Answer:
It was already 4 pm and Hendricks wasn't back yet. I and Zola had been at the diner now for over 12 hours. Definitely, something didn't smell right.
Had he been caught?
Did the car break down?
Did he develop cold feet?
Did his father come back suddenly?
A million and one scenarios flipped through our minds and we wiled away time sipping away at our cups speaking in hushed tones as we did the analysis.
We had ordered about 7 rounds of coffee now and pretended like we were working on something very serious. But for that, Mr. Lesley would have grown suspicious. He was always suspicious anyways, but we had not counted on staying that long.
We had to order for something else, otherwise, we'd overdose on caffeine and pay for it. We thankfully, Koffee Hut didn't only sell coffee, they had fruit smoothies.
By the time we ordered the second smoothie, it was clear that Hendricks was not going to show up. His lines were now dead, we couldn't call his cop dad. His mum and siblings were out of town and we were out of cash.
Thankfully, there was enough gas in the tank. Or so we thought. Then we decided it was time to call it a day.
As we drove off into the night, still oblivious of the fact that we only had enough fuel to take us halfway, our minds raced to solve the Hendricks puzzle.
Cheers!
