The parlor where Lily left her body remained deserted.  It was rarely, if ever, used.  Like so much of the place it was a front; a fake designed to put people at ease to believe the institution was well funded and well maintained.

Adam noticed a lot of fake involved in this place.  He had seen sanitariums before but never one that was so catered to the wealthy.  The patients were clearly unimportant; only the money they came from.  He wondered why his parents were ever friends, or even acquaintances, with the doctor that ran it.  Everything here felt so shiny and polished; and so very false.  He concealed a frown as he began to see threads of a pattern building.  He couldn't deal with it right now and quickly slammed the door in his mind shut.  He would revisit it later.  

Right now he needed to redirect the doctor's attention, his intuition told him that Lily was the “spider” who bit the doctor and spotting the movement near the bed confirmed it.  Fortunately the doctor was a bit easy to manipulate and he was quickly able to redirect his attention outward.  

“Perhaps the child is still on the grounds, simply hiding or playing somewhere?” he asked turning to look out on the grounds.  The doctor instinctively turned to look too and Adam shifted his weight to stand a little more blocking the doorway.  He wasn't a big man, but at least he could offer a little cover.  And he continued to converse with the doctor he learned that the staff had checked every conceivable hiding place, at one time or another, when the girl had disappeared in the past.  Adam thought it highly unlikely the girl remained on the grounds; and judging by the nature of the hospital and the staff it didn't seem likely that any of them were helping her escape.  It actually puzzled him why the girl kept coming back...was life here really better than what life she could manage as a street urchin.  As far as he could tell the only thing this place had to offer was food and shelter.  A clever child could find that on the street if they wanted; and this girl had to be clever if she kept vanishing and reappearing.    

“Come” he said to the doctor “she's probably not on the grounds but lets look anyway” and he gently tugged the doctor away leaving the room unattended.  As he did he casually pocketed a stuffed rabbit that had appeared in his hands while at the same time gently leading the Doctor away from the bit of white that had caught his attention...Lucie's glove lay on the ground half hidden in the shadows, kicked there mostly likely by the Doctor himself as they walked up to the room, Adam certainly hadn't seen it before.  He also didn't dare stop to pick it up...Lucie would have to loose it.  She had obviously come, and gone.  

His own psychic sense tingled a a bit, like having an itch in his eyes, and he blinked rapidly in response.  He didn't see anything odd but it was a bit like walking through some of the archives of psychic artifacts.  He was ashamed to admit to himself it took him a minute to realize the sensation was coming from the two small keepsakes that Lily had smuggled to him. 

He mulled that over as he and the doctor searched the grounds.  He was mentally trying to riddle the problem out, not paying much attention to what was going on around him.  Even so he caught glimpses of angry faces, scared faces, and forlorn faces.  So much emotion could be found here if one was Sensitive to such things.  He began to think the girl they were seeking might just have some sort of empathic Talent.  That would explain why she kept coming back; she felt tied to all the emotion that could be found here.  And it might explain why she kept leaving...if she was being pulled away by strong emotions somewhere else.  Perhaps generated by the “friends” she would talk about when she returned.  Excessive emotional influx could easily be the cause of her mute state when she returned as well.    

Lucie had a bit of skill at finding things that one might not wish found; he hoped it extended to children.  As they looked it became abundantly clear that the child was gone; and while it seemed logical that she would return it would be prudent if she didn't.  He wondered how long the Dr. would gaslight the girls parents into believing she was still there and collect his fee for “caring” for her.  But that was not his problem.  He had no warm fuzzy feelings towards the girls parents any more than he had towards the Dr.   But if the child was an empath of a sort she could very easily be considered a madwoman, and legitimately go insane with the constant barrage of everyone's emotions.  He was also concerned about what kind of force could draw the girl away, the more he worked through the maze in his mind the more he was sure that she wasn't leaving of her own free will.  Or rather she was being called by a call she couldn't keep fighting.  Did she want to go? The idea that she considered she was meeting “friends” suggested she liked going.  He absently stroked his fingers over the little christmas ornament in his pocket, feelign the little prickles of psychic energy, and another thought struck him.  What if it wasn't emotions that were calling her...empaths were actually rather common.  But there were other things besides emotions that they could be Sensitive to.  The girl had kept these two objects as special to her...but they were certainly not emotional things.  However he remembered studies in the past of powerful psychic artifacts; weapons were the most common but toys were also quite common; that were almost sentient in their power.    

“Damn” he hissed to himself as he realized that Lucie might actually be in some unexpected danger going after the girl.  As he “searched” the grounds with the doctor he had looked for the most likely mode of egress a small child would take.  Children viewed the world from a different angle, literally, and paths adults might not think were usable, could be completely logical and clear to a child looking at them from a lower viewpoint.  Adam had spotted two such paths and had no way of knowing which one the girl was likely to take.  Or which one Lucie was likely to take.  He would be better off trying to head them off, or beat them to the goal. For that though he'd have to reunite with Lily and ditch the doctor.

“Tell me” he said, hoping the doctor hadn't noticed his earlier swear, or had at least put it down to not being able to find the child.  “Are there any close neighbors, or even empty buildings, to which a child might run to hide?  After all it seems obvious that she isn't here on the grounds...therefore the only thing to do is to the nearest place that a little girl might find inviting...neighbors who she could beg sweets from? Buildings she could play in? Maybe even caves?” 

“Nothing nearby” said the Doctor with a look that said he'd obviously already tried that.  

“Well then something that is not nearby?” asked Adam with a mildness he did not feel.  He was now cursing himself in his mind, worried about Lucie's saftey...if there was an unknown psychic force calling the girl who knew what it could do to Lucie who's Talent involved connecting with objects on a psychic level.  Maybe nothing, maybe completely take her mind over...or anything in between.  They simply didn't have enough study on how powerful psychic artifacts affected various Talents. 

The doctor told him about the nearest neighbors; Adam dismissed those as possibilities almost as soon as he learned about them.  The pattern in his mind was starting to tighten, to glow as he began to see it clearly.  [i] Edward [/i] he thought to himself.  The girl's “imaginary” friend.  Most likely less imaginary than the doctor believed.  He recalled the man had said that the imaginary Edward lived in a manor about an hours walk from the east edge of the city.  That was some distance away but he knew with his Talent that they had to get there.  The girl might not be there yet but he had no question she was on her way.  Lucie might not be there yet but he was pretty sure Lucie was trailing the girl.  It was probably unlikely he and Lily could beat the others to “Edward” but hopefully they wouldn't be too late to help with...whatever.  Too bad he didn't have more clues to where the house was.   

“Excellent” he said when the doctor stopped talking.  Adam raised his voice loudly as he continued “My assistant and I shall go question them in person, see if the girl is anywhere on their estate.”  The doctor stared at him oddly when he raised his voice, Adam just hoped Lily heard him and would be back to her usual self when they returned to the sitting room.  They would ditch the carriage and grab riding horses and head to “one hours walk from the east edge of the city.”   A vague and fairly useless clue but for now it was what they had; particularly since he quickly recalled all the maps he had of the area and couldn't figure out any property that might match.  Didn't mean much...maps were made for wealthy people and wealthy people rarely cared about poor people so all they really had to go on was the walking distance and the fact that they were likely looking for a poor residence or small property or even a squatter somewhere.