“No! I mean…it’s not personal at all. It’s theoretical. At least I hope it’s theoretical.” Hannah took a deep breath and went into the speech she’d rehearsed during her drive from the condo.

“Lisa’s cousin ran away from home, and she’s only fifteen. Her mom thinks she’s bunking in with a friend and she’ll come back when she gets tired of sharing a bathroom, but she asked Lisa what would happen if the girl got picked up by the police.”

Bill smiled as he reached for a cookie. “That’s easy, Hannah. She’s underage, so the authorities would return her to the custody of her parents.”

“But what if she won’t tell the authorities who her parents are or where they live?”

“That makes it a little harder.” Bill handed the sack of cookies to Mike, who took one and passed it back. “Then the authorities will remand her to the custody of Child Protective Services until the parents can be located. What kind of cookies are these, Hannah? They’re great!”

“Butter-Scotchies. They’re made with butterscotch chips and rolled oats.” Hannah did her best to curb her impatience. She needed more information, and she had to be careful neither man suspected that she was describing Candy and her own situation at The Cookie Jar.

“These are perfect for breakfast,” Mike said, reaching for another, “especially because they’ve got oatmeal. My mother used to try to get me to eat it every morning, and I would have if she’d baked it in cookies like these.”

Hannah smiled to acknowledge the compliment, but it was time to get down to business. “Let’s say this runaway turns up right here in Lake Eden, and she refuses to cooperate with you. She won’t give her last name, or her hometown, or even her home state. She claims she’s over eighteen, but she doesn’t look it and she can’t prove it. What steps will you take?”

“I’ll contact Lisa and tell her to call her aunt. The girl can stay with Lisa and her father until her mother comes to get her.”

Hannah came close to groaning. Mike was taking her literally. Perhaps she was better off asking Bill. “Okay, forget I mentioned Lisa. I’m curious and I want to go back to the theoretical. Let’s pretend that you don’t know the girl and you don’t know the parents. What will you do, Bill?”

“After we interview her, we’ll call Child Protective Services to come and get her. They’ll take custody and make sure she’s cared for. Then we’ll concentrate on finding out where she came from.”

“How will you do that?”

“We’ll check the missing persons reports,” Mike stepped in, “and compare the picture we took of her to the pictures on file. And we’ll file our own report with her picture, saying we found her and listing anything we know about her. Then we’ll run her prints to see if she’s in the juvie system. If she’s run away from home before, she could be there.”