Mr Roland and the Constables drove into Mr Joseph's home premises and parked in front of it. "A house in the middle of the woods...exactly the description of Mr Joseph's former abode", he said as he stepped down the car carefully. They observed the building diligently.
"It looks like an abandoned home for sure", remarked a Constable.
Mr Roland had his nose round and it seemed to him the coast was clear. He walked up to the entrance door steadily, being followed by the five Constables. He opened the door and they went into the building.
They were mesmerized by its inner beauty but same time, surprised to see it looking very clean and tidy. "Inside doesn't look like outside. Are people living here?", asked another Constable.
"Let's split up and search the house", suggested Mr Roland, "Four should go up while one will search down here with me", he instructed. They did as he instructed, while the rest went up, one Constable remained down with him. They held their guns in place just in case of emergency.
Mr Roland and the Constable went into the narrow passage opposite them - the one that led to Mr Joseph's room.
The Constable opened the door that led into the convenience room while the Chief Constable moved forward to Mr Joseph's room. It was half opened, which made him feel he should check it out.
He peeped into the room from behind the door and observed no one was in there. Walking into the room in surprise, he thought;"Where's everybody?"
The Constable briskly barged into the room in search of him. "Sir!", he called, "There's something the rest want you to see", he said.
"What's that?", questioned Mr Roland as he exited the room before the Constable could answer. The Constable went after him so he could direct him to the place.
They left the passage and went up the stairs. They met another Constable standing in front of an opened room as he waited for them to approach him.
"Take a look at this Sir", he said to Mr Roland, referring to the room. Mr Roland looked into the room. He saw a very scattered one indeed!
"People were here. You sure they weren't the missing students?", he gasped out.
"That's not the only room Sir. We checked out five other rooms. They are as untidy as that one", said another Constable, who stood at a distance in front of another room.
The third Constable came out of a smaller room, just opposite where the second Constable stood. "This room is tidy rather. I saw a box that contained clothes...it's a small room for just one person", he informed the Chief Constable. He was referring to the room of the late coach driver.
The last Constable ambulated towards them, coming from the passage of convenience rooms. He appeared to be very unhappy. "Sir! There's something you all need to see", he said.
"What's that?", asked Mr Roland, becoming concerned after seeing the Constable's unhappy face.
"Follow me Sir", he said politely, leading the way. They all followed him right away. He led them to the passage of convenience rooms.
Immediately they branched into the passage, they were given a horrible welcome. They met the dead body of that girl Father Christmas held while chasing the students out of the building, lying on the floor with flies already swarming all over her. The displeasing scene made them withdraw backwards in fright.
The Constable who showed the body to them. "This must be a student of Joe's High School who left home to take a tour. She was brutally strangulated at the neck to death", he said and swallowed dryly in disgust.
Mr Roland managed to go closer to the body. "The murderer is really heartless", he said, shaking his head and sighing in disappointment.
"Could it be why the rest ran away?", suggested another Constable, "You know, making sure they weren't going to be victims."
"Mr Joseph is either the murderer or an accomplice", Mr Roland became angry as soon as he remembered Mr Joseph.
"What about if Detectives Dominic and Rita came to the children's rescue and they're on their way out of this forest?", suggested a third Constable. Mr Roland was inclined to believing the second suggestion rather than the first because it was way more pleasing to hear, but a doubt came up though.
"But why didn't they take the road we just used in coming here?", he asked.
"Maybe the principal led them through another route. You know he said this is his native home", explained the Constable.
"I don't even trust that principal. His claim of not knowing where the students are is a big reason for me not to trust him", he said.
"We can't even reach out to Dominic even if we want to", mumbled the fourth Constable after he checked for the network strength in his phone.
"Let's leave this place and go look for them", said Mr Roland. They hurriedly went for the stairs, descended it and left the house.
"Where should we go? We should split up?", asked a Constable.
