“I’ll see what I can do,” Kiara replied. “You’re going to Alliance Insurance’s headquarters to get the record for James’s desk phone?”
Jake nodded. “And, also the camera footage,”
“Will they entertain you without the warrant?”
“I hope so or otherwise I’ll reach out to Travis,” Jake said.
“You won’t let the poor fellow sleep tonight. Will you?” Kiara said with a smile.
“Ryan’s life is way more precious than his sleep,” Jake replied and got inside the car.
“You are turning philosophical,” Kiara said while walking to the driver’s side.
“I hope there is light at the other end of the night,” Jake mused.
“I should stop praising your philosophy,” Kiara said shaking her head.
Jake didn’t respond. He had started thinking his next steps.
“You look tired,” Kiara said as she stepped out of the car, “You can drive, right?”
“I’ll manage,” Jake replied and looked at the division building, “Don’t worry about me. Just get me Martha’s call data record.”
Kiara nodded. She knew, right now nothing was going to deter Jake, whether it was tiredness or non-co-operation by any of the suspects.
“See you, then,” Jake said and turned on the ignition.
Kiara kept looking at him until he disappeared in the dark of the night. She pulled out her phone and called a number.
“Bob,” she said, “Need your immediate help.”
With no traffic at this hour of the night, it took Jake only twenty minutes to reach Alliance Insurances headquarter. The security guard tried to stop him, but Jake’s badge was enough to persuade him. He even guided Jake to the security supervisor for the night shift.
The supervisor looked at his watch with surprise. “Isn’t it too late?”
“That should tell you the severity of the matter,” Jake replied.
“I’m not talking about you,” the supervisor smirked, “I would need clearance for sharing any information with you. I’ve to call the department head.”
Jake nodded, “I understand. You call him, and I’ll call Travis Nelson. Let them speak to each other.”
“Travis… I’ve heard that name before,” the supervisor mused. “He heads one of the departments. Doesn’t he?”
“Yes. Is his go ahead enough? I want information about one of his team members.”
“No… I still need to inform my boss. But, if they talk to each other, that’ll sort out everything,” the supervisor said, “See, I don’t want to take any decisions on my own. Let them take a call.”
“I agree,” Jake said, “Let’s call them.”
The security head was reluctant at first but agreed after hearing Travis’s name. Travis, on the other end, reminded Jake of his promise. Jake convinced him by reminding him of Martha’s involvement.
After fifteen minutes of see-sawing, Jake got the go ahead only on one condition – that he had to get an official order for carrying out the investigation at their premises within twenty-four hours.
Jake was more than willing to agree to any terms at this point in time.
“What do you want?” the supervisor asked finally.
“I’m investigating the murder of one James Reed,” Jake said before the supervisor interjected.
“That’s why I remembered Travis Nelson’s name. He had sent a circular mourning his death,” he mused.
“Yeah, you have an excellent memory. Can we get back to work?” Jake urged.
“Okay,”
“I want call data record for James’s desk phone. Can you help with that?” Jake asked.
“That won’t take much time,” the supervisor replied with pride, “In fact; we publish the data on a monthly basis and ask the employees to declare any personal calls.”
“Awesome,” Jake said with a smile, “He died on the 23rd of last month. I’ll need the details for the whole last month.”
“Okay, anything else?” he asked.
“You store the camera footage, right?” Jake asked.
“Yup, but we erase the data every three months,” he replied.
“We don’t have to go that far,” Jake said with a faint smile. “I need it for this Thursday.”
“Thursday? You said he died on the 23rd of the last month,” the supervisor asked with raised brow.
“I… I think they removed something from his desk around that time,” Jake said the first thing that came to his mind.
“How do you know?” the supervisor was relentless. On any other time, Jake would’ve given him a piece of his mind, but right now, he needed the supervisor’s help. He had to say something that would end the discussion.
“I came to talk to Travis that day and noticed a box on James’s desk. It was missing when I went out after the discussion with Travis,” Jake made a story hoping it sounded genuine, but he was wrong.
“You think someone from the office is involved?” the supervisor asked with wide eyes. Jake cursed his story.
“The footage will tell us,” Jake said irately. “I know you’re curious. So am I. Let’s get to the work.”
The supervisor finally took the cue. “I was just asking.” He said and grabbed the desk phone.
“Hey, Roy… send me the call details for James Reed. He worked in the Accidental insurance department on the…” he looked at Jake.
“Sixth floor; A wing,” Jake said.
“Right… sixth floor A wing… I don’t know the seat number, but…”
“Yes, the guy who was murdered,” he said and removed the receiver for a second and looked at Jake, “He knows James.”
“Awesome,” Jake said.
“I need it in ten minutes,” the supervisor said and hung up.
“What about the footage?” Jake asked.
The supervisor pointed at the large computer in the corner, “It’s in there.”
“Great,” Jake said, “Let’s check it, then.”
“Yeah,” the supervisor said, “The suspense is killing me.”
“Really?” Jake sneered.
