Missing - Mark Kane Mysteries - Book Five: A Private Investigator Crime Series of Murder, Mystery, Suspense & Thriller Stories...with a dash of Romance. A Murder Mystery & Suspense Thriller

by John Hemmings

  We went down to the canteen where Fooks devoured a large plate of ham sandwiches and Lucy and I drank coffee.

  “The driver was a man named Charlie – he was the leader of the group. There were four others, besides her and Marisa. Two girls – one called herself Bliss and the other Serene.” He smiled. “I don’t suppose they were their birth names, but then you never know. The other two were men, Doren and Max. She didn’t see anyone else while held captive. Oh there were a couple of dogs – Dobermans − their names were Kim and Bailey respectively, although I doubt that’s a particularly important detail in the grand scheme of things.”

  “Did she remember anything about her parents, her home?”

  “Oh yes, she told me about them before we started our little session. I spoke with her about a number of things before we started.”

  “She couldn’t remember the last time we saw her – I guess she’s gradually filling in the gaps.”

  “I don’t think that was the problem regarding her parents,” Fooks said. “She told me she couldn’t remember those details too, but,” he said, smiling, “I knew that she could remember really.”

  “Why would she pretend not to?” Lucy said.

  “Oh that’s quite simple. I explained to her how important it was to be truthful about everything that she could remember before we started. She doesn’t want her parents contacted. They divorced many years ago and she’s had no direct contact with either of them for several years. She told me about her relationship with them. Of course, since she told me that in confidence, I must respect her wishes and so I can’t divulge what she told me about the relationship between her and her parents even to you I’m afraid. She doesn’t want them contacted.”

  “Well, it’s none of our business. You’ve exceeded my expectations, Mr. Fooks. Not that I was skeptical about your abilities,” I added hastily.

  “To whom should I send my account?” Fooks said.

  “You can send it to me, Mr. Fooks, and I’ll claim it back from my client in due course,” I said.

  “Well my secretary will mail you my charges if you’d care to give me your address. There’ll be expenses for my trip as well, of course.”

  “Of course,” Lucy said, handing Fooks one of her gold-embossed business cards.

  “Oh, Boston,” he said. “Then you’re also a long way from home?”

  “You have our lasting gratitude, Mr. Fooks,” I said.

  “It’s Dr. Fooks actually,” he said, rubbing the palms of his hands together and looking more than a little pleased with himself. I have a Doctorate in Experimental Psychology from Oxford. That’s the university, not the city,” he said, somewhat condescendingly.

  “I went to University College in London, England back in the early nineties,” I said, to deflate him a little. I didn’t mention my failure to graduate.

  “Hmmm,” he said, tilting his head a little and wearing an expression that suggested that now he’d heard everything.

  We said our goodbyes and I went with Lucy to see if Vicky had woken up. She was sitting up in bed. She asked where Fooks was.

  “He’s rather a busy man,” I said. “But you did well. I want to ask you a few more questions if you’re feeling up to it.”

  “Yes, of course,” she said. “I’m fine, really.”

  Lucy and I settled down in our usual chairs, on each side of Vicky’s bed.

  “Dr. Fooks said you mentioned the name of the leader of the group that abducted you, do you remember that now?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Charlie. The others were…

  “Bliss and Serene?”

  Vicky smiled. “Yes, that’s right. Bliss was Doren’s girlfriend and Serene’s boyfriend was called Max.”

  “So it was Charlie calling the shots, was it?”

  “Oh absolutely, yes. The others just kind of did what he told them. I think they were…I’m not sure how to put it. Maybe afraid of him, or…”

  “I don’t suppose you heard Charlie’s last name?”

  “No, that’s what they all called him.”

  I pulled out the picture of the group. “Can you point out which is which?”

  “The one on the left is Charlie,” she said. “Doren, Max, Bliss and Serene” she said, pointing to each in turn.

  “Okay Vicky, that’s all for now. Dr. Fletcher says you’ll be discharged soon. Do you have any place to go?”

  “I don’t want to go anywhere until you find Marisa,” she said. “But I need to get a job. I don’t have…”

  “Jillian says you can stay with her and Shakes as long as you like,” Lucy said.

  “Oh, that’s kind of her. I don’t want to be any trouble.”

  “Dr. Fooks told us that you remembered some details about the vehicle – the SUV,” I said.

  “Oh did I? I can’t remember that.”

  “Well it’s okay. I think we will be able to trace the vehicle and that should lead us to wherever Marisa is now. We need to follow it up quickly so we’re going to move on with the investigation. Jillian will be up to see you again soon and take you back to her place. Let us know if there’s anything else you need, okay?”

  “Okay; and thanks for everything,” she said.

  “You’ve been abducted, knocked into a coma and hypnotized,” Lucy said, squeezing Vicky’s hand and smiling. “You’ll be able write a book about it one day.”

  “Except the coma bit,” Vicky said, smiling back at Lucy.

  “We need to contact Matt straight away,” I said to Lucy as we left the hospital. “We need to find out who the registered owner of the vehicle is.”

  “And then we can just leave it up to them, can’t we?”

