~Prologue~

Leo searched her room once again. The Chief told him to give it up, after all, even the police technicians couldn't find anything relevant here, and that he is wasting his time, which could be devoted to solving another case. However, Leo did not want to listen to anyone. Maybe it didn't make any difference to them whether she was alive or dead, but he couldn't accept that she had disappeared like that without a word. His partner would surely tell him if she'd just decided to drop it all and rest somewhere far away. After all, they were friends, the best friends. They had no secrets, he told her everything, she told him as well, so why would she leave somewhere without saying goodbye? He did not believe the version of events that the Chief and the rest of his colleagues were trying hard to push. Each of them had already believed it, because there were no signs of kidnapping or murder, and the fact that she had not taken anything with her meant nothing to them, and they explained it in different ways. Besides, Leo knew very well that they didn't care about her, that's why it was so easy for them to believe she just run away. But he did care, because his partner was the only person he could fully trust.

Leo searched the bed, the wardrobe, every drawer of the desk one more time, flipped through all the books, looked under the bed, the rug, even each of the four Kalanchoe flower pots that she loved so much... There had to be a trace here, something that will show him where she disappeared and why it happened. He was losing his mind more and more with each passing second. After all, she could not leave without clothes, books, computer or telephone. Neither did any money disappear from her account, and checking the computer and telephone clearly indicated that she had not ordered any tickets. Yes, she might have had cash with her and bought the ticket in person, but she would have had to enter her details anyway, and checking the airlines didn't get any results. The police chief also found an explanation for this - she just did not leave the country and hid somewhere in the UK, hitchhiking, also left her computer and phone just so that no one would track her. Maybe that was a fairly logical explanation, but Leo couldn't believe she would leave him without any goodbye or explanation at all. No, that was definitely not what happened. He had a clear feeling the truth was quite different, and Leo had always trusted his instincts, which was why he could solve many complicated cases and was such a good detective after all.

One thing he had to admit - the last few months have been really strange, like some kind of crazy ride. Sometimes Leo regretted that they had taken this damn case - if it hadn't been for that, then maybe all of this wouldn't have happened and she would be here. Yes, it was all inexplicable, weird, and seemed to have something supernatural about it, but Leo was one hundred percent guided by reason and still resisted believing that something like this could be real. Yes, she had assured him that it was all real and existed, but he was more likely to believe that his partner had gone a little bit crazy because of stress and simply had some kind of delusions, than that something supernatural was really going on here. Leo had never seen what she saw, had never heard whispers like she did, and that was the strongest indication that his partner was losing her mind. Yes, he had one strange dream in which there were the creatures she talked about... But that meant nothing, it could have been the result of her constantly telling him about it, and that's why he was dreaming about those creatures. But despite everything, the strange thought had crept up to his mind, that maybe they had taken her? Or maybe she went with them of her own free will? But why? He didn't believe that she could do anything wrong to make these creatures angry. It was also hard for him to believe that she would want to go away with them. Finally Leo shook his head, wanting to banish these absurd thoughts from his head. After all, there are no such things, they don't exist, so he shouldn't think about it. Leo was pretty sure someone had either kidnapped her or, worse, killed. Of course, he prayed fervently that it would be the first option, because then he had a chance to save her. But even if... Even if something worse happened... Leo had to find her anyway, even if it was her dead body. Visiting the grave will be better than not being sure what is happening to her and where she is. It was only two weeks after her disappearance, but if she was in any kind of danger, each day of delay could reduce the chances of finding her alive and in one piece. Besides, Leo said her mother and grandmother that he don't believe what the rest of the policemen were saying and promised that he would find her. Leo wanted to find her not only for himself, to get back his friend, but also, or above all, for her family. It was very difficult for him to go to Penarth and meet Mrs. Moore and her mother, the more so because he had to give them such bad news. Seeing their tearful eyes, Leo promised himself even more eagerly that he would find Esther, no matter what. He couldn't give up and just turn back from this path. Leo was sure he would find some clue eventually, he was a detective after all, right? This was what he was good at - finding clues that would solve a case. And this one was undoubtedly one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult.

Leo turned her room upside down and again found nothing. Resigned, he leaned his left hand on the door of large, dark brown wardrobe, but soon was overcome with fury, squeezed his right hand into a fist and pounded with all his strength on the wall in front of him. The wallpaper was almost completely ripped off, and you could see the gray bricks, but Leo didn't think about it, he was only awakened by the pain of hitting one of the hard bricks. He grabbed a hand and hissed for a while. When the pain eased, it was only then that Leo looked back at the wall and saw that one of the bricks - probably the one he had hit on - had moved slightly. When Leo looked at it closely, he noticed immediately that the brick was not sticking to the rest at all, so he grabbed it and took out. First of all, this brick was at least half narrower than the other bricks. However, Leo immediately understood why it was like this when saw a bundle in the brick hole, so he put the brick on a nearby desk and reached deeper into the hole, pulling out something wrapped in a gray cloth. Leo unwrapped the slightly dusty cloth, and then saw a black A4 notebook. Putting the piece of cloth on the same desk as the brick, he turned the notebook over in his hand. Finally, Leo sat on the edge of the bed and untied the ribbon that held the front and back covers. After opening the notebook, he saw his partner's personal details on the first page.

- "It must be her diary or something like that."- Leo thought.- "Then maybe there's something here, some clue..."- he realized after a short moment and immediately turned the page, slowly reading what was written on the next one.