Maize

After a quick makeshift brunch, Imogen got to work checking some information on Maize. She could be found right outside her room, seated at one of the picnic benches where likely majority of the guests could take their smoke break. Her laptop was likely still barely tethered to the reach of the wifi of the motel, although she did have a plan should it become unreliable. There was the idea to leave town to find what she was looking for but she could at least spare a few minutes to see what she could come up with an extensive Google search. She multi-tasked too, of course, updating her social media with various interesting photos of the place. It was good to keep interests in her work.

She took a sip of her coffee and looked up everything from missing person cases, murders, corn harvests and any local customs relating to Maize.

Oh hey, Google has a cute Doodle for World Television Day.

Day 5, Early Afternoon: Computer + Intelligence?: 3d10o10h8 1

Our efforts are too broad and unfocused, making it impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff—or the grains from the ears, in this case. Try refining your query.

Imogen took a break from her search and enjoyed her coffee made with courtesy of the motel she was staying at. After a moment, she looked up on anything relating to Maize White Corn Harvest Ritual.

You find a listicle titled Top 10 Weirdest Things Country Folk Do, where Maize’s ceremonial cutting of a single stalk of corn is described. The author makes some conjecture about preserving the old ways, but provides no actual information about the origins of the practice.

"With an 'I'. M... A... I... Z... E... Yes, like the corn, definitely corn." I was leaning against the Buick, talking on the phone. "Like I said. Any missing persons reports involving this area of Nebraska. No, as far back as you can find. The more recent, the better, but I want to know if it's a thing with this town."

"Oh, and there's a priest. Henshall. Robert Henshall. If you have time, take a look at him. Thanks, I owe you."

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[DAY FIVE - EARLY AFTERNOON] GOOGLE SEARCH: MAIZE, NEBRASKA, Contacts 2, Manipulation + Persuasion +3: 7d10o10h8 2

No origins of the practice? She thought to herself, a bit frustrated that the answers weren't as easy to find. With the use of old farming implements, she supposed that it might have been as old as the town's founding. Perhaps she could work backwards and find something that way? Her next search was Maize, Nebraska history origin.

You find nothing. The town is listed on all the usual census-type sites, it’s population is listed as 348 persons. It appears in Google maps, and the satellite view shows just another corn town. A plaza on one side of Main Street, a cafe and restaurant on the other. The bank and the gas station are opposite each other.

Wikipedia offers only a stub confirming that the town does, in fact, exist. It seems no one cares enough about Maize to edit the article, though.

Is there any news in Maize? Anything at all? Imogen continued her search and typed in Maize Police in hopes to see an article where the police were involved. Murders and the like had to be a rare occurrence, right?

In addition, she also put in the search: Maize, November 20.

There’s a Maize in Kansas that, unlike here, has its own police department.

"Try looking for Nebraska folklore, corn." I suggested after hobbling over.