Three hours later, at ten a.m., Harper left the house. She had a meeting at ten-thirty for a discussion, and as much as she wanted to cancel with him so she could spend time with her brother during this difficult time, she hadn't been able to reach him. On her way out the door, she called his cell again. Instead, she heard the answering machine for the third time that morning. "You've reached the voicemail of Oliver Archer. Sorry I can't take your call. Please leave a message, and I'll try and get back to you."

The machine beeped, and Harper sighed. "Hey, Oliver. It's Harper, again. Listen, if you get this call, please call me back. If we can't reschedule for tomorrow, can we shorten the meeting a bit? I really should spend time with Nate today. There's been some traumatic events going on in his life and I think I should help him relax. Please call me back, or text me, or something. Bye."

She tapped the "end call" button and slipped it into her purse, just as it rang again. However, she knew it wasn't him. The ringtone wasn't the right one. Instead, the ringtone was linked to her boyfriend. It was their song, the song that had been playing at the bar where they met a few years back.

Harper answered it, stopping in her place on the sidewalk. "Hey Curt. What's up?" she asked, sidestepping to let others pass if they showed up.

"I got fired," Curtis replied as he leaned against the wall outside of his former workplace, the bank. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing softly.

"Wait, what do you mean? You got fired?" Harper's brows furrowed in confusion. Her boyfriend was such a hard worker, and he had only been praised by his co-workers. What could have happened that led to this?

"Yeah. There was a robbery last night at the bank. I was the last person to leave last night, and when the first person arrived in the morning, the money was gone. So, the lady who lost her money forced the manager to get me fired."

Harper's eyes widened. "Wait a second. Louisa just said that Stella Clermont was robbed this morning. Did Stella fire you?"

"Yeah, that was her. I just...I don't know what happened. I left last night, and the entire place was empty. Nobody was in there. Plus, there was no evidence of a break-in. I just don't understand how." Curtis watched the people passing by the bank, trying to distract himself from what was going on.

"I'm sorry, Curt. Listen, I've got to go to a meeting with my agent today, and Nate's having a horrible day. But, maybe you could come by around three and we could all hang out together? Relax and try to figure out what's going on?" Harper suggested, trying to find a compromise that would help everybody.

"Sure. That sounds great. Thanks, Harper. I'll see you soon," Curtis replied before hanging up the phone. Harper did the same on the other side of town and made her way to the bus stop.

She only had to wait about two minutes before the bus she needed, number seven, arrived to pick her up. She boarded the bus and took a seat at the back of the bus, across the aisle from a brunette woman in black. Harper flashed the girl a polite smile as she settled into her seat.

She rode the bus in silence, watching the people on the bus and off. She caught a glance of a poster for a local concert, some band called "Hard Knock Life" that was performing next Saturday. She was intrigued, and she pulled out her phone to add it to her calendar. Maybe she could convince one of her siblings or friends to go.

The bus stopped at a corner, and Harper noticed the restaurant she was supposed to meet Oliver at. She stood to exit the bus, and she accidentally bumped the bag of the girl in black beside her, knocking its contents out by mistake. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Here, let me help you," she said and crouched down to the floor, gathering up the various things off the floor of the bus.

The girl gathered up her things, moving into the aisle. Apparently, this was going to be her stop as well. "It's fine, it's not your fault. Don't worry about it." She flashed a faint smile at Harper as they both continued to gather her things up.

The bus driver was idling, and he was obviously getting impatient with the two women in the back. "Hey, I've got a schedule to keep," he called back to the two of them as Harper picked up a pill bottle.

"We're sorry, sir. We're almost done," Harper called and placed the pill bottle into the other woman's bag. It was the last thing on the floor, so they both stood up and dusted themselves off before exiting the bus.

As soon as the two of them had stepped onto the sidewalk, the bus doors closed and it barreled down the road. Harper shook her head before turning to the girl. "I'm so sorry about that," she apologized again, not wanting to get off on the wrong foot with her.

"It's really fine. Don't worry about it," the other woman replied, laughing a bit. "It's really not your fault. My bag was kinda in the aisle."

