Ste turned to look. Joshua was leaning back in his seat, fast asleep.


    Seeing him asleep, Abby lowered her voice. "Star, ever since you went missing, Joshua has only been resting for three or four hours a day."


    Abby had said "resting", not sleeping. In truth, Joshua couldn''t sleep at all.


    She whispered, "Star, Joshua was going out of his mind with worry, and he mes himself. He thinks that if he hadn''t left, you wouldn''t have been taken by Leonard."


    Ste shook her head. "Even if Joshua had been by my side, we couldn''t have been together twenty-four-seven. Leonard managed to kidnap us through the kitchen vents before, so he could have found another way. Don''t forget, he bought up the ces we frequently visit. And that''s just what we know about; there are probably many more we haven''t found."


    Abby sighed. "You''re right, but Joshua still mes himself. He..."


    Abby seemed to want to say more, but she nced at Joshua sleeping beside Ste and hesitated.


    Finally, she whispered, "I''ll tell you more when we get back."


    Ste understood. She asked, "You still haven''t told me how you found me."


    Abby continued, "We gathered a


    huge number of people to search for you, but we couldn''t find a single


    clue. Even though most of our


    contacts aren''t based in Sol


    with so many people


    helping-including that annoying Beckett Torres and Laure


    Quinn-the fact that we found nothing was a huge red g. Joshua interrogated Simone and Aurora. Simone was very cooperative, constantly providing clues just to see Joshua every day, but almost everything she gave us was useless. Aurora started off with her usual arrogant attitude, but after Joshua... persuaded her with a bit of ''shock therapy,'' she finally started talking. And believe it or not, Joshua actually picked up on a tiny lead from their statements."


    At this point, Abby nced at Joshua again and whispered, "Joshua''s state of mind... wasn''t very good at that time. It''s really incredible that he was still able to spot the inconsistency."


    A pang of sadness hit Ste''s chest, and she instinctively tightened her grip on Joshua''s hand.


    Even in his sleep, Joshua seemed to sense it, and his long fingers gently squeezed back.


    Ste asked, "What did Joshua discover?"


    Abby exined, "Simone and Aurora are the two people who know Leonard best. They knew practically all of his trusted subordinates and private assets. But every time we sent people to investigate, we came up empty, without a single useful clúe. Joshua guessed that for this operation from the kidnapping to buying the ind, even hiring the servants-Leonard might not have used his usual confidants or trusted people. Of course, we only found out about him buying the ind after we located you."


    Abby paused to take a sip of her drink before continuing. "We were initially focused on investigating the people around Leonard. After all, for something like a kidnapping, you''d want to use people you trustpletely to avoid any leaks. But on the flip side, that makes his confidants and trusted allies the first ce to look. Those people wouldn''t talk, but what about the people under them? Once you have a lot of people involved, information can


    easily get out. But Leonard was incredibly bold. For every stage of his n, he hiredplete strangers who didn''t know each


    other, and none of them were from Solmaris."