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while a television hung opposite it. The inside wall was made of glass. The windows overlooked the parking lot, and I could see cars zooming along I-95 and the Ronald Regan Turnpike. When I turned around, Agent Stokes was closing the door behind Tiffany.
    â€œWould you like to have a seat, Miss Asher?” he offered. I sat down and my shorts slid up my thigh. Why didn’t I think about wearing something more professional , I chided myself. Then I instantly took it back. I was here to find my brother, not interview for a job. “How can the FBI be of assistance to you?”
    â€œWell,” I began. My voice seemed small. Tiffany put her hand on my arm and gave me a nod of support. “My brother is missing in Italy.”
    â€œI’m so sorry to hear that. How long has he been gone?” the agent asked. He flipped open his legal pad to an empty page and my hope that he was going to take the case rose.
    â€œHe left three months ago for what he told me was an exchange program between the University of Miami and several universities in Italy. He’s a law student with a focus on immigration law and was there for research. I lost contact with him, and now I can’t find him.”
    â€œDid you try contacting the universities in Italy, or his professors here?” he asked as he scribbled something on his notepad.
    â€œI did,” I said hesitantly. I didn’t want to admit it, but evidence was mounting that Gil dropped off the map of his own volition. Evidence to anyone who didn’t know him, that was. “That’s what was so strange. I emailed the universities in Italy where Gil said he’d be, and none of them had heard of him. And when I called the university, the professor I spoke to there said that they didn’t have an exchange agreement with any Italian universities and that he had no idea Gil was in Italy.”
    â€œI see,” Agent Stokes said. He dropped his pen and my heart went with it.
    â€œBut there’s also this.” I pulled the journal from my bag and laid it on the table. “He’s incredibly protective of his research and has always forbidden me from even breathing near it. But then he sent me this. It’s one of his research journals. For him to have packaged it up and sent it to me from Italy . . . well, I can’t begin to explain how out of character that is for Gil. And there’s more.” I opened the front cover. “He used a code word from when we were kids. We only used it when something was terribly wrong.”
    Agent Stokes took the journal and flipped through it, showing no emotion at all as he read a few pages.
    â€œHave you read this?” Agent Stokes said.
    â€œNot completely,” I answered. “Well, I looked to see if there was anything that jumped out at me like a note as to why he would send it to me, but I didn’t find anything.”
    Agent Stokes nodded. “Well, it doesn’t appear that there’s anything illegal in here, so that should put you at ease. Honestly, it looks to me like a regular journal. Maybe even a memoir of sorts. Here’s something about a summer vacation up to the Tampa Bay area.”
    â€œWhat?” He passed me the journal. The page opposite was another one of his crazy family trees. I recognized a few of the names, but closer examination of it revealed that the tree was filled in with people we knew but were certainly not related to, unlike the tree I had examined at the apartment that was filled with family members.
    â€œI don’t know what’s going on with the journal. But you have to understand that none of this makes sense . . . really. It is completely out of character for Gil. It’s some kind of sign.” Tiffany tried to reiterate the magnitude of this act, but it was clear Agent Stokes was not getting it.
    â€œI can see that you’re genuinely concerned about your brother. But sometimes people choose to disappear on purpose.