Chapter 2
The police car pulled up outside a tall apartment building on 92nd Street, Daphne and Fred climbed out of the vehicle and walked through the large glass doors and to the elevator.
'What's the number?' Fred asked, Daphne, looked at her notepad, '1014.'
Fred hit the button to the 10th floor, the elevator doors closed before it elevated to the 10th floor.
Daphne had in her head a list of questions she was going to ask the Preston's; she hadn't had time to write them down, but she had a good enough memory.
Fred looked at Daphne and Daphne looked at Fred, 'What?' She asked, Fred, shrugged, 'Nothing.' He replied with a smile.
'Seriously, what?' Daphne asked again.
'It's nothing.' Fred replied.
'Fred.' She said again, her voice firmer this time.
There was a ping, and the elevator doors opened.
'It's nothing.' Fred said again, and he exited the elevator, Daphne followed.
She knew he was hiding something, and she was going to find out what it was.
As they walked along the corridor to Preston's apartment, Daphne and Fred noticed how well the apartment was kept. It was clear that the people who lived here had money and a lot of it. The walls are like an eggshell shade, while the doors were all white. And on the walls next to each of the doors were glass plaques with the apartment numbers on them.
'Here it is.' Fred said as he stopped outside a door, the plaque on the wall read 1014.
Daphne knocked on the door.
At the sound of the locks unlocking and the bolts unbolting, Daphne thought back to last year when she and her sister had arrived at their mother's house and- Daphne pushed the memory out of her head, that was all dealt with now, she tried to stop herself thinking about it.
The door opened, and a woman stood on the other side, 'Can I help you?' She asked.
Daphne and Fred showed her their police badges, and they suddenly felt bad for the poor woman who had a small glimmer of hope in her eyes, 'Have you found him?' She asked.
'Unfortunately, no.' Fred replied, 'But we would like to ask you some questions.'
The woman nodded, 'Of course, come in.'
Fred and Daphne had spoken to Melanie Preston back in April when her son disappeared, they had tried to put the pieces of Max's disappearance together but came up with nothing. And unfortunately, 4 other children went missing, followed by a 5th last night and the detectives had not had a chance to revisit the Preston's, until now.
'It's been a while.' Melanie Preston began, 'Can I get you anything to drink?'
'No thank you.' Daphne said, and Fred shook his head.
'Please sit down.' Melanie Preston said, motioning to the long-curved couch in the living room.
Preston's apartment was large, they have 3 children, so they need the space. It was a bright apartment with huge windows looking out at the city. The apartment had a trendy style, curved couch, zebra print rug, glass coffee table, and a distressed periwinkle blue bookshelf filled with books.
Daphne and Fred sat on the couch, and they finally got a good look at Melanie Preston who sat opposite them.
She was dressed, she had made the effort to dress neatly. Her cream shirt was tucked neatly into her long black skirt, black tights, and pink fluffy slippers. Though she had dark circles under her eyes, her face looked like it had aged since the last time Fred and Daphne had seen her.
The disappearance of her youngest son had clearly taken its toll on Melanie Preston like it would any parent.
'What can I help you with?' Melanie Preston asked, lying her hands flat on her thighs. Daphne saw that she had been biting her fingernails.
'Unfortunately, last week another child was taken. A little girl from Lennox Hill, Nina Jackson. Detective Blake and I have gone through the files of the missing children, along with a statement taken from Nina's parents, and we have discovered that all the children had been to a party at least the day before they disappeared.' Fred explained.
'A party?' Melanie Preston asked, and something seemed to awake inside her, 'Maxie went to a party. He was at a party.'
Daphne nodded, 'Yes, we know. But we need you to tell us about that party, y'know, who was there, what was there, anything you can remember.'
Melanie Preston took a deep breath as she thought about the party her son had attended, 'It was his school friend's party. A boy in his class, Charlie, had just turned 9. It was at Central Park.'
'Central Park?' Daphne asked, noting it on her pad.
Melanie Preston nodded, 'Yes, it was at Central Park. Charlie's parents were planning on having it in their apartment, but they got the weather update the week before and decided it would such a lovely day, they would have it at the park. And it was a hot day.' Melanie Preston smiled, 'Maxie wouldn't put sunscreen on, so I had to wrestle him a little bit, he let me put it on.'
'How did you get to the party?' Fred asked.
