A moment later, a teenage girl about eighteen years old with dark brown hair down to her shoulders answered the door.
Friday and Saturday pulled out their badges.
"Good morning, Ma'am." Friday said. "I'm Detective Joe Friday and this is my partner Sgt. Sam Saturday of the LAPD. May we come in?"
"Oh, sure of course." The girl said, a nervous look on her face.
She opened the door wider for them to come inside. The two men nodded their thanks and walked inside the house.
The girl shut the door and followed the men into the living room.
"Is this about Micky?" She asked. "I'm his sister Gemma, but everyone calls me Coco."
"We're pleased to meet you, Coco." Friday replied, "And yes, this is about your brother and his friends. Is your mother at home?"
"I'll go get her. Have a seat." Coco replied and walked away. She returned a minute later with her mother. Behind them were two younger girls about twelve and ten. They all looked scared.
Micky's mom must have told them their big brother was missing. Janelle Dolenz was in her mid-fifties and had dark brown short hair with just a few strands of gray coming in. A widow, she was still quite striking to the bachelor Friday, but he quickly put that aside and extended his hand.
"Hello, Mrs. Dolenz." Friday said, getting up. "Pleased to meet you."
"I'm pleased to meet you too." She replied, shaking his hand. "You've met Coco, so this is Deborah and Gina." She said indicating the two girls next to her.
"Hello, girls." Friday and Saturday said.
"Hi." Deborah said quietly. "Did you find Micky?"
"Is he ok?" Gina asked quickly.
Friday sighed. "I'm sorry, but no. That's why we're here. We'd like to ask some more questions."
"Anything to help, detective." Janelle replied. "Would you like some coffee?"
"No thank you, ma'am." Friday replied as everyone sat down. He opened his notebook once again.
"So, Mrs. Dolenz, when was the last time you saw your son?"
"About two weeks ago." She replied, "He and his friends came over to do some yard work. They don't make much money as a band, so they sometimes come over here to do odd jobs. I gave them money and something to eat."
"Did he say anything about taking a trip?" Friday asked.
"No. Like I told you on the phone, he would always let me know if he would be away for any length of time." She answered.
"How did you know Micky was missing?" Coco asked.
"A few days ago, two young boys, not even old enough to drive yet, were found driving a car belonging to your brother's friend Mike." Saturday replied. "An officer went to tell him about it, but the house he shared with your brother was empty. Nobody had been there for a while. We talked to their landlord, but he has no idea where they could be either."
"They didn't leave a note?" Mrs. Dolenz asked.
"No, we checked their house out good, but there was no clue as to where they had gone." Friday replied. "Then the car was found abandoned in a secluded area, so…." He trailed off.
Micky's mom hung her head. "Something has happened to them. I just know it. I called Mike's Aunt Kate and the Torks but they had no idea what was going on."
"We wanted to be absolutely sure there was no chance they had just gone on a sudden trip." Friday said, opening the bag, "That's why we came here." He took Mike's hat out of the bag and handed it to Mrs. Dolenz. "Does this belong to Mr. Nesmith? I just want to be sure."
She took the hat from Friday's hand and began to cry.
"Yes, that's his!" She cried, "That's Mike's favorite hat! He'd never go anywhere without it! OH, no, no….my Micky. Something's happened to my Micky!" She shouted. "He and his friends are in trouble!"
Micky's sisters gathered around their mom and began to cry too. Friday looked at his partner.
"Get on the radio and put out an A.P.B for Micky Dolenz, Mike Nesmith, David Jones and Peter Tork. Give them their descriptions and …." Friday shook his head. "I don't know where they were last seen, that's the problem."
"I'm on it." Saturday said, walking out of the house and over to the car.
Friday reached over and put a hand on Mrs. Dolenz's shoulder.
"I'm really sorry about this, Mrs. Dolenz." He said sincerely. "Do you know if your son and his friends had any enemies?"
