A Human’s Guide to Surviving Magical Mishaps by Kit Bryan
Rule 77- Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes. Then, you'll be a mile away, and you'll have their shoes.

Graham is already waiting out front when we arrive. He's a small and rather quiet man who is particularly good at talking to people who are distressed. For a while he was constantly the one who got given jobs like this, talking to devastated relatives and such, just because he is so good at it. But after a few months of being constantly sent out he objected that it was one of the most miserable jobs a cop can have and while he might be good at it, it doesn't mean he enjoys it. I mean who would enjoy talking to people on what is often the worst day of their lives? I remember dad coming home and he was acting guilty all night when he realised that he had made Graham miserable like that. It hadn't occurred to him that it was a problem and Graham IS really good at being just the right amount of supportive while pushing for information. Dad felt bad that the reward he received for doing good work, was more work. Since then, dad's made a bit of a rotating schedule for who gets sent out to do jobs like this. Although I suspect that Graham might have volunteered for this one. I'm fairly sure that every cop in the city will be volunteering to do whatever is needed to find out what happened to Lara. Either way, I'm glad he's here. This is one thing that George never volunteers for. I might know that George is an absolute teddy bear, but most people's first impression of him is 'big, scary, stay away.'

I introduce Graham to Ashton and I have to say I've never seen anyone who cared less about the fact that Ashton isn't human. I'm sure he knows, all the cops know what Ashton is at this point. Graham just doesn't care. That might be why he's so good at talking to people who are upset. He has to be the least judgemental person I've ever met. There's something reassuring about talking to someone you know doesn't care if you're a total mess or if you fall apart mid conversation, and somehow that reassurance is often enough to stop people from falling apart in the first place. Since we're the sidekicks for this trip we let Graham take the lead.

Graham knocks on the door and we hang back. I hear shuffling footsteps and eventually a woman answers the door. It's pretty obvious that this is Lara's sister. She has the same reddish hair colour and the same tall, slim build. It's also pretty obvious that this woman is completely devastated about her sister's death. Her hair is a total knotted mess and she's wearing clothes that look slept in. Her eyes and nose are red and sore looking, probably from crying too much. Not that I blame her.

"Veronica Rosi? My name is Adam Graham. I have Kat and Ashton here with me." He starts. Veronica sniffles and nods.

"Yes, I was expecting you. C-Come in." She leads us into the living room and we all sit down. Graham sits on the couch next to Veronica while Ashton and I take the other seat on the far side of her coffee table. Honestly if all goes well we won't have to say or do anything, we're just here to listen. Graham spends a minute reassuring Veronica and asking if she needs anything. Once the niceties are out of the way he starts asking the real questions.

"Veronica. We're trying to retrace your sister's last day. She was meant to come into work but she called in and requested a personal day. No one at the station knows why. Do you know what she was doing?" Graham asks gently. If it's possible, Veronica pales even more.

"I didn't know that she took the day off. I asked her for a favour, but I thought she would stop by during her shift, or after work even..." She trails off, looking a little bit like she's going to throw up.

"What was the favour you asked her?" Graham prompts. Veronica sighs.

"It wasn't meant to be a big deal or anything. I'm a teacher you know? Well one of my students, a little girl, hasn't shown up to school at all this week, she has a brother in the year level above and when i looked into it I discovered that he hasn't been in class either. I was worried." She explains.

"It isn't that unusual for a couple kids to take a week off school. They could have the flu, or the family might have gone on a trip and just forgot to contact the school. Was there another reason you're concerned?" Graham asks. Veronica shakes her head and shrugs at the same time.

"Yes, I mean no... I don't know. It's just... I've met the parents. They're the type that are strict about school, almost too strict at times. I worried they were putting too much pressure on their kids to succeed. It's not like them to keep their kids out of school this long. I tried to call them, to check if the kids were sick or something but they never answered the phone. The father works in I.T. and as far as I know his phone is practically glued to his hand. I could understand missing one call but I've called eight times, I've left five phone messages and sent probably a dozen texts and I've not gotten any answer. I mentioned it to Lara and she... She said she would check in on them for me. She could tell it was stressing me out. I never heard any more about it so I figured that she just hadn't gotten around to it yet. I never thought... And then I heard..." Veronica starts sobbing and Graham pats her gently on the back.

"It's not your fault. You were just trying to be a responsible adult, looking out for your students. It's admirable of you to care so much about them. We don't even know that the favour you asked had anything to do with your sister's passing. There's no need to go blaming yourself." Graham comforts her as best as he can.

"It's just... If I hadn't asked her for a favour she would have been at work, she never would have been alone. That's the worst part, knowing that she was alone, no one to take care of her or to call an ambulance. I... I want to know what happened to her." Veronica whispers.

"We want to find that out too. So, why don't you tell me everything you told your sister about this family. I'll need the names of the kids you were worried about too, and any other information you have on them. Let's start from the beginning. How long have the children been absent from school?"

Thirty minutes later we have every bit of possible information we could want and hopefully it's enough to start retracing Lara's steps.

"I'll go write this up in a report. I'm sure that we will send someone to check in with the Logan family. I'm sure your dad will let you know how that goes. Take care of him Kat, he's taking it hard. He feels somehow responsible even though there's nothing he could have done and no way he could have known." Graham sighs and I impulsively hug him.

"Thanks for letting us tag along Graham, I know these conversations can be tough and an audience probably doesn't make things easier." I tell him softly. Graham pats me on the back awkwardly for a moment then gives me a proper hug before releasing me.

"Thanks Kat. And actually, I appreciate the company. I'm not saying you should make a habit of this and honestly I'm not totally sure why you wanted to come, but you're not a child and you don't make requests like this without a good reason." Graham smiles kindly and I can't help but smile back. He really is good at making people feel comfortable and I needed that right now.