I paced back and forth trying to figure out how to find Vul’s house. I had figured Ms. Young would give me directions, but with her hospitalize I need a backup plan.

“Isaac, what are you doing,” Niko asked.

“Thinking about how we can find Vul.”

“Why not call him back?”

“How do I do that, he is not one of my contacts.”

Niko signed, “Isaac hand me you phone.” I handed my phone to Niko, “do you remember the time we went to the store yesterday?”

“I pick you up around 7:30 yesterday and we went to Kroger on Ducan so… around 8:00 pm.”

“Okay, found the number.”

“Really how?”

“Your phone has a call log. Seriously start figuring out the functions of your phone.”

I took the phone from Niko, “so I am not as tech savvy as you, don’t rub it in.”

Niko muttered something but I wasn’t paying attention to it. I pressed the call button. It rung once, “hello?”

“Hello, is this Vul?”

“Detective Isaac, is something wrong?”

“Um yes, we don’t know your address. I was hoping Ms. Young would help us but,”

“Did something happen to Ms. Young?”

“I will tell you later,” if I told him she was hospitalized, it might make it more difficult to get info on Xander. “We don’t know where your house is, so could you tell us?” Vul gave me step by step instructions on how to get to his house, “alright we will be there in a minute.”

Despite the fact we could walk there, Niko drove the car. “Alright this should be Vul’s house.” His house didn’t seem that different from Ms. Young’s house on the outside. “Do you want me to come in with you?”

“No, it is best if I just meet him one-on-one with him. Besides you already putting something together right?”

“Yeah, I’m working on it.” I already can guess what it is Niko was thinking about.

I left the car and walked up to the front door. After a second the door open, Vul opened the door, “hello, Mr. Detective I am glad you came by.”

“no problem,” I entered the house, “now is there any where you want to talk.”

“my room is good, it’s this way.”

The house seemed quite for some reason, “hey Vul where are your parents?”

“Their off to rent the R/V we going to use for the next few days.”

“R/V, where are you going?”

“Across country,” he sighed, “my family is having a sort of family reunion and my father has issues with flying. So they are off to get the vehicle we are going to stay in for the next couple days till we get there. I had to stay behind to finish packing up everything.”

We reached the door to Vul’s room and entered. His room wasn’t much different from Xander’s room, “so do you want to wait for your parents to get back before we get started?”

“No it’s cool,” Vul sat on the bed.

I pulled his desk chair and sat across from him, “alright then.” I pulled out a hand book and pencil, “let us start with who was Xander. What kind of person was he?”

“He was my best friend, along with Leon. I meet him when he moved here while I was in elementary school.” I made a note to ask about Leon.

“Okay but what about his personality, was he the guy who might cause trouble?”

“No not really. Most of the time he would be considered a goody-two shoes with how much he was a stickler for the rules.”

“Alright then, what about a snitch, would or could Xander be one?”

Vul didn’t answer right away and tilted his head, “um…hard to say, I know he doesn’t go out to look for people to snitch but I don’t think he would have a problem doing it if a crime happen and he was a witness.”

Possible snitch, I wrote in my note book. “Okay let’s shift it a bit, what about his family life?”

“Well as far as I remember, it has been only him and his mother. I never heard anything about the father, so I guess he is either dead or just abandoned them years ago.”

“Okay, but could you say they were happy with the arrangement?”

“I think so, but it wasn’t always like that.” this was new; this should shed some light on why he might have left. I motion Vul to continue, “It was sometime after Xander and Ms. Young started to live here. Ms. Young had given Xander a strict curfew and expected him at home by a specific time each day. That day, we decided to play at the creek and stay out longer then we have to. Xander was really worried about it so I went with him to apologize and explain what happen. When we got to his house, Ms. Young was really scary, screaming at us and calling me names I can’t really remember. I remember crying for most of the night and Xander acting odd the next few days.”

“Have you seen Ms. Young act like that before?”

“A few times after that, but I wouldn’t it call it something that happens on a regular basis.”

“I see,” I noted, “but would you say the relationship improved as time passed.”

“Yeah I believe so.”

“Alright,” I made a note to follow it, “did Xander ever talk about having a girlfriend or being interested in someone?”

“No, I don’t think so; most of the time when Leon or I talk about it, Xander would just be quiet, he never said anything about it.”

“You’re positive about that?”

“Yes I am positive he never talked about girl.”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a picture, “then can you explain this photo then?” on the photo is Xander holding a baby, who I guess is a few months old. “I found it in his room and I don’t think it is a cousin.”

Vul just looked at the photo, then to me, then back to the photo, “that isn’t Xander.”

“What,” I said, “I mean it is Xander right?”

“No, he looks like Xander but,” Vul pulled out his phone, “here I have a picture on my phone.”

Vul handed me his phone. On the screen were Vul, Xander, and a bobcat I assume is Leon smiling at the phone. “How old is this picture?”

“About a year,” I started comparing the two cougars.

At first, I didn’t notice any different between the two cougars. Then I notice that one spot above the eyes. There was a small patch of fur above his eyes that was a darker color than the rest of his fur. The cougar in my photo didn’t have that patch of fur, so it couldn’t be Xander.  “Guess you’re right, this isn’t Xander. Then who is he then?”

“You think it is his father?”

“His father,” I remember Ms. Young saying her husband is dead. “What you don’t know ether?”

“No, Ms. Young rarely talked about Xander’s Dad and I never saw a picture of him before.” if this is cougar is Xander’s father then the baby he is holding must be Xander, that would make this photo around seventeen to eighteen years old. Though why was this hidden? I didn’t see this photo yesterday when I examined his room. Did whoever destroyed Xander’s room revel the photo? “Anyway you should probably leave now,” Vul stood up, “I really don’t want to try to explain to my parent why you are here.”

“I understand,” I got up, “but could I get any info on Leon before I leave.”

“He should be at school,” we were both quiet, “I’ll write down the address.”

“Thank you,” I really didn’t want to risk running into that gorilla again. I may not speck to Leon till after school, but at least I had another person I could get info on Xander if needed. “Oh I just remembered. You mentioned a trip on the phone yesterday; do you remember anything else about it?”

“No, he did say where he wanted to go, but I am sure Leon might know something. He was the only one of us who has their own car.”

“Thanks,” I left the house and climbed into the passenger seat of the car, “so finished?”

“More or less,” Niko respond, “what about you?”

“Let’s head to the office, I want your help with organizing my notes.”