Harper shrugged. "I'm still going to apologize anyway." She gave her a smile, then pulled her purse up on her shoulder. "Do you want to maybe grab a coffee? I've got about an hour before I have a meeting I need to get to, but if you want to hang out..." That wasn't actually the case. Technically, she was supposed to meet Oliver in about fifteen minutes, but considering the fact that he wasn't returning her calls, why should she return the favor of meeting him on time? After all, it wasn't like this was his only free day. When they had scheduled the meeting weeks ago, he said he would be in town for a few days. She had time, and so did he.

The woman paused for a second, as if contemplating this offer. "Usually I don't go to have coffee with strangers at ten am," she commented with a small smile. In all honesty, she didn't really leave the house that often until recently, and even now it was very infrequent. But, she didn't feel that she could turn this girl down.  "You know what, why not? Sure, that sounds great."

Harper grinned. "Great. There's this nice little café just across the street. Follow me," she told her, starting down the sidewalk towards the crosswalk. Suddenly, she stopped and turned back to the woman. "I'm Harper, by the way. Harper Winthrop. And you are?"

The woman laughed a bit, finding it amusing that Harper was perfectly willing to be so social with people when she hadn't even introduced herself. She walked by her side and replied, "Amanda Brotzman. Nice to meet you."

"You too," Harper responded as she and Amanda strolled to the crosswalk and crossed when the light changed. "So, Amanda, tell me a little about yourself. What do you like to do?" she inquired as they walked, reaching the door as her question ended.

As Amanda opened the door to enter the café, she replied, "I like drumming. My brother and I like to have jam sessions whenever he comes to visit, so that's a thing." She walked to the back of the line, and Harper followed her. "You?"

"Well, I like to act, but I haven't had a chance to do that in a while. Not many acting jobs in Seattle, so," Harper explained with a shrug, a faint smile on her lips. Of course, that was what the whole meeting with Oliver was supposed to be about. She was supposed to discuss with him whether or not she should move to L.A. to try and renew her career.

"You're an actress? Wow," Amanda commented, a bit surprised. She had met a lot of interesting people in her life, and this was just going to add to the list. The line for drinks moved up as she asked her next question. "You been in anything I'd recognize?"

"Well, I did a few movies when I was a kid, but I gave it up for a while to focus on school and things like that. The only one you might possibly recognize would be this old indie movie, Ten Past Midnight," Harper explained, and then watched Amanda's eyes widen in shock.

"I loved that movie when I was younger. I had it on VHS and got it on DVD too. Wait, were you Emmy?" When Harper nodded, Amanda was in awe. "You were incredible in that movie. You should have gotten nominated for some awards or something for that."

Harper laughed, but was flattered by the comments. "Thanks Amanda. That's really nice of you to say," she commented, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"You're welcome. So, you're just trying to get back into it now, huh?" Amanda inquired out of curiosity. The line moved up again and they were almost near the counter.

"Yeah. Now that I've been out of college for a while, and now that my siblings and I are pretty solid in terms of where we live and things, I thought it was the right time to give it a shot," she explained.

"That's pretty cool," Amanda replied, just as they finally reached the counter. She turned to the barista and said, "Hi, can I get a medium black coffee, please? And then whatever she wants to get."

Harper smiled over at Amanda kindly. "Thanks," she told her before addressing the barista. "Can I get a medium hazelnut macchiato on ice, no whipped cream, please?"

The barista nodded to both statements, and gave a price for the drinks together. Before Amanda could respond, Harper had her wallet out and was ready to pay for the drinks. "You don't need to," Amanda tried to say.

"I'm the one who invited you out, aren't I? It's only fair that I pay." Harper gave her a smile before passing the barista her credit card to pay.

"Well, thanks then," Amanda smiled and stepped aside to wait for the coffee. She stood there, waiting patiently as Harper paid, and was grateful that she hadn't had an episode. It'd be humiliating.

Of course, the thought had managed to jinx it. When the two coffees were ready, she picked up her black coffee and her vision immediately changed. Suddenly, the coffee cup was ten times as hot as it truly was, as if she was holding a straight fireball in her hands. And that was basically what she saw as well, fire surrounding her hand. She let out a scream, and dropped the coffee cup on the floor, spilling its contents.

