Mystery in the Amazon Part 2

The meeting with Mr. Thomas had gone as well as it could have. How would you react as a father who has not seen his son in a month? Adam and Jason quietly discussed the whole affair on their ride home and anticipated speaking with their dad.

"It is a curious case boys. I believe Mr. Thomas is right to hire the two of you since the police have been unable to conjure any clues."

"Will you give us a hand dad?" Jason replied.

Scott Brady smiled. "I wish I could. Unfortunately, my hands are tied up with a case of my own. There is an import-export business at the port that I am investigating. Their shipments arriving from Brazil are opened."

"That is odd. Could there be arms or drugs coming into the country?" Adam asked.

"It's possible. The arms would be difficult to smuggle because of the size and dealers usually space out their drug shipments so the weight differences are negligible. What's strange is that the shipments are toys."

"Toys?" Jason inquired.

"Yes, 2-3 small boxes of toy soldiers are missing from each shipment we have identified. This has been going on a little over a month now."

"That one has me puzzled. They are not valuable enough to steal are they?" Jason asked.

"Barely. The company hesistated to alert the authorities because the value was not large but they decided to do so out of concern. But enough about my case, you two need to get some sleep so you are fresh for the case with Mr. Thomas tomorrow."

"It is nearly midight now." Adam replied. "We'll let you know what we find with Mr. Thomas when we see you dad."

Scott nodded in approval and wished his boys a good night as they headed upstairs.

After a quick protein shake for breakfast, Adam and Jason headed out the door to Mr. Thomas' house. He was happy to receive their text that morning confirming their interest in taking the case. Jason started the gps app once he had the address, and the two of them drove off to Mr. Thomas' estate.

Mr. Thomas and his wife Maria welcomed the boys heartily at the front door.

"Thank you, thank you so much for agreeing to find our Shaun." Maria said between kisses on both Adam and Jason's cheeks. "We are elated that young men of your caliber are here to help."

Mr. Thomas looked on with a smile at his wife's enthusiasm. He was amused by her but also understood how hard the last month had been since she never said goodbye to Shaun.

"Thank you for your encouragement Mrs. Thomas."

"Oh please, call me Maria."

Adam and Jason looked at Mr. Thomas with apprehension but his nod and look of "it makes her feel old" convinced them to call her Maria.

"Very well, thank you Maria." The boys replied in hesistant unison. Their mother would have their hides for disposing of Southern courtesy if she didn't know of Maria's consent.

Maria, Mr. Thomas, Adam, and Jason settled into the living room as they began to browse through Shaun's social media.

"Who is this friend here?" Jason asked as he noticed a gentleman petting a Black Panther.

"I'm not sure." Mr. Thomas replied. "We had no recollection of him when the police asked us."

"He and Shaun have only been friends for two months." Adam replied, as he began looking through Shaun's snapchat. "This is interesting. The two of them sent a message the day of Shaun's disappearance."

"What does it say?" Maria asked excitedly.

"There is nothing to read. Snapchat deletes messages after the recipient opens the text or picture." Jason interjected as Adam kept looking.

"There is someone else Shaun snapped on the day he left. This guy is nowhere else on his social media."

"I do not recognize that name." Mr. Thomas said.

"I wonder if dad would have some info on him." Jason asked Adam.

"That is a good idea" Adam replied.

"For the time being, I would like to keep Shaun's journal and passwords here. Maria and I discussed having the two of you stay here at the house while you work on the case. Time is of the essence you see."

"We can agree to that." Adam said. "We'll run this name by our dad, and ask him about staying here as well. Thank you for your hospitality."

Adam and Jason left for home pondering the mysterious men that Shaun had become acquainted with in the previous two months.

If you missed Part 1, you may read it here.

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