“Why do you think that? It’s all been in the papers, and the media is calling your son-in-law the culprit. Though I haven’t been to the crime scene, in my experience, in such cases the first suspect is the husband.”
“It’s not as simple as it looks. You’re right, the first suspect is Shawn … my son-in-law, but that’s something expected from everyone as a first reaction. On the other hand, he was calm because he knew that he’ll be the prime suspect, and has planned everything accordingly. It’s been two days; they haven’t found any clues about her whereabouts. The house is thoroughly clean, and he has a strong alibi. It’s as if she vanished into thin air. If nothing is found in the next few days, the situation will be reversed, and he’ll gain sympathy instead of hatred,” Mrs. Campbell said with a quavering voice.
Karl Bennett got up at once. The old leather chair made a squeaky sound, stopping him for a moment. He turned around to look at it. While glancing back, he noticed the bag that Mrs. Campbell was carrying. He looked at it for a moment. Then he walked to the other end of the room, filled a glass of water, and gave it to Mrs. Campbell. She gulped it in one go.
“Though I’ve read about the case in the papers, I would like to hear your story to understand what you want from me,” Karl said while opening his journal as he pulled his chair.
“You don’t use a computer?” she asked while looking around with surprise.
“I … I believe in the old ways. And besides, it’s easier to carry a journal around,” Karl said sheepishly. He did not want his client to know that he was computer illiterate and that he could not afford one.
Mrs. Campbell nodded. “My daughter … Cynthia … and Shawn met at a media conference. She was working as a reporter at that time, and he was making his name on Wall Street. They did not have a favorable start to their relationship. During that time, Shawn’s company was embroiled in a controversy. The company Managing Director was arrested for having a hand in insider trading. The shares fell on a daily basis, and the company was staring at bankruptcy. Shawn was assigned to placate the media.
“Cynthia was impressed by the way Shawn handled them, and her admiration increased when the company came back to its feet and Shawn was credited with this turnaround. He was also elevated to the post of Managing Director for his division.
“He called the media again and openly discussed the changes that he was going to bring. For almost three months, he was all over the news. He held interviews; he accepted open debates—anything that could redeem the company’s image. In short, he was a one-man army that brought his company back on its feet.
“During this period, he met Cynthia four or five times and finally asked her out. I believe that’s when all of this started.”
“What started?” Karl asked with raised brows.
“The planning to get my daughter murdered,” Mrs. Campbell said ruefully, her eyes getting moist.
“I don’t understand,” Karl said with surprise.
She took a deep breath. “Though he had a clean image in public, there were other things going inside the company that only he knew. Though I’m not sure what it was, Cynthia did tell me about him being not the same guy she thought she had married. She had even confronted him, but he told her that it was all business and shouldn’t bother about it. Slowly, they started having daily arguments.”
“But that doesn’t mean he killed her. Every couple has its arguments,” Karl said thoughtfully. “Besides, I saw on the news that they had just returned from a weeklong vacation in Europe. That means these arguments were not affecting their marriage.”
“I believe that was a part of the plan too. He wants people to believe that there was nothing wrong with their marriage,” Mrs. Campbell said in a stern voice. “Otherwise, how would you explain her going missing two days after their Europe trip?”
Karl shook his head. He was still of the belief that she was paranoid. However, he did not want to lose a client. He hadn’t had a client in months and with the health problems he was facing, it was better if he focused on taking the case rather than trying to find ways to get out of it.
“That indeed is something that needs to be investigated,” he said, trying to win over Mrs. Campbell.
“There are lots of such small things that I need you to investigate,” Mrs. Campbell said while leaning forward. With that, she opened her bag and pushed Shawn’s photograph toward Karl.
“That won’t be needed. It’s all over the news,” Karl said with a smile.
“No, no … keep this handy. In case you need to ask people around,” she said while pushing the photograph further.
Finally, Karl conceded and put the photograph in his journal. He checked Mrs. Campbell’s body language. She looked a bit relieved now. However, he was unsure what was needed from him.
“What exactly do you want me to do?” he asked the pertinent question.
“I want you to find proof against Shawn,” Mrs. Campbell said in a low voice. “I want him to be the prime suspect. I … I want him behind bars.”
Sweat drops covered Karl’s face. “So, you want me to help you in getting your son-in-law convicted of a murder that may not have even happened. See … I appreciate your confidence on a small-time detective like me. But I may not be able to help you here. I do small jobs like following people on my client’s advice and getting small details like whom they met and where they went, etcetera. I have never investigated a missing person case, or as you insist, a murder case, even when you are not sure if this is a murder.”
Mrs. Campbell’s face stiffened. “I am asking you to do the same thing that you do for others. There is nothing out of the ordinary. You have just to follow him and see if he meets someone or goes someplace that you believe can lead us to Cynthia, or even tell us about what he has done with her. You will always be far from getting entangled in any trouble. That’s my guarantee, and if you don’t find anything after a week, our deal will end.”
