Mystery: Missing Mystery (A Suspense Thriller Mystery novella): (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) (Alaska Mysteries Book 1)

by S. C. King

  They would be waiting for him!

  “Mr. Logan,” he greeted the fifty something man who sat behind a wooden desk, smoking a cigarette. “My name is Detective Benjamin Davis, and I am here to ask you a few questions.”

  “How can I help you, detective?” the other man asked in a calm and deep voice. “I will do whatever I can to help the police, as I have always done.”

  “I am investigating the case of a missing child in Stronghill,” the detective continued, completely ignoring the other man’s way of joking. “A van with your name on it was seen parked in front of a house where the boy was held captured. Can you tell me what your involvement in the case is?”

  “I have no idea how one of my vans ended up in Stronghill, as I have no business there,” Logan said. “But I can ask my employees and find out, if that is really the case.”

  He called his secretary on the intercom, and asked her to call his assistant. The young man, who entered the room after a few minutes, brought with him a pile of files, and explained to the detective that those were the itineraries of all vehicles belonging to Mr. Logan’s company.

  Davis could see that it would take days to go through the stuff, but fortunately for him, he knew exactly what he was looking for.

  “No need,” he said to the young man. “Just give me the itinerary to this vehicle here.”

  On a piece of paper he had written the number and make of the van. Mr. Logan’s employee looked at it and went to search through the files for the information he was asked for. It took him five minutes to find the right sheet of paper and hand it to the detective. During that time, Logan continued to smoke his cigarette and to pretend he was not interested in what was going on.

  Davis took the sheet of paper and carefully examined the multiple entries. According to it, the van has been parked in the garage the whole time from Sunday evening up to this moment.

  “Interesting,” Detective Davis commented. “It seems that your van was either stolen or has an evil twin.”

  “What do you mean, Detective?” Logan asked innocently.

  “According to your documents, the van in question was locked inside your garage this whole week.”

  “And that is a problem why?”

  “The problem is that it was seen, and I have the footage to prove it, three days ago in Stronghill,” the detective continued calmly.

  “There must have been a mistake, then,” the other man also kept his calm. “I am sure there will be a logical explanation about how that is possible.”

  “I would like to see the van myself, please.”

  “Do you have a warrant?”

  “Do I need one?”

  “Certainly not, my assistant will accompany you to where the van has been parked. Please, let me know if you need something else from me.”

  The detective thanked him, and walked out of the building together with the young assistant. The man was clearly nervous, and was talking constantly about one thing or another. They exited the building from its backside, and found the van parked together with multiple other vehicles in a large underground garage.

  The assistant opened it with a key and stepped aside, leaving the policeman enough space to look it up. Davis first opened the driver’s door, and looked inside and under the seats. Everything was in order and clean. Actually, the whole van looked as if it had just come out of the car wash.

  “How often do you wash your vehicles?” he asked the other man.

  “I... I don’t know,” he stuttered. “I usually don’t come down here.”

  Davis continued his examination by opening the back doors. The distinct smell of bleach was coming from this part of the van, which was even cleaner than the rest. He looked carefully under a few boxes, but it was obvious that whoever had cleaned it had done a good job.

  “Things get even more confusing,” he muttered under his breath, and was about to close the door and turn around, when something white caught his attention. Under one of the boxes with tools, stored there, Davis found a small piece of bandage, with a few drops of blood on it.

  “Now, this makes things interesting,” he said out loud, and took his mobile phone from his pocket.

  “I am Detective Benjamin Davis, and I need a forensic team sent to the Ian Logan’s office building. I have found evidence that there is something going on here.”

  After hearing his words, the young assistant almost ran from the garage, excusing himself with a few incomprehensible words.

  Chapter 8

  The forensic team arrived at the Logan’s garage in less than one hour, and Davis explained to them what he needed. The van and the garage were carefully examined, as well as the multiple security cameras in the area.

  Davis demanded the footage from every single camera that was in a few miles radius, and a team of ten operatives was going through it. The blood found in the van was tested immediately, and proved to be once again belong to Thomas Harrison. The bandage, and the fact that there were no other traces of blood in the vehicle, were proving that someone was taking care of the boy and his wounds.

  Davis and the medical examiner were not sure if that was a good or a bad sign. The van had no traces of any other activity in it. Whoever took it to be cleaned had done an excellent job. Everything in it was scrubbed perfectly, and the forensic team found nothing else that could connect the van to the crime.

  Fortunately, the guys who watched the tapes had better luck. In three of the tapes it was clearly visible how the van was driven out of the garage later in the evening on the day the boy disappeared. It has returned back to the garage the next day, early in the morning, already washed and cleaned. It was impossible to see who was driving it, but Davis dispatched uniformed officers to all nearby car washes, as the van was still dripping water when it arrived at the garage.

