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belongs to NBC, Sanders/Moses Productions, Cynthia Saunders, Stephen
Kronish ... Not to me. No
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just for the fun !
Part 6 : Carlson Creek
Virginia Wellow was living with her daughter in a nice little house in the south of Carlson Creek. It was usually a quiet place, but today, the house was invaded by local police officers and surrounded by journalists. The news had been spread that the 'Wellow case' could be linked to the kidnapping of senator Walsh's son, and all Chicago newspapers and TV channels had sent a team.
" I think it's better you stay in the car, sir." Bailey said to John Walsh when they arrived. "At least till we get rid of the reporters." Walsh nodded.
Bailey stopped the car in front of the front door and stepped out, followed by Sam. Detective Baldwin was waiting for them inside.
"Hi." He greeted them. "Looks like you're not going home, are you ?
- Join the FBI, they said." Bailey answered. "Your colleagues told us that the little girl didn't come home after school ?
- Hum. In fact, the only thing we know is that the last persons we have found who have seen Sandy are her school mates. They parted at the corner of Marshall street, like every day. When the mother came home yesterday evening, the child was not there. And we did not find any indication that she had returned from school.
- Her school bag ?" Sam asked.
" First thing we checked doctor Waters." Baldwin answered. "We haven't found it.
- At what time did the mother returned ?" Bailey asked.
- 7:30 pm. She is a clerk at the local supermarket. The father died six years ago in a car accident. Sandy is generally alone here from 17:00 to 19:30. She usually does her homework and prepares the dinner.
- Did you already search the place for finger prints ?
- Yes sir ! We haven't got the results yet, but I don't think we'll find anything. Did you see the picture of the kid ?
- Yes we did." Sam answered. She looked around. "I don't think anybody could expect a ransom from Mrs. Wellow, right ?
- No. They live decently, but have no money spared.
- Can we talk to the mother ?" Sam asked
" Sure. This way please."
Baldwin led them to a small dining room. Virginia Wellow was sitting alone at the table. Four officers were in the room. One was busy connecting the phone to a tape recorder. The three others were inspecting the furniture. Baldwin introduced the two agents to the little girl's mother :
"Mrs. Wellow, this is agent Bailey Malone and doctor Samantha Waters, from Atlanta FBI. They'd like to talk to you.
- The FBI ? I thought that you were in charge of the case ?
- We were here to investigate another case of child missing Mrs. Wellow." Bailey answered. We think there might be a connection with the disappearing of your daughter.
- A connection ?" she asked.
Bailey chose to be honest.
" You may have heard the son of the senator Walsh was kidnapped two days ago." he said "Tony Walsh has a sister, Christine. She's twelve years old, and her resemblance with Sandy is amazing."
Bailey pulled out a picture of Christine Walsh and showed it to Virginia Wellow. Tears came up immediately into her eyes.
" We know this is a very difficult situation, Mrs. Wellow," Sam said. "But we need to know more about Sandy.
- I've already said all I know to the police." she said.
" I'm sure you did Mrs. Wellow - May I call you Virginia ?" Bailey asked softly. She nodded. He took her hands in his and went on : "We want to put all the chances on our side, to find Sandy and Tony. We have absolutely no certitude yet, but there is a possibility that Sandy was abducted because she looks very much like Christine Walsh. The man who took Tony may have wanted to build a new family for the kid, by bringing him a new sister. Virginia, I don't wan to lie to you. We may be completely wrong about this, but we do not want to neglect any hypothesis. Do you understand that ?
" Yes" she said, and a very shy smile came to her face. "How can I help ?
- Tony Walsh was kidnapped less than forty eight hours ago. If we admit that the same man abducted Sandy yesterday, for the reason I mentioned, then we must admit this was part of a plan he made long ago. This means he has probably noticed Sandy long before he kidnapped Tony. At first, we thought the man could be a familiar of the Walsh. Do you know anybody in your surrounding who is, or was, related to John Walsh or his family : a member of your family, a friend, a neighbor, someone at your work, maybe a regular customer ?
- Not to my knowledge." she answered. "Sandy scarcely comes to the store. I don't think someone could have noticed her there." She stopped for a few seconds, thinking. "To be honest, I'm not really interested in politics. I had never heard of senator Walsh before yesterday.
- Mrs. Wellow," Sam continued, "we believe the man lives, or has lived, in the Chicago area, but we don't know where exactly. Does Sandy practice any activity outside school that sometimes brings her out of Carlson Creek, like sport or art ?
- She is in the basket ball team of her school. She loves the game. They sometimes participate to competitions out of town. Three weeks ago, they went to Chicago. But I don't have the list of all places they went to lately. Her coach could certainly provide you with more details. His name is Mr. Brandon.
- Good." Bailey said. "Jerry, do you think you could send someone to talk to Mr. Brandon ?" he asked Baldwin.
" Sure." the detective answered. He called one of the officers and gave him instructions.
- Virginia," Bailey said "do you have any relatives Sandy visits regularly ?
- Her grand-parents." she answered "I mean her father's parents. They live in Dallas. Sandy spends one month with them every summer.
- Do they know what happened ?" Sam asked.
" Yes. I called them this morning. They are on their way. They should land at 18:45 in Chicago. They helped us a lot, you know, ... after Kyle died.
- So we could talk to them tomorrow morning." Sam said "Meantime, you could ask them if they remember anything particular about Sandy's last visit.