Harper gasped, unsure of what to do. She watched as Amanda struggled to pull a pill bottle out of her purse, and tried to open it with her mouth, but failed. Harper managed to step in, and she grabbed the pill bottle out of her grasp, opening it up easily. She then grabbed her own drink and held it out to Amanda with the pill.

Amanda quickly took the pill, popped it into her mouth, and swallowed it with the help of the coffee. The iced coffee that Harper had ordered was cold enough not to yield the same result that had happened with the piping-hot coffee Amanda had ordered. Slowly but surely, Amanda calmed down, and everybody in the entire coffee shop was staring at her. As she took deep breaths, she lowered her hand, which was no longer seeming to burn. Quietly, she looked at the barista and said, "Can I please get another one? A little less hot? I'll pay for it."

The barista nodded and quickly whipped up another cup of coffee for her, taking the money in silence. Nobody else in the place wanted to speak, as if they might cause another one of those...whatever those were. Amanda was the only one willing to break the silence. She thanked the barista and turned to Harper. "Can we not drink these here? Do you mind?"

"Not at all. Here, let's go," Harper replied, handing her the pill bottle back. "These are yours." Amanda thanked her quietly, and the two of them exited the coffee shop, accompanied by the silence of every other person in the shop.

On the street, Harper managed to ask her question. "So, uh, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what just happened?"

Amanda sighed and explained herself, not really meeting Harper's eyes as she explained herself. "It's fine. I, uh...I have this disease. It's called pararibulitis. It's makes me have hallucinations that seem real. So, I don't really leave the house often."

Harper was stunned. She didn't even know that disease existed. "Wow. I...I'm stunned. How long have you had it?"

"Since birth, I guess. It started showing up about a few years ago, but it runs in our family. My brother, Todd, he's got it too, so it's a little bit better to know I'm not the only one struggling," Amanda replied with another sigh. She sipped her coffee and said, "We all have our curses, don't we?"

"I guess so," Harper replied, nodding. "But, I still think you're pretty cool."

Amanda gave her a smile. "Well, thanks, I guess. You're pretty cool too, Harper."

"Thanks," Harper replied. "You know, I'm thinking of going to a concert next Saturday night. It's this local band, "Hard Knock Life". Do you think you might wanna come along?"

"After what happened at that coffee shop, I'm not really sure that's a good idea," Amanda admitted, letting out a nervous laugh as she spoke. She and Harper simultaneously sipped their coffees.

"Well, you can leave me with some pills beforehand and I'll make sure that you're all set as soon as one of those happens. Come on, it'll be fun. Like you said, you don't really get out that often," Harper reminded her. This was the thing she was best at, being open and welcoming to everybody else.

Amanda really was wondering why she had taken her up on the coffee. This probably wasn't the best idea, at least, not at this point, but she really couldn't stop now. "Okay, sure. Why not?"

"Great! Here, let's exchange numbers. I'll text you the details later," Harper told her, and they quickly exchanged them on the sidewalk. Afterwards, Harper smiled at her. "I gotta go to my meeting, but I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, see you later," Amanda said with a small smile, and turned to walk the opposite direction.

Harper waved before making her way into the restaurant for her meeting. When she walked into the building and up to the maître's, she said, "I know I'm late, but I'm supposed to be here for a meeting with Mr. Oliver Archer. Has he arrived yet?"

The maitre'd checked his list, then checked it a second time. "No, I don't have him marked off. If you'd like to sit and wait for him for a little while, that's fine."

"That would be great. Thank you," Harper replied and followed the maitre'd to a table in the back, where she would have the meeting upon Oliver's arrival.

She looked through the menu and waited for Oliver to arrive. She leaned back against the chair, checking her phone. The meeting was supposed to be thirty minutes ago, at ten-thirty. But he hadn't showed up yet. He was usually one of the most punctual people in the world. Never late for a single meeting. So what was the deal with this?

Harper turned her phone on and called Oliver's cell phone again. This time, the call didn't go through at all. His phone must be completely off. None of it made sense.

What was the name of the hotel? Maybe she could call him there. She racked her brain for the name for five minutes before it finally hit her. The Country Hotel. She looked up the number on her phone and punched it in.