  “No, we can’t. For one thing we don’t know where the owner is registered. It may or may not be in Missouri. Anyway, I don’t want the sheriff’s office or the police involved yet. We promised Roberts we’d find Marisa and I’m not delegating responsibility for that to anyone else.”

  “But don’t you think they’ll insist it’s a police matter now – after everything that Vicky’s told us?”

  “First of all they don’t know what Vicky’s told us yet. Sally’s theory was also off the record and only we know about that. Vicky hasn’t been interviewed by the police yet and I can keep it that way for a day or two longer. I aim to tell Peters simply that the identity of the vehicle owner may be relevant to our inquiry and leave it at that. We need to pay Charlie a visit.”

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Bad News

  I called Peters as soon as we got back to the hotel, but it was after seven and he’d gone home. I didn’t want to discuss the matter with anyone else so it would have to wait till morning. We went out to get some dinner.

  “The net’s closing,” I said to Lucy over my plate of charred ribs. “Provided the vehicle’s actually registered to Charlie – but even if it’s not it will lead us to him and his crew; I’m pretty sure they’ll all be holed up together somewhere.”

  “It’s hard not to be anxious though,” Lucy said. “They could have bolted by now and be miles away.”

  We agreed there was nothing we could do for the time being, so to take our minds off the job we decided to take in a movie, then head for the hotel bar to drink however many nightcaps were necessary to put us to sleep.

  “You can think of it as a kind of treat,” I said, “for your idea to have Vicky hypnotized.”

  “You think he was on the level?” she said. “I’ve read about cases where hypnotists plant false memories in people’s heads.”

  “You mean you saw a movie where that happened,” I said.

  “I read too, you know…sometimes.”

  The plan worked. We were in bed before twelve and I was dead to the world until six. I got up and made some coffee then went for a walk. It might as well have been the middle of the night as far as Lucy was concerned.

  We ate breakfast downstairs at eight thirty and then I called Peters.
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br />   “Hi Matt,” I said. “I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch but I expect Sheriff Benson’s kept you up to date.”

  “Good to hear from you Kane. How’s it going – are you making progress?”

  “Sure. Vicky’s been a mine of information and we have some leads to follow up. That’s why I’m calling you actually. The vehicle that was used to transport Marisa and Vicky from Springfield was a Toyota SUV. On the morning they left we understand it was issued with a parking ticket, so I need you to find out the license number and maybe whether the fine was paid. If you can get the license number of the vehicle I can trace the registered owner easily enough – although I don’t know yet where the vehicle was licensed. All I can tell you is that the ticket was issued when the vehicle was parked near the university campus and that there’s a D and an A in the number.”

  “Okay, I’ll get back to you in an hour or so with that. How’s Miss Boraski?”

  “Oh Vicky’s recovering well. She should be discharged in a day or so.”

  “And she’s been helpful?”

  “She’s been a star. I’ll fill you in on the details when we get back to Springfield,” I said, although wondering if our journey was about to take us elsewhere.

  “No problem,” I said to Lucy after I hung up. “Matt should get back to us within the hour. I was sufficiently circumspect for him not to ask too many questions. Once we get the plate we’ll get the registered owner’s details.”

  “Can’t the police help with that?”

  “I don’t want them breathing down my neck. I’ll get what I want online.”

  True to his word Matt called back with the number in less than an hour. He had more than just the number.

  “It’s registered to a local address in Greene County,” he said. “Charles Landry,” he added. “You need any help with this?”

  “Not right now Matt. I’m just working a hunch but there’s not enough to go on for the police to get involved. I’ll keep you posted though.”

  “Let’s get packed up,” I said to Lucy. “We’re going back to Springfield.”

  While Lucy packed our stuff I went online to check. The vehicle was indeed registered to a Charles Landry at 2067 Farm Road to the northeast of the city. We checked out of the hotel and I dropped Lucy at the hospital to say goodbye to Vicky before driving to Kent Benson’s office.

  “We’ve done everything we can here,” I said. “Thanks for all your help; we’re heading back to Springfield. We’ve made arrangements for Vicky to stay with her friend Jillian when she’s discharged. I’ve spoken to Dr. Fletcher and she’ll be okay to make a statement tomorrow or the day after; you can arrange a suitable time though him. We’ll keep in touch and let you know if we turn anything else up. Thanks again for your help and your hospitality.”

  Kent Benson looked at me grim-faced.

  “I’m afraid there’s been a significant development, Kane. You better sit down,” he said.

  When somebody tells you to sit down they’re either going to tell you you’ve won the lottery or they’re going to hit you with some bad news. I was under no illusion which one it would be on this occasion. I sat down.

  “I’m afraid it’s bad news. There’s no way to put a shine on it I’m afraid. I think we’ve located the remains of Marisa Roberts. I’m sorry.”

  I took a deep breath. “Then you’d better let me have it,” I said.

