In the Midst of my Enemies
Chapter 2 Official Investigation
Will was in his office of the police station when the fateful call came in.
"Will Girardi."
"I've got your daughter," said a voice on the other end. "If you want her back, leave a million dollars under the red truck at Satar Junk Yard, by midnight Friday. Good-bye." A click sounded on the other end.
"Who is this? What is this about?" demanded Will. If this was a crank call, it was in very poor taste. He hoped that it WAS merely a crank call, but fortunately a false crime report to police headquarters counted as a crime and justified an investigation.
Will called the switchboard and tried to keep his voice calm. "This is Girardi. Try to trace the call that just came to me. If our equipment won't do it, call the phone company. It may be important."
"Yes, sir."
Next Will dialed Joan's cell phone, hoping that she'd answer and tell him things were all right. She should be at the college. But there was no answer.
Will called Adam next, and did get an answer. "Hello, Adam—"
"This is Will. Do you know where Joan is?"
"She was going to Arcadia today, my Dad's house, to collect things from my studio. Why?"
"I'll tell you later." Will was still hoping that it was a hoax.
Will's desk phone rang again. "Hello?!"
"This is Kevin. We just got a weird call at my paper, saying Joan had been kidnapped. Naturally the reporters called me, but the guy hung up. Is Joan in danger, Dad?"
"I don't know, son. And I'm going to look into it right now." Will hung up and started looking around the department for his best detective.
When he and Lieutenant Barbara Gardner reached the Roves' back yard, Will's heart sank. In the middle of the yard, being blown about by the wind, were large pieces of paper, such as Adam used for sketches. Will gathered them. To his embarrassment, some showed Joan naked. He knew that Joan posed for her husband sometimes, but she was always concerned as to who might see the drawings. She would not voluntarily leave them blowing around the yard. Things were looking bad.
"You take the garage, I'll take the other building. It's the studio," he told Gardner.
The studio door was still unlocked. The studio looked disorganized, but it was the sort of mess that one would expect in the middle of a move. It did not seem to have been ransacked, or damaged during a struggle.
"Sir?" called Lieutenant Gardner.
"You've seen something?" Will asked, coming out into the yard.
"Not 'seen'," said the detective, standing in front of the garage. "Smelled. Come over here, and take a deep breath."
Will did as she suggested, and detected a faint scent. "Chloroform."
That was the crucial sign. Chloroform was a chemical once used to put patients to sleep for surgery. It was no longer used that way because of side effects, but a kidnapper trying to knock out a victim might use it. And there was no everyday reason for chloroform to be around.
The details were still fuzzy, but the conclusion was clear. Joan had really been kidnapped.
When Will got home, Helen was sitting on the living room sofa, staring at the floor. Kevin's wife, Lily, had her arm around Helen but looked similarly glum. Lily was several months pregnant and could definitely empathize with a woman whose daughter was in danger.
They looked up when Will entered. "Any more news?" asked Helen.
"No," Will said reluctantly.
"But you'll have your whole department on it---?"
"It's not my department right now."
"WHAT?"
"They won't let me run the investigation. Too emotionally close to it. But the department IS doing their best, and Detective Gutock has promised to keep me up to date on anything."
"But—"
"It's for the best, in the long run. Though I admit feeling rather helpless."
"The hell with the long run. They could be molesting her right now!"
There it was, the worst possibility. Helen had been raped during her first year in college, and had been traumatized by it for years. Her worse nightmare was that the same thing could happen to her daughter.
"I doubt it," Will said, trying to put all of his faith behind that doubt. "The sort of criminal that holds a captive for the ransom is not the same personality that – that – " he didn't want to verbalize what he was thinking. But as a policeman, he had read cases of an abductor doing horrible things to a female victim, then abandoning the body.
The doorbell rang, and Will cursed at the distraction.
It was a middle-aged man with swarthy skin and a beard. "Chief Girardi? I'm Professor Begh. Perhaps you remember me?"
"Investigating sabotage to the mosque, yes. But right now we're very pre-occupied---"
"With Joan, yes. That is why I am here. May I come in?"
Will stood aside and let the professor in.
"I met your daughter a year ago, very impressed by her. She was asking intelligent questions about Islam. And later—"
"Yes, yes, but today?" prompted Helen.
"I can raise a million dollars in time."
"WHAT?" burst out Lily.
"Teaching is my profession, but it is not my source of income. My family has raised horses for generations, both here and in Turkey, and it is quite a profitable business. I may not have a million dollars at hand, but I can raise it within the week. Use it for the ransom. No strings tied; this is for Joan's sake."
"Thank you," said Will, now highly impressed, "but I can't accept it. We're not paying the ransom."
"What do you mean?" demanded Helen.
"We can't reward terrorists by giving in. The policy--"
"Who's we? Joan is my daughter too, and the hell with policy. Professor, if you'll let me have the money, I'll ransom Joan and do my best to repay you."
"Helen, you can't—"
"Don't tell me what I can and can't do. This is the twenty-first century!"
"Couldn't you use it as bait?" demanded Lily. "Keep an eye on the junkyard, grab whoever comes to pick it up. The professor gets his money back. How's that for policy?"
"Getting my money back is not the priority—"
"Wait, wait," Will said. "There's something wrong here. Let me think."
Amazingly, everybody quieted down and indeed let him think.
"Whoever did this knew a lot about the family," Will mused. "They knew I was with the police, that Kevin worked at the newspaper. They knew that Joan used to live with her father-in-law and was removing her stuff. So why did they think that the family has easy access to a million dollars?"
"We do," said Lily.
"Because the Professor was noble and offered it. Did they anticipate that? I didn't."
"I see what you mean," said the Professor. "I have a daughter too, Morgiana. I have assets, and I would have no hesitation about paying the ransom. Leaving aside the morality of the thing, the logical target for a kidnapping would have been Morgiana."
"Exactly," said Will. "WHY DID THEY WANT JOAN?"
TBC
