Missing Scenario 1

[Charmberry]

I am stumped on the last question in the first scenario here. Which clues indicate who picked up the kids on the 18th ? I originally thought that it was Thomas Harrington, based on the voicemail and because I didn't see any other clues.

[Crit]

It's kind of a process of elimination Gina couldn't make it cause she's got something in the afternoon, Katherine was at work and knowing their financial situation and her relying on Thomas to handle it she stayed there, Thomas is unreliable and he was in Bakersville at 12PM, it takes 2-3 hours to get to Los Angeles from there and that isn't enough time to hit any pick up timing for the kids and in addition to that, the voice call from Hannah was very suspicious, her doing something drastic, sent at 1:45PM - around the time the kids need to be picked up. The school did start requiring ID for picking kids up, but from Hazel's journal Hannah knows the teachers, so she might be able to bypass that req. That, and the name of the case (a bit meta, but it helps) made her less of a potential red herring and more of a likely kidnapper though I admit, I am stumped as to who she is or what she's got on the family, I'm hoping scenario 2 and 3 clear that up

[Charmberry]

Interesting. Yeah, I caught on that Gina had a family thing at the time and Katherine would be working , but I didn't realize that Thomas was in Bakersville . I did see that there was a number that was calling constantly and left a creepy voicemail, but I couldn't figure out who it was. The closest I got to was seeing that 'Ms. Olson keeps calling. Call her back.' in the calendar. I figured Hannah was only a school counselor concerned after Hazel's accident and thinking that she was being abused or something.

[Angry Rabbit]

You've gotta go through all 3 scenarios to properly figure that one out. In scenario 3 you learn that Hannah Olson was with CPS and took the kids after waiting and no one showing up to pick them up after class. Between Kathrine working so many extra hours and Thomas being on the road all the time and his past problems with addiction and still current drinking problem, CPS deemed them unfit and took the children.

[Tankfriend]

Originally posted by Angry Rabbit:

You've gotta go through all 3 scenarios to properly figure that one out. In scenario 3 you learn that Hannah Olson was with CPS and took the kids after waiting and no one showing up to pick them up after class. Between Kathrine working so many extra hours and Thomas being on the road all the time and his past problems with addiction and still current drinking problem, CPS deemed them unfit and took the children.

Though you can already make an educated guess in Part 1 that this is the case.
We know that CPS is already actively monitoring and advising their school (=bus dropoff/pickup request). Hazel's diary entry makes it clear she doesn't know who Hannah is, and that the conversation was mostly about her mum. Had Hannah been a teacher or a school social worker, Hazel might've at least known that she's from the school, since schools have an interest in making these people known to their students.

[CloakedSchemer]

Also. Kids generally talk and we get the impression that the familly was on the radar with the school in general. The brother forgetting his bag, the multiple phone calls from school, the big fainting incident and subsequent hospital visit. Teachers (in general) aren't blind, so when the diary starts mentioning that food is running low (and that she's using the foodmoney to buy a doll), the bread is moldy and all that stuff, then the logic leap of Hanah being CPS isn't that big. Especially when you figure out that the familly had no way of making the drop-offs at the bus pick-up point.

[Great Wight Spark]

And yet the answers Olsen and CPS don't work. I thought this might be right, but the answer should be less definitive.