  All the drivers and mechanics working with or driving the van were interrogated, but unfortunately, they all had alibis and no motive to kidnap the boy. Mr. Logan was interrogated once again, this time in the police station and by other detectives.

  The case of the missing child was becoming a very complicated one, and everyone at the precinct was trying to find some lead to help in finding the boy. Logan once again had nothing to say about the van and its connection to the boy. According to him, someone had stolen the vehicle, done whatever job there was to be done with it, and returned it to its place, so that Mr. Logan would be implicated.

  A few of the other officers laughed out loud at the idea, but there was not any actual proof that his words were fiction, so after keeping him in custody for a few hours, they had to release him. Davis impatiently listened to every single theory that his colleagues came up with and went to speak to his boss.

  “Captain, we need to put him under surveillance,” he said without even sitting down on the chair that was offered to him. “Logan knows something, and I am sure that he will be contacting someone sooner or later.”

  “I will order 24/7 surveillance on his house and on himself,” the captain agreed. “But I don’t think that he would be so stupid to lead us to the others.”

  “He looked very mad, when he found out that there was something left in the van. I am sure that he will make sure to express his unhappiness in one way or in another.”

  “I hope so, for the kid’s sake,” the captain said and offered a glass of whisky to his best detective. He knew how deeply Ben Davis took all his cases, and hoped that the boy would be found soon, also for the sake of the detective.

  There were, however, too many questions to be answered, among which the biggest one – was the boy still alive?

  The two policemen drank in silence and after a while, detective Davis went out to join the team, already sitting in front of the Logan’s house. On the way there, he called Sergeant Wood and asked if there was some new development back in the village. Wood informed him that they continued to search the woods. The family, however, was very worried, and demanded to know what was done to find their boy.

&nb
sp; Davis told him about the latest developments, and instructed him to say as little as possible to the boy’s parents.

  “I plan to come back to Stronghill sometime tomorrow,” Davis said to Wood. “But everything will depend on how the stakeout goes tonight. I really hope that Logan will make some move and give us some clue to what happened that evening.”

  “Therefore, the mystery is still a mystery?” Wood asked.

  “Yes, unfortunately, we still know nothing about what really happened. Although we now have some idea of where the boy was taken, we still don’t know who took him and why. Not to mention that we have no way to actually find him.”

  “Okay, sir, I will be waiting for you tomorrow.”

  “Good night, sergeant.”

  “Good night, sir.”

  Davis entered the surveillance van, and sat down with the rest of the team. Three young police officers were watching Ian Logan’s house for the van parked on the other side of the street from it, while two more were sitting in cars on the two side streets. It was well after midnight when they saw Logan leave the house, seated in one of his cars. The man was alone in the car, and exited the driveway slowly, looking around for anyone who might be watching him.

  The van remained in its place, but the two cars followed him from a safe distance. Davis took his own car, and followed them to the parking lot of a big supermarket. Davis arrived just in time to see Logan descend from his car and walk towards the nearby wall. There was already someone waiting for him near the side door.

  Davis gave the signal, and the officers arrested both of them. Logan protested, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. Back in the precinct, it became obvious that the other man was one of Logan’s business associates. His name was John Stone, and he was well known to the police. Both men, however, refused to tell them anything about the reason they met in the middle of the night in the parking lot.

  Logan and Stone asked for their lawyers, and Davis had to stop the interrogation. They refused to cooperate, but this time they were going to keep them in for at least 24 hours.

  Chapter 9

  The next morning, what happened was what Davis was hoping to avoid – the press got involved.

  The entire local press had something written about the missing child and the ongoing police investigation. Most of the papers were happy to simply state the facts, but there were also those who had done some research and others that had a few theories on their own.

  All the papers omitted the name of the boy, but the descriptions of the family and of what had happened were quite accurate. Davis suspected that someone who knew all about the case had called the papers to share the news. He hated it when something like this happened, especially during cases like this one. There was still so much to find out, and here were the reporters accusing the police of doing nothing.

  Davis was mentioned as the detective assigned to the case. His previous work was described as excellent, but there were a few comments about his inability to find the boy after almost one week.

  One of the papers even mentioned the van and the blood found in the house. All those details were known only by few, and it was unnerving to see them printed out for everyone to see. What was worse, there were hundreds of theories about what had actually happened – from human trafficking to illegal adoptions.

  From eight in the morning, all police lines were busy with reporters asking questions and people claiming to have seen the boy. One of the tabloids even accused the father of killing the boy and disposing of the body. That article was also the turning point for everyone. Up until now, no one considered a similar possibility, and Davis was sorry to see the family accused in such a way.

  Wood called to tell the detective about the reaction of Thomas’ parents. The father was angry and offended, while the mother was crying constantly in her bedroom. The grandparents were the only ones seeing the situation as it was, and they were searching for lawyers to defend the family from the reporters.

