”No.” Charlie pretended to be surprised as he asked, “Why? What’s wrong? Is Mom not back home yet?”

“No.” Claire replied, “I thought that she was going out with her friend. However, one of her friends just called me earlier and told me that they have not been able to contact my mother ever since the afternoon. They kept waiting for her to confirm whether they would be having dinner together, but they could not find her at all. I also asked dad about it, but he told me that he did not know where