Karl got up and walked to the small window at the other corner. He kept looking at the sky for a minute or so, making some calculations. Mrs. Campbell kept looking at him in anticipation.
He turned around and looked at her. “I will charge double of my usual fee and whenever I feel that I may get in trouble, I will cancel our arrangement.”
Mrs. Campbell nodded and pulled out an envelope. Karl almost came running to the table as soon as she pushed the envelope across it toward his chair.
His whole body shivered at what he saw. “This … this is $5,000.” It was ten times more than what he had asked for.
“Yes … and this is just an advance. If I am satisfied with your investigation, I will give you another envelope for the same amount,” Mrs. Campbell said while getting up. She pulled out a Business card from her bag and handed it to Karl. “You can contact me at this number. You have a cell phone, right?”
“Yes … of course,” Karl replied sheepishly. His eyes were still fixated on the money.
“Do you need to know anything else?” Mrs. Campbell asked, bringing Karl back from his thoughts.
“What?” he said while putting the envelope in the inside pocket of his jacket. “Well … nothing right now. I need to do some thinking before I start the investigation. I’ll call you if I need something from you.”
“Very well, then,” she said.
“I’ll walk you to the door,” Karl got up in a hurry. He walked in front of her while still thinking about something. His heart said that he shouldn’t ask her. There was a chance that she may get angered by it, and he may lose the money. On the other hand, this was a high profile case, and he couldn’t start before he was entirely sure.
As he was about to push the old wooden door, he stopped his hands mid-air and turned toward her.
“Uh … Mrs. Campbell. If you don’t mind … I wanted to ask something.”
She looked at him with surprise. Even she didn’t want the deal to go sour.
“Yes, please,” she said while trying to decipher Karl’s body languag
e.
“Why do you want me to handle this case? I mean … I’m a small-time detective and have never handled such a case. On the other hand, you are very influential. You could’ve hired any private investigator in the city,” he said with great difficulty. Every word of his made him feel as if the money was slipping away from him.
Mrs. Campbell heaved a sigh of relief. “I thought you were getting cold feet. You’re right, I could have hired anyone. I came to you because I want this thing to happen without anyone noticing anything. Being high profile means everyone’s eyes are on me. You are virtually unknown to our world. So, no one will suspect anything about you. Secondly, I understand that the local police know about you and what kind of cases you generally handle. They will also be of the opinion that you can’t handle such a case. That way, they will not suspect you either. On the other hand, I need a person of your caliber.
“You have nothing to do with the investigation of Cynthia’s disappearance. You only have to follow Shawn and find something that I can use against him.
“I guess I’ve cleared your doubts now?”
“Yes, very well.” Karl smiled. She indeed had done her homework before coming to him. He pushed the door open while she covered her head with a scarf and put on dark shades.
“Call me if anything is needed,” she said as she stepped out.
Karl kept looking at her till she crossed the road and got into her black Mercedes. He was surprised to see that she drove the car herself, but then she wanted to keep the meeting anonymous. He pressed his jacket pocket once, and the warmth of the unanticipated cash made him smile. He looked around once before bolting the door from inside.
Special Agent in Charge Carlson was standing in front of the television with his hands clasped behind his back. Agent Kiara Davenport knocked on the glass door. She was accompanied by her partner, Agent Jake Carter. Carlson waved his hand over his shoulder and gestured them to get inside.
Kiara and Jake looked at Carlson and then toward the television, which was playing the news of Cynthia Hansen’s kidnapping.
“What’s happening?” Jake whispered.
“I guess we’re getting this case,” she said quietly while pointing at the TV screen.
Jake was about to say something when Carlson turned around.
“You know anything about this case?” he asked while gesturing them to take a seat.
“Yes. I mean, whatever’s being shown on the news. She went missing from her home in Manhattan three days back and since then, the police are trying to see if this is a kidnapping or a murder. Till this morning, they hadn’t found any evidence pointing at either,” Jake said thoughtfully.
“Since the case is coming to us, I believe we now know which of it is,” Kiara added.
Carlson looked at her. “You’re right. This morning an anonymous call for ransom came. It was traced back to Sicily, and the number was found to be in the Italian government blacklist. It belongs to one Lorenzo Oldani. He’s part of Cosa Nostra, or more commonly known as the Sicilian Mafia.”
“Hmm … So that’s why it’s in our jurisdiction now.” Jake finally understood why Carlson had called them.
Kiara remembered something. “Weren’t Shawn and Cynthia Hansen in Europe last week?”
“Yes, and they visited Rome on the final day of their trip,” Carlson added while shaking his head.
“You think that her disappearance has something to do with that?” Kiara asked while looking at Jake, who understood now what she meant.
