Officer Jackson was on his routine patrol when a young orphan girl approached him on a dimly lit street corner.
She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and whispered three words that sent shivers down his spine.
Those three words revealed a truth that would unravel a web of mystery and danger, and Officer Jackson knew he had to act quickly.
Seeing the young girl
Officer Jackson was stunned when he first saw this young girl walking outside all alone at this time in the morning.
He looked around to see if he could see her parents anywhere, but he quickly realized that she was all alone there.
And she was walking straight to him. And her face, Jackson could read that there was something going on with her…
Not a word out of her
When the little girl stood in front of him, he kneeled down in front of her. He tried to ask her what was wrong, but she just stared at him with tears in her eyes.
Officer Jackson asked her what her name was, where she came from, who her parents were, every question in the book, and more.
But he could not get a word out of the young girl.
What to do now?
This was a situation that Officer Jackson had never been in. He was only on the force for about 3 years by now and he had just been on a regular patrol this morning.
He was busy writing a parking ticket when this suddenly happened. Luckily he was not alone. His college Officer Maroy, was waiting in the car for him and had seen everything unfold.
Officer Maroy
She had already made her way over to Jackson and the little girl and told them that she would quickly scout the area to see if she could determine where this girl had come from.
Maybe her parents were also still around here somewhere and the girl was just lost. She also quickly radioed some colleges to help her in this search.
Jackson stayed with the girl
All the while Officer Jackson stayed with the girl. It was clear to him that she trusted him and he was not about to betray that trust in any way.
He walked her to the police car and sat down in the back with her. The girl still clearly did not want to talk so Officer Jackson opted not to ask any more questions either.
At least, not for now. He did not want to stress her out
Where did she come from
At the same time, Officer Maroy and 4 other police officers that had quickly joined her, were quickly going through the area.
It was so early that there were not many people out and about. Most people were still asleep or preparing for the day.
But they were not going to let this influence their search.
Going door to door
Officer Jackson had taken a picture of the young girl and sent that to all the officers. They were starting to go door to door with it and asking everybody who opened up for them if they knew her or if they had even ever seen her before.
But the reactions were all pretty much the same. Nobody wanted to give them anything. But Maroy was not sure they were telling the truth…
They did not like police
This was a very poor neighborhood in the city and one that notoriously did not have the biggest admiration for the police.
You could say that they absolutely hate the armed forces. So most of the people who opened the door for Maroy and the college wanted to close it again as quickly as possible.
This was getting them nowhere.
An orphan?
But in the end, their efforts were not completely for nothing. One older woman that was willing to open the door for them, did recognize the girl.
Like most people they had spoken to, she also had no interest in talking to the police. But she did make a quick comment when she saw the girl’s photo.
“That girl there, she is an orphan. No mother, no father”
No more information
When Officer Maroy pressed her to tell them how she knew this or if she could give them more information, the older woman quickly seemed to realize what she had just said and told the officers that she did not know anything else.
And the longer Maroy tried to talk to her, the more stressed she seemed to become until the woman slammed the door in her face.
Drastic measures
Officer Maroy knew that if she wanted to get more information out of this woman, she would either have to arrest her or get a search warrant to go through the house.
Both things were big steps to take against a woman whose, most likely, only crime was that she was withholding information. But now, all Officer Maroy could do was keep this in mind
The police were stuck
For now, their search had come to an end. And even though they had some information, they still had no idea where this girl came from.
Because even if the old woman was right and she was in fact an orphan, then where had she been all this time? She had to have been living somewhere.
If she lived on the street, she would have been noticed a while ago. Who had taken care of her?
Going to the station
Defeated, Officer Maroy reported back to Jackson, who was still waiting with the young girl in the backseat of the police car.
The next step was to take her to the police station and work it out from there. And when Officer Jackson asked the girl if she wanted to join them, he got no objection. No confirmation either of course, but this was good enough for him.
What to do next?
On the ride back to the police station, the 2 officers discussed what would be their best course of action.
Of course, they would need to put out a city-wide message that they had found this girl and that her caretaker needed to report to the station immediately.
But what if that did not work? Would they just have to hand her over to foster care?
Citywide Alert Initiated
After their car ride back, Officer Jackson and Maroy quickly set into motion a citywide alert, releasing the orphan girl’s picture across various platforms.
As the image circulated throughout the city, calls began flooding the police station, each one a potential lead that could unravel the mystery of the girl’s identity, yet many seemed to lead only into deeper confusion.
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