'We walked.' Melanie Preston replied.
'You walked?' Fred asked and she nodded, 'We walked to the park and when we got under the shade of the trees, I gave a piggy-back to the party. And then when it was over, we walked home. I think now that there was a possibility that someone could have followed us home and was waiting until we went to bed to take my Maxie.'
'Someone could have.' Daphne agreed.
'But I don't remember anyone sticking out to me. I don't remember seeing anyone suspicious.'
'Tell us more about the party.' Fred said.
'Charlie's parents had brought one of those camping tables, you know the folding ones?'
Fred nodded.
'That was where Charlie's presents were. Maxie put his present for Charlie on the table. There were a few games like the three-legged race, Twister – that was Maxie's favourite – and a little game of soccer.'
'How many kids were there?' Daphne asked.
Melanie Preston thought, 'About 15. After the kids were done playing, it was time for lunch so they sat on a big blue picnic blanket and had a little picnic while they watched the magician.'
'Magician?' Daphne asked.
Melanie Preston nodded, 'Maxie loved the magician, he said he wanted one at his 10th Birthday party. I can't remember what the magician's name was, I was talking to one of the mom's, her daughter is in my daughter's class and they were having trouble with an assignment.'
'Do you remember anything else?' Daphne asked.
Melanie Preston shook her head, 'No, the party finished after the magician's act, and the kids had finished eating. I gave Maxie a piggy-back through the park and then we walked home.'
'And that's it?' Daphne asked.
Melanie Preston nodded, 'We got home, Annie was watching TV, Fabian was working on his laptop and Benny was at work. I made myself, Annie and Fabian dinner, Max was full of lunch from the party, but I gave him a bowl of sliced apple about an hour before he went to bed.'
'What time did he go to bed?' Fred asked.
'My kids go to bed at different times, Max goes to bed at 8 and Annie at 9, Benny was working the late shift, so he goes to bed when he comes home, but normally he'll go to bed about 10.' Melanie Preston explained.
'So, there is quite some time between Max going to bed and Benny coming home.' Daphne said to Fred.
'I know you all thought Benny had something to do with it, and I'm not happy that he lied about where he had been the night Max went missing, but I know now that he didn't say anything because he thought I would be mad at him for not coming straight home from work and he didn't want Jessica's parents to find out and be mad at her either.'
'Can you give us the name and telephone number of the parents who hosted the party?' Daphne asked.
'Sure.' Melanie Preston replied, she got to her feet and went across to the dining table where her back was. She went through it and pulled out her address book and searched for the name in her book, she came back with 'Janet White', Daphne wrote down the telephone number.
'Thank you for your time Mrs Preston, we'll be in touch soon.' Fred smile, reassuringly and Melanie Preston smiled a little as she showed them out of her apartment.
'Where to next?' Fred asked as they began walking towards the elevator.
'I figured since we're closest, we should go to Halder's next, then Prissy Rossman's.' Daphne replied.
'Ok.' Fred nodded and he pressed the button for the elevator, the doors opened, and they climbed in, Fred hit the button to go down to the ground floor.
Daphne looked at her notepad and studied the name Compass Halder, she wondered why a parent would give a child a name like that.
When her sister was pregnant, she planned on naming her daughter something weird, she cannot remember what, but Thalia and her husband decided on Emily, which Daphne thought was a lovely name.
'What are you thinking about?' Fred asked.
'Huh? Oh, this kid Compass Halder. People give their kids such weird names.' Daphne replied.
Fred chuckled, 'They're not weird they're unique, Daph.'
Daphne smiled, 'Just like the name your mom was gonna give you? What was it again? Oh yeah, Axal.'
Fred laughed, 'Ok, you got me there, Daph.'
It was his father who named him Fredrick. Fred for short, or Freddie as Daphne liked to call him, he didn't mind. But what he couldn't get his head around was why his parents gave him the middle name Herman. As far as he was aware there was nobody in the family with that name, maybe it was just one he made up like the name his mother was planning on naming him. Axal? Axal Herman Jones? He thought it sounded sickly. He liked his name, Fred Jones, he always thought it had a nice ring to it, even if it was just his name.
Maybe he thought giving a kid a unique name would make them feel special, but it doesn't matter if they have a name that's different to anyone else's like Compass, or Axal, it was their unique personality that made them special.