“Yeah,” the supervisor said without taking a hint. He logged in and waited anxiously for the screen to open.
Jake was even more anxious as all his hopes were pinned on the footage. The supervisor kept fast-forwarding the footage hastily.
“There you are,” he said as he saw Jake entering the office followed by Ryan.
“Can you pause it?” Jake asked.
“Sure,” the supervisor stopped the footage.
Jake came forward. “James’s desk is not visible from here. Can you zoom it?”
The supervisor laughed. “That’s the best you can get. It’s not a T.V. show.”
“Okay... start it again,” Jake said ignoring his laugh.
As the video restarted, Jake could see Ryan, Travis and him having the discussion.
“Skip it further,” he said.
“Sure,” the supervisor said and increased the speed of the video.
Jake kept looking at it until the point he had a discussion with Martha and left for the door.
“Stop it,” he shouted.
“What happened?” the supervisor asked with surprise.
Jake put his finger at the right corner of the screen.
“Can’t zoom it,” the supervisor reminded him.
“I know that,” he said irately. “What’s the time stamp?”
“12:15:48,” the supervisor read the time displayed at the corner of the screen.
Jake pulled out his journal from the jacket pocket and noted the time.
“How much time will it take for the call data record?” he asked while getting away from the monitor.
“I have to check,” the supervisor said with confusion, “Wait, are we done here?”
Jake nodded. “That’s enough.”
“What did you find?” he asked.
“Can you check on the call data record?” Jake asked firmly.
The supervisor nodded and dialed a number. Jake’s mind had started running. He started walking across the room. The supervisor finished the call and moved to another computer.
“Here it is,” he said bringing Jake out of his thoughts.
Jake looked at the screen for a second. “Can you print it?”
“Sure,” the supervisor said and clicked on the print button. “I don’t understand.” He said and got up.
“Where is the printer?” Jake asked ignoring him.
“There,” he pointed at the printer. Jake collected the pages; looked at them for a moment and then turned to the supervisor. “One more help - I’ll need access to get out.”
The supervisor opened the door for him. “Did you find something?” he asked again.
“Plenty,” Jake gave a faint smile and stepped out. The supervisor kept looking at the door with confusion.
“He’s bluffing. There is nothing in the footage. He wasted my time,” he said shaking his head before going back to his work.
Jake’s mind was running the whole time he drove from Alliance Insurances headquarters to the division. However, he was even more surprised when he saw Bob working with Kiara.
“How does she gets him to work?” Jake mumbled as he walked towards them.
“Well…well,” Bob smirked, “Look, who showed up in time.”
A flash of anger ran across Jake’s face, but Kiara controlled the situation before it could have gone out of hand. “Bob is using his contacts to get Martha’s call data record,” she said. “No one else could’ve helped at this hour.”
Jake nodded reluctantly, “What does he want in return?”
“He hasn’t said anything yet, and I hope it stays that way,” she said with fear in her eyes.
“How much time will it take?” Jake asked. Bob overheard him.
“It’s not a piece of cake,” Bob smirked and paused, “Cake? I’m hungry now.”
“Ignore him,” Kiara said and pulled Jake from his arm. As they reached the other end of the office floor, she asked. “What did you find?”
“I have James’s call record and have noted the exact time when Martha made a call from her cell phone after we had questioned her,” Jake said.
“That’s great,” she said, “That call will help us to get to the end of the network.”
“Can I go home now?” Bob interrupted. Jake and Kiara looked at him with irritation. Bob held out his hand showing a bunch of papers.
“You got the details?” Jake asked in exhilaration.
“Why are you surprised? I always deliver what I promise,” Bob smirked. “And, I’m leaving now.”
“Wait,” Kiara said firmly. “Let us go through the call data record once. Can’t you wait for two more minutes?”
Bob nodded reluctantly, “As you say.”
Jake placed the papers on the table and looked for the number that Martha had called when he and Ryan had left.
“What?” he screamed in disappointment.
“What happened?” Kiara asked. Jake put his finger on the name written opposite the number. Kiara was equally shocked. “This number is also registered under Martha’s name.”
“Yeah... some people have more than one connection,” Bob replied adding fuel to the fire.
“You wait at your desk,” Kiara shouted and before Bob could have retaliated, she gave him a stare. He walked to his desk shaking his head.
“She is good,” Kiara admired Martha reluctantly. Jake was still immersed in the call data record.
“You don’t even know the half of it,” Jake said in a low voice. With that, he turned to her and showed her a number on the paper.
“That’s Ryan’s number,” she said before re-checking, “That is really Ryan’s number.”
“Her son may be using the other number, but why is Ryan’s number here,” Jake said. “And, it’s there quite a few times.”
“This case is going to a place where I don’t want it to go,” Kiara said in a defeated tone.
“There has to be a reason,” Jake was still in a state of disbelief.
“Can I go now?” Bob shouted from the other end.
Kiara looked at him angrily but stopped before saying something. She turned to Jake.
“Let’s concentrate on what can be probed,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Jake asked.