"No! We don't have a means of communication", Mr Roland rejected the idea. We looked left and right to decide where they would go. "Let's go right!", he said. They all obeyed him and followed him.
They soon found two police vehicles in a totally damaged state, one kept on top of the other right beside the building. They were very much shocked by this.
"Who must have done this?", Mr Roland got worried. They went over to the vehicles to find out if anyone was in the cars. They found no one and felt a little bit relieved.
"This is very brutal", said a Constable with a grimace on the face.
"Let's go look for them right away", Mr Roland hurried them up. They all briskly went rightwards deep into the woods. "Let's not bother about those cars. I'm very sure they're alive", he assured the rest.
* * *
Dominic and Tricia sat at the porch to have a little talk. The female farmer climbed the short stairs into the porch while they were talking to each other.
She interrupted them. "Hope you've eaten to your satisfaction sir?", she asked Dominic amicably.
"Yes Ma", he nodded his head, "Thank you so much", he smiled.
"Have fun okay?", she wished them and went inside.
"You're clearly seeing how nice they are. Don't get worried, I feel you should trust them", said Tricia, looking at her brother with a comical smile.
"I think I do trust them", Dominic nodded, "What they have done for you guys is divine", he commended.
"That's right!", she said. After a while, she asked her brother;"You're not the person my Mum said is coming to rescue us. How did you know we're here?"
Dominic paid more attention to her first statement. "Is someone being sent to come rescue you guys? How did your Mum get to find out your location?", he asked curiously.
"There's reception here unlike over there in the land of black magic. I called Mum and gave her my location. She informed the police and told me they'll be here soon. I tried calling you at first but I couldn't get to you", she replied.
"Where's the land of black magic?", he thought, "Oh yes! Where Mr Joseph's home is, that's what they call it the land of black magic", he snapped his fingers when he remembered.
"I don't know specifically who's coming but she told me the police are on their way", said Tricia.
Dominic brought out his phone from his trouser pocket and found out there really was reception. "Reception is here actually, and quite strong", he was surprised, "I'm sure Rita and the rest don't know about this yet", he said.
"You could call someone at the station and tell them you've found us so they won't bother coming", Tricia suggested.
"You're right! Let me call the Chief Constable right away", he said, dialing his line. He got startled to hear Mr Roland's line could not be reached. "His line is not reachable", he expressed surprise.
"You sure he's not in the land of black magic in search for us already?", asked Tricia.
Dominic sensed she could be right and got up in worry. "He could be among the police officers there. I need to go find him", he said.
"Go find who?", asked Mr Donald as he stepped out of the house, feeling curious.
"It's Chief Constable Roland. He's at Joseph's former home. We need to go there and get them out of there before Father Christmas end their lives", he replied desperately.
"How do you know he's there right now? And why would Father Christmas end their lives there?", asked Mr Donald.
"That's what attacked us last night when we were there", Tricia answered him.
"My sister called our Mum and informed her where they are. Our Mum then informed the police and they're on their way here. This call was made more than two hours ago", Dominic explained to Mr Donald, "Am I right Tricia?", he asked her who nodded her head in agreement.
"But there's no reception here in the woods", Mr Donald became confused.
"There is", Dominic showed him his phone to see for himself, "It's only when in the land of black magic you'll get no reception", he explained.
"So you've tried dialing Mr Roland's line and couldn't get to him right?", asked Mr Donald.
"Yes! There's a possibility that he's there!", he exclaimed.
"Let's get going right away", replied Mr Donald, "You're with your gun?", he asked.
"Yes! I'm with my gun", Dominic showed it to him. Mr Donald made sure he had his. They went down the porch and were on their way when Tricia asked them to stop.
"You're not with a torch", she reminded them.
"Don't bother. I'll use my phone's flashlight", replied Dominic, switching it on, "Call Mum and tell her I've found you guys", he said. He and Mr Donald made their way into the woods.
"Be safe! Come back on time", she wished them as she watched them go. She felt really anxious watching her brother go but at the same time, had faith everything would end well.