After about thirty seconds, the phone was answered by the front desk. "Hello, you've reached the Country Hotel. This is Andy. How can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm looking to reach one of your guests. His name is Oliver Archer. We were supposed to meet this morning and he hasn't arrived, and his phone seems to be off. Could you connect me to his room please?" Harper drummed her fingers on the table and waited patiently.

"Yes, miss. Give me one minute," Andy replied, but then the voice of a woman was heard faintly through the phone.

"Andy? I was just at room 524, and it doesn't seem like anyone was in there today when I went to do my cleaning today," the woman said, and Harper's eyes widened.

"That's strange. This woman on the phone is trying to contact the guest from that room. Is there anything in there that might be linked to him? Luggage, toiletries, anything?"

"Not a thing. Should we call the police?"

Harper spoke up. "Excuse me, Andy? I think I'll take care of that. If he's really missing...oh God. Thank you," she told him before hanging up. Then, she immediately called 911. "Hello? I'd like to report a missing person."

-----------

Around eight hours later, at 6:30, the triplets and Curtis were all sitting on the couch in the Winthrops' apartment, chatting to try and forget what had happened to the four of them. Nate had witnessed a murder, Harper's agent had disappeared, Louisa's boss was robbed in a seemingly empty bank, and Curtis had been fired for pretty much no reason. All four of them knew this wasn't normal. What even was normal at this point, anyway? But all the same, they just wanted to forget all about it.

"So, on my way out today, I saw this poster for a concert next Saturday. I invited this girl I met named Amanda, but I wanted to see if anybody here was interested," Harper informed the other three, settling into her spot on the couch beside Curtis. "It's this local band I hadn't heard of before, called "Hard Knock Life". I just thought it would be interesting to go, support the locals and all that," she explained.

"Hmm. I'll look them up on YouTube later. I'll get back to you on that," Louisa replied, smiling at her sister. She took a long sip of the water bottle she clutched in her hand, feeling immensely hot for no reason. "Hey, are you guys feeling hot too? Or is it just me?"

"It's a little warm in here. Here, I'll open a window," Curtis volunteered as he stood and strolled over to the window over the fire escape. He quickly and easily popped it open, glancing out onto the ground for a second before returning to his place on the couch. To him, everything seemed fairly normal out there. Just some people walking around, a car or two driving by, kids playing at the playground on the other side of the street...nothing out of the ordinary.

As Curtis settled on the couch, however, that scene changed. A police siren could be heard driving down the street, and it got louder and louder, but never quieted. It just stopped, as the police car parked outside the apartment complex. Two investigators exited the car, ready to go investigate one of the apartments.

Amelia Michaels, the late manager on duty during the murder, had moved into an apartment directly two floors above the Winthrops only a week before she passed away. The girls hadn't known, as they had never met Amelia. Nate hadn't been around when she moved in, so he hadn't known either. If she had stayed alive, he probably would have found out about it within the week.

The veteran investigator, Detective Estevez, had just finished up a major case around two months ago, the murder of billionaire Patrick Spring. They used to be missing persons detectives, but since Patrick Spring was the father of a missing person, he'd gotten involved, along with his deceased partner, Detective Zimmerfield. At the end of that case, he had been shot three times, attempted murder of his own. He knew too much, apparently, and was supposed to be kept quiet. However, someone had found him and brought him to the hospital, where all three of the wounds were treated. He had fully recovered by now to take care of this new case. He had developed into a more of a "strange cases" investigator, and although he still mostly specialized in missing persons, a murder like this would be up his alley.

Alongside him worked a newer investigator. He'd only been a part of the team for about a month, and for the most part, he'd been working normal cases. Only today had he been sent to work with Estevez in the investigation. He had no idea of what kinds of things his new partner had experienced in the line of duty, and he probably would never truly understand. Estevez hadn't understood then anyway, so how could he?

"This sure is a strange case, you have to admit," the junior investigator, Cho, commented. "I mean, usually, people just don't get beheaded in the middle of a gas station at midnight."

"Honestly, this might turn out to be the most normal of the recent cases I've had to take care of," Estevez replied simply.

"I still don't truly get what that means. What even happened on that case you won't talk about, anyway?" Cho inquired as they walked to the door and pulled it open.