“Lets’ talk to Bob,” Kiara said and walked to the other end of the room. Jake followed suit.
“Can I go?” Bob asked one more time.
“One last favor,” Kiara said as softly as she could.
“Come on,” Bob said in frustration.
“I swear, I won’t disturb you after that,” Kiara urged.
“Okay,” Bob agreed reluctantly.
“Get us the current location of both the numbers that Martha owns,” Kiara said.
“Okay, but nothing after that?” Bob was still not convinced.
“Cross my heart,” Kiara said and turned to Jake, “Let’s go through James Reed’s phone records while he works on this.”
“Yeah,” Jake said and walked to his desk.
His eyes gleamed as he scanned the whole page. “Wow! Martha was indeed fooling James. He frequently called on her other number.”
“That’s great. Bob will find the address anytime soon. Let’s call Carlson and get a unit ready,” Kiara proposed.
“Let’s check with Bob first if he has made any progress,” Jake said, “Carlson would need a full assurance after what we have done.”
“What do you mean?”
“He is not happy the way we both handled our cases,” Jake said.
“Come on. It wasn’t our fault,” Kiara said with frustration, “Anyhow, you’re right. Let’s get the addresses first.”
Bob overheard them. “One more to go,” he yelled.
They rushed to his desk. He pointed at the screen. “That’s the co-ordinates for the number that she is using.”
Jake looked at it with disappointment. “It’s the address that Travis gave us. I don’t think they can carry out their operation from such a locality. They need a secluded place away from the city.”
“For once, you’re right,” Bob interjected. “It indeed is outside the city limits.”
Jake came forward, and as he looked at the address, his eyes got bigger in bewilderment. “I can’t believe it,” He exclaimed as Kiara and Bob looked at each other.
“You know this place?” Kiara asked.
“This is Donald’s old address,” Jake said. “This is the place from where Ryan was kidnaped.”
“What?” Kiara was equally stumped, “But, you checked the whole place.”
“I did,” Jake said while making some calculations. “But, I was fooled into believing that it was a coincidence.”
With that, he looked at Kiara. “Time to call that standby unit.”
Kiara nodded and took out her phone. She was about to dial Carlson’s number when Bob tapped on her shoulder.
“What now?” she asked irately.
“I can go now. Right?” Bob asked.
“Yes… Please, leave,” Kiara said angrily.
Bob gave a faint smile and looked at Jake. “Best of luck. No need to thank me.”
“I can’t think while he is around,” Jake said in a complaining tone and walked to his desk. Kiara too walked away from Bob’s desk.
“Sure… let’s talk when you come for help again,” Bob said and started collecting his stuff.
While Kiara was trying to reach Carlson, Jake’s mind was running.
“If they’re so smart; why make such a rookie mistake by kidnapping Ryan,” he wondered while fiddling with Martha’s call records. Suddenly, he noticed something. He looked at the paper one more time. He got up at once and ran to Kiara.
“Is he on the line?” he asked.
“What?” Kiara asked. “No… he must be asleep.”
Jake snatched the phone from her and disconnected the call.
“What the hell are
you doing?” Kiara asked. Suddenly, Jake burst into a laugh.
“You’re scaring me,” she said.
Bob too noticed him while walking to the main door.
“Hey, Bob,” Jake said as Bob was about to step out.
“What now?” Bob asked with frustration.
Jake walked to him. “You have something to eat – candy or chocolate… anything?”
“He is gone mad,” Bob said looking at Kiara.
“Come on man. I know you have a stash,” Jake pleaded. “I won’t disturb you after that.”
“I’ve been hearing these words a lot today,” Bob said and opened his bag. “Here.” He said and gave two chocolate bars to Jake. Jake looked at them and was about to say something, but Bob rushed to the door.
Jake kept looking at the swiveling door with a faint smile.
Kiara walked to him. “You were laughing because you were hungry?”
Jake put the chocolates in his jacket pocket. “Remember, you said that Martha was good.”
Kiara nodded. “She is, but she thinks I’m even better than her,” Jake said with a smile.
“What do you mean?” Kiara asked with confusion.
“Do one thing,” Jake said and walked to his desk. Kiara shook her head and followed him. “Here’s her address. Bring her in for interrogation. I’ll get her son and Ryan too.”
“You have solved the case?” Kiara asked.
“I want to meet her son alone. It’s the only way to get all the answers,” Jake said.
“And, you think it's a very good idea to go without the back-up… alone?”
“Who told you I am going alone?” Jake said, “Donald is coming with me.”
“I know you are insane, but you can’t take him with you,” Kiara said.
“We’ll be back within a couple of hours,” Jake said. “Not a single soul will come to know. I promise.”
“It’s so wrong. We’re going to lose our jobs.”
“I’m taking him without your knowledge,” Jake winked, “You went to get Martha when all of this happened. Remember.”
“I’m not playing this game,”
“Trust me,” Jake said, “We don’t have any other option.”
“I’m going to regret this,” Kiara agreed reluctantly.
Davenport Mysteries 04-Loose Ends Page 18