  “As you know we’ve been removing the debris from the burnt-out house you located. It’s not an easy job because we’re trying to preserve the scene as much as possible. We brought in some heavy equipment to move the large structures so that we could get down to the basement to examine it properly. That in itself was not without problems due to the location of the house, and there’ve been safety issues too. But we’ve been working around the clock and we got access to the basement early this morning. There’s still a lot to be done but we’ve discovered what’s left of human remains down there. A forensic examiner from Jackson County arrived a couple of hours ago to take charge of the scene. He’s only had time for a preliminary investigation and the remains are burned and charred beyond recognition, but he’s been able to confirm that the remains are female, a young female he thinks.”

  I remembered the shiver that had gone up my spine when I first saw the burnt remains of the house. It was a premonition. Marisa was indeed down there amongst the ashes. It wasn’t a surprise to me. Although outwardly I’d tried to display optimism, common sense had told me that the regenerators would have destroyed the witness along with the evidence.

  “I’m sorry. It must be a cruel blow after all your hard work,” Benson said.

  “Yes it is – but it’s not unexpected. As soon as I saw what was left of the house and car I instinctively knew that we’d find what was left of Marisa down there. Nothing else would have made any sense. You burn the house and the car, you’re not going to spare the witness,” I said.

  “Of course there’s no definitive proof that they’re the remains of Marisa. As I said there’s still work to be done…”

  “Are the remains likely to yield any DNA?” I said. “I know that intense heat destroys it.”

  “It’s too early to know whether DNA extraction and profiling is going to be possible. If anything the finding of her remains is only going to slow the operation down. All work at the site has been halted whie we wait for a forensics team to arrive. They’ll want to recover all the remains before any other work is done, and that’s likely to be a painstaking job. All I can say right now is that the pathologist at the scene will make the search for bone fragments a priority – everything takes second place to that of course. When they’ve recovered all the remains we’ll be in a better position to assess the possibility of extracting usable DNA.”

  “I’m afraid my assistant isn’t going to take this at all well,” I said, already rehearsing how I was going to break the news to Lucy – and to Vicky in due course.

  “I’m afraid there’s nothing more for you to do here,” Benson said. “A full state police operation will be mounted just as soon as we have confirmation of the investigation. We’ll need to interview Vicky as soon as possible. You think she’ll be up for that today?”

  “I guess so,” I said. “You better consult Dr. Fletcher. Look, I don’t want to interfere in a police investigation but I’d ask you not to break the news about Marisa to Vicky if you can possibly avoid it. She’s due back in Springfield soon and I’d like to find the best way of telling her myself.”

  Benson thought about it for a moment.

  “I don’t think it will be necessary to do that. We’re only concerned with her account of the abduction and what happened in the house before she escaped.”

  “I better go,” I said. “I’ve arranged to pick up Lucy from the hospital – she just dropped by there to say goodbye to Vicky. We’ll keep in touch – please keep Matt up to date on your investigation. We won’t be leaving Springfield until we have conclusive proof that the body’s Marisa’s.”

  I took the short drive to the hospital and found Lucy waiting at the door.

  “Hop in – let’s go,” I said.

  As soon as Lucy got in the car she knew something was wrong. She could read the expression on my face as easy as a college graduate could read Dr. Seuss.

  “What is it?” she said. “What’s happened?”

  I turned towards her, put my arm around her and gently pulled her head on to my shoulder.

  “I’m afraid we were too late,” I said. “They’ve found what they believe to be Marisa’s remains in the burnt-out house. It was always a likelihood I’m afraid.”

  She didn’t cry, she didn’t move her head. “You did your best,” she said to me gently. “Nobody could have done more.”

  We sat there in the hospital carpark for a while. After a couple of minutes Lucy said, “Are they sure it’s her?”

  I gave her a squeeze and switched on the ignition. “Come on, let’s g
et back to Springfield, we still have work to do.” I eased the car forward and headed for the exit.

  “You said they believe the remains are Marisa’s. So they’re not sure?”

  “The remains are badly burnt. They’re not even sure at this stage whether they’ll be able to extract DNA,” I said. “But realistically who else could it be? The only other females that Vicky told us about were Bliss and Serene, and since they were part of the gang it’s unlikely to be one of them.”

  “What are we going to tell Roberts?”

  “Nothing right now. First of all, I want to be sure before I tell him anything. And second, if the remains are those of his daughter I’ll tell him face to face. I’m not going to give him that kind of news over the telephone.”

  “But from what you’ve said it may not be possible to establish that the body’s Marisa’s. I mean if they can’t extract DNA.”

  “There are other ways; dental records for example. Teeth are more resilient than bones – those are likely to be recovered. But the quickest way to find out is to get hold of those assholes responsible for all this. We’ve got a name, we’ve got an address and we’ve got a vehicle license plate number.”

  “You’re not going to let this go are you?”

  “No, we’re not going to let this go. It may not be strictly part of the job we were hired to do but we’ve got some unfinished business.”

  We drove mainly in silence. My thoughts were of an old man in a row house in Cambridge, a rug over his legs and a shawl around his shoulders. And I remembered the promise I’d made – a silent promise – that I’d bring his daughter home. And I knew now that I couldn’t do that but I was going to make sure that those responsible for her kidnapping and death were never going to harm anyone else’s daughter. As we approached Springfield I programmed the satnav to guide me to the house on Farm Road. It was just after two o’clock when I pulled up about a hundred yards past number 2067.