My theory is that something was done to Sherin, taken somewhere at 4am, and it took him (them?) until 8am to concoct the story. MOO
And what a story it was. He really should have gone with ''We woke up at 8am, discovered she was missing and the door was ajar---she must have left the house and wandered of while we were sleeping"
Maybe if he had gone with a simple story like that, someone may have believed him (for awhile, anyway). As it is, no one believes the load of bologna he's tried to sell.