In another case, a missing twelve year old boy turned out to be a runaway. He had already returned by the time Martha called a national tip line. Howie was unable to remain sleeping long enough for any success on his last attempt.
Our spectacular triumph was the return of an infant from a small Texas hospital. We were on it, so to speak, less than two hours after the baby was taken. Although a blurry image appeared on television of the woman captured on a video camera, she disappeared out of view once she exited. Howie was able to follow her to a vehicle and relate the plate number! Once again we were ecstatic!
It was difficult returning to our mundane life after our weekend high. Betsy remained sullen through week until Thursday night when I came home to find her in tears.
"I can't do this," she sobbed.
I put my arm around her and walked her to the bedroom. "Talk about it," I said. We'd spent little quality time together. There were too many lengthy phone calls to Massachusetts and minimal attention to our other life. Our daily schedule involved Betsy leaving our apartment later than I and returning for a seven o'clock dinner. It was a poor schedule for newlyweds.
"I can't go to work pretending some stupid product or individual blow-hard is super important while there are children and babies out in the world we could find and save! It's just all too incongruous! I can't sleep thinking how we're wasting this incredible gift Howie has. I know if you and I aren't there to smooth the waters, they'll end up killing each other or screwing up the entire business."
Of course Betsy was right. What my wife neglected to state was the ongoing need for the big three of food, clothing and shelter and that our New York jobs, even if they felt absurd by comparison, were needed in support of attaining them.
A blowing snow storm delayed our flight north. We would have arrived earlier if we'd driven.
Everyone was on edge as we began early the next day. Each of the four knew their job and we proceeded to conduct four tests before the day was over. Quinn worked on increasing the precision of time and location but it remained about the same; anything longer than a couple of days was a problem.
One such incident was an obvious abduction in rural Delaware that occurred overnight. It was so heart wrenching to Martha she insisted Howie try more than once, in an effort to succeed. At about midnight, the little girl was in her bed. At four AM, she was not. A third session, set at two AM showed her again missing. Howie continued to be limited to about fifteen minutes or less each time. We had wasted nearly the entire day with no results. We were in strong disagreement over continuing. Betsy, usually as nearly sympathetic as Martha, pointed out there were scads of other missing children we were neglecting. Martha burst into tears and we tried one last time.