Gina spoke up. "My brother is the greatest! Why would anybody hurt him and his friends?"
"Micky told me about some of the adventures he and his friends would find themselves in." Deborah said. "Like one time he was kidnapped by an evil Chinese spy leader and another time he had to impersonate a mobster."
"Micky told me that when they went to Mexico, Davy was captured by a bandits and he had to pose as El Dolenzio." Coco added. "Then another time he was abducted by aliens."
"Yes, it seems Micky and his friends have a knack for finding trouble." Mrs. Dolenz replied, "So it could be anybody."
Friday wrote all this down in his notebook. He was about to ask about any other possible enemies when Saturday came back into the house.
"You contacted HQ?" Friday asked.
"Yes and they'll put out the A.P.B's, but what I wanted to tell is that we got a message from Mr. Babbit." Saturday said. "He says Mrs. Prudy came home a little while ago and when he told her about the boys being gone, she got her son to take her here, to Mrs. Dolenz's house."
"Why would she come here, and how does she know Mrs. Dolenz?" Friday asked.
Saturday just shrugged, but Mrs. Dolenz spoke up.
"Are you talking about the Mrs. Prudy that lives next door to Micky?" She asked.
Saturday nodded his head. "Yes, I am."
"Well, then, Mrs. Prudy and I have been friends for many years." Mrs. Dolenz smiled. "Her and I belong to the same Bridge club and the club often meets here. She loves my son and his friends, so she's probably coming over to comfort me. What a sweet woman."
About a minute later, another car pulled into the Dolenz's driveway. Getting out of the car was an older lady in her seventies with her gray hair done up in a bouffant. A man in his forties with brown hair got out of the driver's seat and helped her come to the door. Micky's mom greeted her friend at the door.
"Madeline!" She said happily, giving her a hug. "Thanks for coming over!"
"Oh, Janelle!" Mrs. Prudy said, "Mr. Babbit told me Micky and his friends were missing, so I got my son Andrew to bring me over!" She pointed at her son standing behind her.
"Hi, Mrs. Dolenz." Andrew said.
"Hello, Andrew." Mrs. Dolenz replied, then looked back at her friend.
"I have two detectives here who looking for them." Mrs. Dolenz said, "Maybe you can help them find the boys."
"I'll do my very best!" Mrs. Prudy said firmly as she came into the living room.
"Hello, Mrs. Prudy, Mr. Prudy." Friday said, "I'm detective Joe Friday and this is my partner Sgt. Sam Saturday of the LAPD, glad to meet you."
"Hello, detectives." Mrs. Prudy replied as she sat down. "What's this I hear about those sweet boys being missing?"
"I'm sorry to say it's true, Mrs. Prudy." Saturday replied. "A few days ago, two young boys were caught joy-riding in Mr. Nesmith's car. When we tried to tell him, nobody was at home, and nobody knows where they might have gone."
"Do you have any ideas where the boys could be, Mrs. Prudy?" Friday asked. "When did you last see them?"
"I last saw them only a few days ago." Mrs. Prudy said quietly. "Oh yes! I remember now! I was watering my roses when I saw Peter taking out the garbage. He looked very happy and I asked him why. He said, `We're going to the circus tonight!' Oh, what an innocent young man, still thrilled by circuses!"
"You saw them leave their house?" Friday asked.
"Yes, and Peter waved to me as they pulled out of their driveway." Mrs. Prudy replied. "Then I went to bed, as I had to get up early to make the trip to my son's house." She turned somber. "That's the last time I saw them."
A long silence followed Mrs. Prudy statement.
Saturday finally spoke.
"Maybe they joined the circus?" He said slowly. "Got a job offer and took it."
"No, Micky would've let me know that by now, detective." Mrs. Dolenz replied firmly. "They must've been kidnapped!" She started to cry again.
Friday looked over at his partner.
"Let's get back to HQ and see what we can find out about this circus."