Alexandra

Smith Residence. A middle aged-man was sitting in the dining room. A younger man was seated in front of him. Food was served on the table, but the older man hasn't started eating. A woman came in with a pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice and placed it on the table beside the younger man. "Mary, tell Alex to come down for breakfast. I'll bring her to the directors' meeting with me later." The older man addressed the woman. "Oh, Sir. I think Miss Alexandra left earlier. The maid assigned to her said that she had already tidied Miss Alexandra's room, as she saw it open." Mary, the head housekeeper replied as she handed some toast to the younger man. "Did she say anything before leaving?" The man questioned. "No, Sir. Nobody actually saw her leaving." "Fine. You may go, Mary. Thank you." Robert Smith, the middle aged man, is the head of the house, and father of Alexandra. The younger man is his son, Paul, older than Alexandra. "How about you, Paul?" Mr. Smith turned to his son. "Did Alexandra mention anything about her plans for today?" "No, Dad. Last time I talked to her yesterday, she came from a shopping spree with her friend, Sylvia." Paul was almost done with breakfast. Mr. Smith finished drinking his tea, then stood up. "You try to contact her, remind her about the meeting this afternoon. Maybe she has to buy something at the last minute." Mr. Smith was already going out from the dining room. "Okay, Dad." Paul stood up as well and left the dining room. But instead of going out of the house, he went to the second floor, where his sister's room is located. Alex never locks her room when she goes out. She doesn't feel the need to do it. That makes it convenient for the maids to fix her room while she is out. She has one chest of drawers that she keeps locked. It's where she keeps some personal things. But her closets and everything else was left unlocked. After all, there are surveillance cameras in and around the house. Except for the bedrooms and bathrooms, all other rooms were monitored. Paul entered Alex's room. As the maid has finished cleaning, he can't really see anything out of the ordinary. The maids in the residence were efficient. Not even a single thing was out of place. No dirty clothes in the bathroom, no trash in the waste basket under the dressing table. Out of curiosity, Paul tried to pull open the top drawer which Alex usually keeps locked. To his surprise, it was open. A quick glance inside gave him a bad feeling. The drawer was empty! Paul opened the other two drawers. all proved to be empty. He looked at the clothes closet, instinct told him it's going to be empty as well. He opened one door. He gave a sigh of relief, seeing that there are still a lot of clothes inside. Mostly dresses remained. On closer inspection, he realized that the remaining clothes are mostly the type worn to social functions and other formal occasions. Opening another closet, Paul saw that it still contains a lot of clothes. Slacks, assorted tops. There were even a lot of branded jeans and casual shirts. The main things missing were Alex's jewelry and cash. The clothes she took were all simple ones. To be more precise, she took the clothes that don't show any brand name. Of course, her clothes were never cheap, but to the untrained eye, those clothes would be mistaken for some common apparel. And she did not take a lot of clothes with her, seeing that the missing items were barely noticeable. Paul left his sister's room and closed the door. He needs to go to his father's office to discuss his sister's disappearance. Because even though it was only a few hours since she left the house, all signs showed that she wanted to leave without telling him or their father. In another part of the city, a young lady was seen exiting a cab. She was carrying a single backpack, and after paying the driver, she turned to enter what looked to be an underground garage. But suddenly, a car exited from the garage. The driver probably did not notice her in time. He slammed on the brakes, stopping the car, and parked on the side. Alexandra was startled by the car, and she almost lost her balance. Fortunately, the car stopped in time, and she held herself steady by pressing her hands on the car hood. The man who exited was tall, with dark wavy hair. He went near Alexandra and asked, "Are you okay, Miss? Are you hurt anywhere maybe?" Alexandra recovered quickly and stabilized her breathing. "Yes, I'm fine. No, I'm not hurt anywhere." She was looking around the area, as if searching for something, or someone. The man noticed her eyes darting around. Looking at the woman, she seems to be a bit young, but definitely not underaged. The clothes she was wearing was plain, with no prints whatsoever. Even the backpack she was carrying was a plain black. And the athletic shoes she was wearing was a plain gray. Even her shirt was gray. The man looked at his watch, then turned to Alexandra again. "Well, if you are sure you are fine, I'll be leaving. Pay more attention to your surroundings next time to avoid incidents like this." After saying that, he entered the car and after seeing that Alexandra was not blocking the way, he drove off.