  Jake Harrison was described as an abusive and angry father, who punished his son on more than one occasion. It was all a lie, but at this point Davis knew that there was no point in getting into it with the press. The captain of the precinct made an appearance in front of the press, declaring that there were still too many questions to be answered before making any accusation.

  He expressed his pain and empathy for the boy’s family, and asked the kidnappers to return the boy. The reporters asked hundreds of questions, but, fortunately, the captain knew how to silence them. “Up until now there have been no reasons for us to believe that Mr. Harrison is involved in any way in the disappearance of his son, Thomas. I personally believe that we will be able to find the real criminals and return the boy safely to his family.”

  Detective Davis called Mr. Harrison later that same day, and asked him if he knew the person who gave the information to the papers. Jake was as surprised as the detective, and insisted that he had no idea about half of the facts written in the papers.

  “Sergeant Wood told me about the blood and the van, but I did not know about the bandage and the fact that you found the owner of the vehicle,” Jake confessed. “Whoever did this must have access to information only policemen have.”

  “That is right,” the detective agreed with him. “I am sorry that you have to endure all these accusations on top of everything else.”

  “I don’t care what they call me, just find my son and bring him back to us,” the poor father almost cried into the phone. “Do you have any idea how useless I feel right now? I want to help, but the sergeant continues to insist that we should stay home and leave the police to do their work.”

  “He is right, Mr. Harrison. There is nothing you can do right now. I will be back in Stronghill later today, and we can meet and speak in person about the situation and about what we found in the city.”

  Jake Harrison was wrong. Davis knew very well what it felt like to care for a child and be afraid that something could happen to it. His daughter was the light of his life, and there was nothing he would not do for her. So he understood Jake and his desperation, but the policeman in him also knew that if he wanted to find the boy, he needed to leave the emotions behind and think logically.

  The priority now was to make Logan and Stone speak. That was why Davis went to see his old friend in vice and ask him for a favor. Both criminals had been arrested for a number of small offenses, and the officers knew them well enough to pinpoint their weak sides.

  The lawyers had arrived, but there was still a chance to make one of them talk. Davis left that task to George Benson, and went to see his own family before departing for Stronghill. There was a strong conviction in him that the answer to all questions about this strange case were hidden in that small village.

  Chapter 10

  Jake Harrison hung up the phone and sat on the sofa replaying the conversation in his head. There was something very strong and calming in the way that Detective Davis spoke to him about his son’s disappearance. Jake knew that the chances of finding the boy alive were very slim now, but in his heart, he could not consider any other option.

  Tommy and his smile were accompanying every single moment of his life and even during the few hours’ sleep he got last night, he continued dreaming about him.

  Jake was truthful when he told the detective that he did not care about what the papers said about him. Right now, few things could really hurt or reach him. His mind was occupied solely by thoughts about Tommy and where he could be. He had joined all the searching parties and had conducted a few on his own. Richard, his mother’s husband, was constantly trying to help him and always accompanied him to look for his son.

  Jake was very grateful to all of the people, who tried to help him find Tommy. But... all he wanted was to see him again.

  “Jake!?” his mother called from upstairs. “Are you in there?”

  “Yes,” he answered her, and stood up to go and see what she needed from him.

  “You have to t
alk to Lora,” she said, when the young man climbed the stairs. “She has been closed in that room for hours now. She refuses to eat, and I am sure that she has not slept at all the last few days.”

  “Thank you, mother,” Jake tried to smile at her. “I will go and talk to her.”

  The bedroom they shared was right beside the small room where Tommy had been sleeping. Jake could not help himself, and had to stop and look at the toys scattered on the bed and all over the floor. It hurt him to look at the things that reminded him of his little boy, but the fear that he might forget him was stronger than the pain.

  Lora was sitting near the window, looking outside and probably waiting for her boy to come home. She was dressed in her favorite jeans and shirt, but Jake could see that they were all crumpled and dirty. Her beautiful hair was the same color as their son’s hair, and the man felt once more the pain getting a hold of his heart.

  “Lora?” he called softly, afraid to disturb her.

  She did not move. Jake could not tell if she heard him or not, but one thing was sure, his wife was becoming the victim of a scary depression.

  “Lora, sweetheart, do you need anything?” he asked again, this time walking closer to her.

  The woman lifted her head and looked at her husband, seeing in his eyes the same desperation she was feeling. It had been four days since her only child had been taken from her, and there hadn’t been a minute during that time that she thought or wanted anything else but him back in her arms.

  “No,” she muttered. “I don’t want anything.”

  “You have to eat something.”

  “Have you eaten?” she asked in an accusatory tone.

  “No,” he said honestly. “But, my mother is right, we ready need to take better care of ourselves. Come on, let’s go to the kitchen and eat something.”