- I will." Mrs. Wellow said.
Sam handed her a card.
" You can call me any time." she said "In case you remember something ... or if you just want to talk.
- Thanks.
- Virginia," Bailey asked "do you mind if we have a look at Sandy's room ?
- No." she answered hesitantly.
" Don't bother." Baldwin said. "I'll show them the way."
The three of them left the dining room and were about to go upstairs when a police officer stopped them. "I've got a call for you, agent Malone." he said "an agent John Grant.". "I'll join you up there." Bailey said to Sam and Baldwin, and he went to the phone.
" Hi John." he said "How are things going in Chicago ?
- Fine. They haven't finished the autopsy yet. Grace is in there. The police department told me what happened in Carlson Creek. I just wanted to know if you needed me there.
- Not really. Do you know if the CPD has located Carlyle ?
- Not yet."
Bailey checked his notes.
" Then I want you to see the cook, Helen Sommerset." he said "She must have come back from New Orleans now. Try to establish a list of all places Tony went to in the last two months. Send the information to George when you're finished.
- I will. Anything else ?
- We should be back to Chicago in about two hours. We're not going home tonight. Can you find us an hotel ?
- OK.
- We'll meet you and Grace at the CPD headquarters.
- See you there."
Sam was alone when Bailey entered Sandy's bedroom.
" Anything new ?" she asked
- No. Where is Baldwin ?
- He went outside to smoke."
Sandy's room was exactly what one would expect from a twelve years old girl's bedroom : it was a perfect mix of childhood and teenage. The walls were covered with posters of the most fashionable bands; a few make-up articles were laying on a table; and yet there was a Teddy Bear on her bed. She was probably still sleeping with it, but she would never have admitted it before her friends. There was a framed picture of her mother on her desk, and one of an older couple, most likely her grand-parents. Pinned on the wall, close to her bed, was a picture of Sandy riding a horse.
The bed was done and everything seemed to be at its place. Bailey had a fugitive thought at what Frances' bedroom looked like when she was twelve : a perpetual mess.
Sam started opening the drawers of the chest, while Bailey went to the little desk by the window. Like the rest of the room, the desk was clean and in order. He opened the three drawers but didn't find anything interesting. Neither did Sam. Actually, they had no idea of what they were looking for. There was no clue whatsoever that Sandy had reached home the day before. The man had probably been waiting for her outside and taken her there.
Bailey kneeled and grabbed the little dustbin from under the desk. He took the two paper sheets on the top of it. It looked like some mathematics exercises Sandy had apparently had trouble with. Below were only a few little cake pieces. He took one and molded it between his fingers. No doubt about it, they were fresh. They couldn't possibly have been there for two days. "Sam !" he called "Could you come and have a look at that ?". Sam joined him and took the little piece Bailey was handing her. She touched it and looked puzzled. "She came home yesterday." she just said. But he did not answer. "Bailey ?" she touched his arm. No reaction. She understood at once what was happening ...
Bailey saw Sandy Wellow seated at her desk, eating her cake and doing her homework. He could see her as clear as if she had been in the room right now. The little radio was producing music. She was having a hard time with her work. She did not hear the man come in. He took her by surprise. He put one of his arms around her, preventing any move, and put his other hand on her mouth, so that she could not scream. He had an handkerchief in his hand, probably with some kind of sedative on it. The little girl tried to fight for a few seconds. Then her muscles relaxed and she fell on her chair. The man stayed very calm. He put everything back in order on the desk, lifted Sandy in his arms, and took her school bag. Then he left the room.
Bailey's vision ended as suddenly as it had started. When he 'woke up', Sam's hand was on his shoulder. She was staring at him in silence.
" He was there, Sam" he said.
" I know." She let a few seconds pass. "She was at her desk ?" she asked.
" Yes. Doing her homework. She didn't hear him. The radio was on. He used some drug to make her sleep. Sam, " he added "He doesn't think he's doing anything wrong.
- Most psychopath don't. Bail, are you OK ?" she asked softly.
His hands were shaking and he was sweating ... He was really pale.
" Do you want a glass of water ?
- I can handle it Sam." he replied. But she could see it was only a poor attempt to reassure her, and that he was not so sure himself.
" What you need is a rest.
- I'll be all right, Sam.
- No you won't. And you know it Bailey. I'm probably the person who can understand the best how tough this is. Don't try to fool me.
He looked at her and kissed her hand.
" I know you are, honey" he told her. "We'll have to talk about it one day. But for the moment, the only thing that matters is the life of the two kids. We must hurry Sam. Till now, we haven't even got close to him.
- What do you want to start with ?
- I'll talk to Baldwin. We must have the cake pieces analyzed by the CPD laboratory. Maybe Grace can work on that."
She nodded.
" I want you to contact Sandy's math teacher and find out when exactly he asked for these exercises." he added, handing her the two sheets of paper he had removed from the bin. "In case it was not yesterday, call her school mates and ask them if Sandy mentioned she had not started working on the subject before yesterday."
He paused for a few seconds, then he continued : "We have to do better with the profile, Sam. We absolutely have to reduce the scope if we want George to progress in the search. First priority is to find how and when he met Tony Walsh and Sandy Wellow for the first time. We'll make a working session with Grace, George and John tonight in Chicago."
They got up and left the room.
To be continued ... R&R, Thanks.
Absolut.