“It’s too early to say anything,” Carlson said tersely.
“Any leads on where they could’ve kept her captive?” Jake asked, trying to find the extent of the investigation done so far.
“Not yet. According to the NYPD, she went missing from her apartment in upper Manhattan two days after they returned from the trip. Since there is a link to the Italian Mafia, the police are keeping a close eye on the people with a criminal background in the Italian-American community. The police are checking all of their hideouts. And since this is a high profile case, there is a chance that her captors change her location on a daily basis.
“You two need to go down to their residence. The police officer working on this case will be there till three o’clock. You get from him whatever he knows and take the handover. Go through the files and report to me first thing in the morning. And one more thing: the Hansen family is powerful, but the Campbells … Cynthia’s parents are even more influential. This case needs to be handled deftly.”
Carlson looked at both of them, but both kept quiet. The meaning of handling deftly had different connotations to Kiara and Jake. Carlson knew that they would eventually do the things their way.
By now, his words had become white noise to both of them. Still, something needed to be said.
“We’ll take all measures to keep everything the way you want, sir,” Kiara said and got up.
“You better. I won’t take chances this time. A single mistake and you’ll be out of this case,” Carlson said sternly, shifting his gaze between the two of them. “Let me know if any approvals are needed. Don’t expect any other help from my side.”
“What if we don’t get support from the police like the last time?” Jake said and got up.
“Didn’t you hear when I said that I won’t help with anything else but routine approvals?” Carlson stated in a harsh tone. “You have to find a way around.”
“We understand, sir,” Kiara said politely to avoid any further confrontation.
With that, she patted Jake’s shoulder and gestured toward the door. Carlson had gone back to work. Jake looked at him for one last time and left.
As the door closed, Carlson looked toward it and then toward the television, which was flashing Cynthia’s photograph. He knew that he was going to have a tough time with this high profile case. He just hoped that Kiara and Jake won’t work outside his orders.
“What do you think?” Kiara asked as Jake settled down at his desk opposite to hers.
“Case looks like a straightforward kidnapping, but securing Cynthia’s release is going to be a tough task,” he said thoughtfully. “The first forty-eight hours are the crucial ones, and we’ve already lost that time.”
“But we have to make a move. We need to look at the local connections of the Sicilian Mafia. Any ideas?”
“Haven’t heard about any activities by the Italian Mafia in New York for a while. But to be sure, we need to reach out to them. This may have been orchestrated overseas, but the kidnapping happened here. There has to be a link,” Jake said while looking at something on his computer.
“You’re right,” Kiara said before noticing that Jake was doing something. “What are you looking at?”
“Getting some know-how about the two families—the Hansens and the Campbells,” he said while scrolling down.
Kiara got up and walked to Jake’s desk.
“Well, Carlson was right. They indeed are influential families. Jeffrey Hansen was an investment banker just like his son, Shawn. He retired a couple of years back,” Jake said and stopped for a moment. “Wow!”
“What is it?”
“We’re in the wrong business. Jeffrey Hansen got ten million dollars as a retirement bonus, plus the shares that he holds in various companies along with other properties that he owns—his net worth is estimated around fifteen million,” Jake said. “He now works as an independent consultant and advises some of the biggest names in the city.”
“I don’t know about his clients, but he sure made a fortune with his investments,” Kiara said while looking at the figures.
“Nothing else here—I do not see any prior public cases. The guy has a pretty clean image,” Jake said and closed the browser window.
“We need to dig deeper, then. Maybe there’s something that’s not in the public domain,” Kiara said thoughtfully.
“I guess we need to do that for everyone in the Hansen family. Just like her husband, Scarlet Hansen is well respected. She runs a
handful of charitable organizations and has organized over a hundred fundraising activities,” Jake said.
“That will be a ploy to save taxes for Jeffrey’s clientele. Two birds with a stone,” Kiara mused.
Jake looked at her and shook his head. “Some people on this planet are actually good, Kiara. Stop scrutinizing everyone.”
“Yeah, I will. You concentrate on the work at hand. We have to leave in the next ten minutes,” Kiara said and hit Jake softly on his head.
“Okay,” Jake said and clicked on the other window. “Shawn is the only son and now Managing Director of one of the business units of a leading financial institution. Look at his earnings. We really are in the wrong business. We should be working on Wall Street.”
“That boat sailed twelve years back. Concentrate on what you’re supposed to do in your current occupation,” Kiara said.
Jake ignored her and looked excitingly at the computer screen.
“This is interesting,” he murmured.
“What’s interesting?” Kiara asked, leaning forward.
Jake gestured her to wait while he scrolled down and read the whole page. Kiara looked at her watch. Jake noticed that.
“Okay, let’s go. I’ll tell you on the way,” he said and got up. Kiara shook her head but had no other option than to follow him.
###
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