politely opened the door for them. "Have a nice day," she told them, and the four of them gave polite replies as they exited.

She closed the door and let out a sigh of relief, having been a little nervous throughout the whole experience. She hardly noticed the flash of silver off in the hall nearby.

Joanna walked back towards the living room, but she didn't make it there. Suddenly, before she had any idea what was happening, something hit the back of her head hard and the world went black.