"Dr. Madeline Faye Thornton. Age: 27. Net worth: $1.5 million. Employer: Thornton Tech. Occupation: Mechanical engineer. Spouse: Maximilian Thornton," Hayley read from the screen in front of her, frowning at the small picture of a smiling Maddie that accompanied her biographical details. "That's all the info we have on her. Nothing particularly useful." 

"Isn't it supposed to give us her last public appearance?" Juliana frowned, leaning across the rectangular glass table to get a look at Hayley's computer. 

"Nah, that's just for Arcanese citizens. We're not authorized to keep such records on foreigners." 

"Ah..." Juliana sighed in disappointment. "Sometimes I forget we're a UN-regulated organization now. That certainly has its pros and cons..." 

A knock on the heavy wooden door interrupted her before she could make another thinly veiled complaint. "Ah, that must be Max. Come in!" she said loudly. The brass doorknob turned and a visibly distraught Max Thornton entered the small meeting room. All traces of the cheerful, confident facade he'd maintained throughout the alumni reception were gone, and he sunk into his chair with his head hung low. 

"Thank you, all of you, for agreeing to do this," Max gestured around the table to the four core members of Project PROB. All except Adrian, who was furiously typing away on his laptop, nodded in acknowledgment. 

"Thank you for coming to us," Juliana said seriously, crossing her arms on the table in front of her. "I know that in a situation like yours, it can be hard to decide who to trust. Hayley, have you got the camera?" 

"Yes, ma'am," Hayley propped her phone up against her laptop and pressed 'record.' 

"Great. Now, Max, can you tell us everything you know about your wife's disappearance?"

"Well," Max folded his hands in his lap, his eyes shifting uncomfortably from the camera to Juliana. "A couple of weeks ago, the White House held a dinner for key figures in American industry. Maddie was so excited- it was going to be our first public event as a married couple, and her first time meeting the President. Understandably, that part made her pretty nervous... I remember her spending hours trying to figure out what to wear, so we ended up being a little late to the dinner. Most of the seats were already filled by the time we got there, so by a stroke of bad luck, we ended up sitting at the same table as...as Glenn Richards." He said this name with such distaste that Juliana thought he was actually going to vomit. 

"Glenn Richards? Who's that?" Chase inquired. 

"One of the craziest people you'll ever meet," Max groaned. "He was obsessed with my dad in college- genuinely thought they were 'best friends'. Later, he expected their supposed 'friendship' to get him a job at Thornton Tech, and when it didn't... well, he didn't take the rejection too well. He started his career in media and for the past ten years, has done everything in his power to put Thornton Tech down. Every attempt of his to sabotage us so far has failed, which can only have added to his frustration, pushing him to desperate measures..." 

"It sounds to me like you already know who kidnapped your wife," Adrian noted, looking up from his computer. 

"I have a very strong suspicion, yes," Max affirmed. "Maddie doesn't know about Glenn or his history with my family- they met for the first time at the dinner. At first sight, Glenn seems like your quintessential soft old grandpa, so poor Maddie did her best to make him feel respected. She laughed at his corny jokes, listened to all his stupid stories... heck, she spent half the night talking to him, insisting that he was so 'funny' and 'sweet'. It was obvious that Glenn was doing this just to annoy me- he kept cutting his eyes over me like some kind of cheesy prankster when Maddie wasn't looking. At one point, it got so frustrating that I decided to get up for a drink. While I was coming back, I saw Maddie and Glenn walking away from our table. That was the last time I saw her. I assumed she'd gone home with one of her friends, but I called everyone she knew who'd been at the dinner and they said they hadn't seen her." 

"Would this Glenn Richards have any stronger motives? Other than a general hatred of your company and your family. I mean, kidnapping a CEO's wife is no joke, especially for a first-time criminal." Ever since her reputation had taken a major hit for mistakenly labeling Adrian as a Jacker spy, the young Queen had been extremely cautious when making accusations. 

"Ah, yes, I was getting to that," Max nodded. "Glenn's family runs a fairly large home goods franchise that sells front and back door cameras. He recently did a biting news segment urging people not to let "Big Tech" and "government spies" into their homes by purchasing a Thornton home security system. By kidnapping Maddie, he would be killing two birds with one stone: ruining my reputation and making his product look better in comparison to mine. It almost seems too perfect not to be true." 

"If you're so sure who did it, why not just go to the police? When the truth comes out, it'll be Glenn Richards' reputation that's ruined, not yours," Chase suggested. 

"Before they take any kind of action, the police need a formal complaint. Warrants. Evidence. And when they start trying to collect those things, it'll alert Glenn. He might cover up his tracks, or move Maddie somewhere we'll never find her. However... " Max paused, a sly smile coming over his morose face. "You know who can break into any building at any time without any kind of explanation in the name of the 'greater good'? Superheroes can. You guys could catch the filthy criminal when he's least expecting it- make him give us answers that the police could never get." 

"You've really thought this through," Juliana nodded appreciatively, already instructing Hayley to look up Glenn Richards in the Order's database. 

"There are two things in life that I truly love: Maddie and Thornton Tech. One man is currently threatening both. This was the least I could do."