"If I told you, someone would probably try and kill you, like they tried to kill me. I'm doing this for your protection," Estevez informed him, and that was the end of that conversation. The two of them ascended the stairs to the fifth floor of the apartment complex, where Amelia had stayed. Having received the skeleton key from the building manager, they were able to enter easily.

The apartment was, well, normal. For somebody who had only moved in a week ago, she had a lot of her things unpacked. Sadly, they would probably be packed up again once the investigation ended, and they'd be distributed between people who knew her and the people who bought random things in her estate sale. There were some stacked boxes by the window that led to the fire escape, but for the most part, everything was out and put in its place.

She had owned a lot of movies, Estevez found, as she had a whole shelf by the TV with her favorite movies on display. Some that she likely didn't watch as often were tucked in a cabinet under the TV. The type of movies that were on that display shelf were varying. There were some Marvel movies on the far left side, some rom coms scattered in the middle, and an indie movie or two on the right. Estevez hadn't heard of most of the ones he spotted, but one of them he had seen. Everybody had seen Ten Past Midnight now, thanks to its increase in popularity.

As Estevez looked around in the living room, Cho went into the bedroom to investigate there. The bed was neatly made, ready for her to crawl back into after a long shift at the gas station. Some makeup was scattered on her dresser, a compact still left open by mistake. Three books were stacked on her nightstand, all three of them with bookmarks inserted around halfway through each of them.

She had a CD player on a shelf in the corner, with the word END flashing on it. She hadn't cleared it after the music ran out. Again, she had left something undone in her room, like the makeup compact. Perhaps she had been rushing to get to work, afraid she'd be late. Or perhaps something else had happened entirely. Cho peeked at what the CD was, the one leaning against the side of the speakers. It was an EP for some local band, "Hard Knock Life".

"I don't see anything out of the ordinary in here," Estevez called out to his partner as he checked out the kitchen and bathroom. There really wasn't much. There weren't any threatening notes or pieces of incriminating evidence against her. She seemed to just be a normal girl who got caught in the crosshairs of something beyond her knowledge. Then again, who could be sure?

"I don't really have anything either. Just the possibility that she was running late to work and didn't get everything put away. Could have been tied to being worried about something. But we can't tell right now," Cho replied and walked out of the bedroom and back into the living room. "Should we call in that there's really not anything here?"

"Yeah, sure. We'll call it in in the car," Estevez stated. "Let's get out of here and get back to the station. Maybe the examiner might have found something on the autopsies." He and his partner exited the apartment, locking the door behind them. "I swear to God, if that Dirk Gently guy shows up on this case..." he began to say quietly, not expecting Cho to be listening to it.

Cho tilted his head as they walked down the hall, looking over at Estevez. "Who's Dirk Gently? What are you talking about?"

"He got involved on one of my more interesting cases. If he shows up, I'll know to expect the unexpected, but I really wouldn't like him to get involved." Estevez rolled his eyes a little bit at the thought of the man, with the only word coming to mind to describe him being "strange".

"Was he at least helpful? I mean, if he can help us solve a case, I don't see a problem with it," Cho replied. "What is he, some kind of private investigator?"

"Actually, yes. He's got some new kind of private detective agency. But, I'd rather not have to deal with him again. He did solve some cases, but he's a hassle. It's a long story that I'd really rather not go into." They passed by a window before they reached the stairs and Estevez froze. A guy in a yellow jacket could be seen standing on the other side of the road through a window. He peered at the guy, then heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank God that guy's blond."

"What, he got black hair like us or somethin'?" Cho asked, trying to see what had gotten his new partner so nervous. He spotted the guy in the yellow jacket and made the connection, but there was a lack of other information to go further with.

"Doesn't matter. You'll know the guy if he shows up. But it doesn't matter. We won't see him, or anybody else that's involved with that damn agency." Estevez stopped the conversation and made his way down the stairs. Cho followed in silence, deciding it wasn't the best option to question him further. Curiosity was starting to get the best of him now, desperately wanting to know more about this forbidden case. But now was not the time. They descended the stairs and exited the apartment complex, going to report the lack of findings at this location.