Missing Daughter

by Rick Mofina

  “They hook us up to the lie detector, they ask the most horrible, accusatory questions like we’re the criminals, like we did something!” She gestured to the powder everywhere. “They do this to our home! I can’t take it anymore!”

  Tyler appeared at the doorway, reading his phone.

  “Mom, Dad, my friends just found this. You better see it.”

  He showed them the Syracuse news release on Kalmen Gatt.

  Ryan and Karen read the short release quickly, then read it a second time, grappling to comprehend its ramifications.

  “Does this mean a convict from the halfway house over there took her?” Karen pointed toward Lucifer’s Green.

  “I don’t know what it means.” Ryan pressed numbers on his phone. “I’m calling Zubik.”

  “Mom.” Tyler sat by his mother. “It doesn’t say this guy took her.”

  Ryan’s call went to Zubik’s voice mail, and he left a message, on the verge of shouting, wanting answers about Gatt. Then he called Detective Asher. He got through and demanded to know more about Kalmen Gatt.

  Asher tried to calm him. “I understand this is upsetting, but we can’t tell you much more. It’s still under investigation.”

  “But did you find Maddie? Is she, is she—”

  “No. We still have no evidence to prove that she’s not still alive.”

  Ryan shut his eyes, swallowed and ended the call just as their doorbell rang. Cole, Jill and Dalton had arrived.

  “Cole, there’s a police statement on a convict and Maddie,” Ryan said.

  “We saw it, too. I’m trying to find out more. My people have been pushing their sources on the task force.”

  Cole’s phone rang, and he turned to take the call. Dalton and Tyler looked in dismay at the condition of the house while Jill went to Karen. Then Ryan’s phone rang. Without checking the number, he answered. It was Sarah Silver at Channel 53, seeking reaction to the news release.

  Ryan glanced to Cole, busy on his phone, before telling Silver, “We’ve got nothing to say at this time except that we continue praying for Maddie’s safe return.”

  Ryan dragged his hand over his face, staring at the window and the forest, knowing the halfway house was on the other side of the woods. Again he was stabbed with guilt for not erecting a better fence and installing a security system.

  Finished with his call, Cole turned to the others.

  “Okay, according to our sources on the task force, Gatt had a camera with a long lens and would go into the woods on his passes and take pictures of Maddie changing in her bedroom and the bathroom. She was naked in many—”

  “Oh my God!” Karen shouted.

  “But before he died he denied abducting her.”

  “And they believe a convict?” Ryan said.

  “They’re still investigating his connection and Maddie’s possible whereabouts.”

  “Was he a sex offender, a pedophile?” Ryan asked.

  “He was in for fraud, white collar crime. That’s all we know.”

  “A convict took pictures of Maddie from out there!” Karen shouted, her voice breaking. “And we don’t know if he took her! If he killed her, if he left her to rot somewhere!”

  Cole sat beside Karen, stared into her eyes before embracing her tenderly as Ryan and Jill watched.

  “Karen, listen to me,” Cole said. “So far there’s no proof Gatt physically harmed Maddie. We can’t give up hope. I swear, we’ll find her alive and bring her home.” He continued staring hard at her until she nodded. “I’ve got my people here and in every office across the country digging into Gatt’s history. Someone somewhere will know more about him.” Cole looked at Ryan, then Tyler, then Dalton, Jill and Karen again. “We’re not going to stop until we find her and bring her home.”

  Ryan nodded and watched as Karen hugged Cole, hard for a long moment before he followed Dalton’s gaze to the window and the forest.

  Cole then said, “The Gatt development has drawn more attention to Maddie’s story, and national news networks have been calling to have you do interviews.” He looked at Ryan. “I think you should do one together.”

  “We’ll do whatever you think is best,” Karen said.

  Ryan’s phone rang again. The number was blocked, but he answered.

  “Mr. Lane, Jack Gannon with the World Press Alliance in New York.”

  “Yes, if it’s about Gatt we’re not—”

  “No, sir, it’s not just that. Sir, sources have confirmed to our wire service that you and your family submitted to polygraphs and that you and your wife did not pass them, which suggests you’ve not been ruled out as suspects in your daughter’s disappearance.”

  Ryan’s face whitened.

  “Sir?” Gannon said. “What is your response?”

  Ryan hung up.

  43

  The file on Cassie McHenry’s death was slim.

  A staff member in Records had pulled it from the archives and placed it on Zubik’s desk, so the file was waiting for him when he and Asher returned.

  After studying it carefully, it was clear the little girl’s death had been ruled accidental and the cause was drowning.

  But Zubik’s attention was drawn to a few hand-written notations.

  Witnesses reported Karen arguing with Cassie. Did K kill C as act of retribution?

  Zubik had the file scanned and sent to retired detective Roland Franz.

  Asher and Zubik worked on the list of witnesses Franz had interviewed, the name of the pathologist who handled the autopsy, tracking them down, getting contact information.

  While that was in progress, Zubik made coffee then returned to his desk and pulled up the full report on Karen Lane’s polygraph. He zeroed in on specific questions Karen had been asked and the polygraphist’s notes on her responses.

  Have you ever hurt anyone?

  Yes. (truthful)

  Zubik pondered that excerpt, thinking: Could it include her little sister?

  He moved on to other questions.

  Did you ever hurt your daughter?

  No. (inconclusive)

  Did you hurt your daughter by accident and cover it up by staging her disappearance?

  No! (inconclusive)

  Zubik stared at the polygraphist’s notes, wondering what the death of Karen’s younger sister may have to do with Maddie’s disappearance, if anything. Again, he read Franz’s analysis and the autopsy report, not sure what to think until Asher waved him over, her other hand covering the mouthpiece of her landline.

  “Got Roland Franz here, Stan.”

  Zubik took the phone and exchanged quick small talk with Franz about old cops: Who’s still on the job, who got sick, who retired and who died. Then they got to the McHenry case.

  “What’s up with that note, ‘Did K kill C’?” Zubik asked.

  “That’s why I called,” Franz said. “It had been gnawing at me since I saw the news about Karen’s daughter. Well, in Cassie’s case, some of the kids who were at the weir when it happened told me that Karen and Cassie had argued nearly the whole time they were there. They also said Karen had argued with another girl, too. No one was certain of the timing up until the time Cassie vanished from the riverbank.”

  “What did you make of that, Rollie?”

  “I couldn’t verify any of it. To my mind it was a very sad accident. Kids never should’ve been swimming at that weir and playing that stupid crawl game. The city shoulda fenced the thing. Those were different times. But you should follow through on this, Stan. One girl you should try from my list is Annie Jacobi. She tried to help save the McHenry girl. Say hi to Moe for me, and good luck on this, pal.”

  After the call Zubik looked for Asher who was nowhere in sight.

  He saw her on the phone in an empty glass-walled office with the door closed, signaling for him to join
her.

  “Okay, Annie,” Asher said into the phone, nodding to Zubik as he entered. “I’ll put you on Speaker, and you can tell both of us.” Asher whispered to Zubik. “Annie Jacobi is married. She’s Annie Schallert now, lives in Brooklyn.”

  “Like I was saying.” Annie’s voice crackled through the speaker. “It’s something you can’t ever forget. Yes, Karen had had this spat with another girl about her boyfriend. And yes, Karen argued with Cassie, too. I don’t remember much of that, something stupid. But right after that Karen looked around for Cassie. Someone said Cassie had gone into the water alone to do the crawl. I was one of the better swimmers, and Karen asked me to go in the water with her to help look for Cassie. We went under and down the wall. It was about ten feet to the bottom, and that’s where we found Cassie, struggling.”

  “Was she alone?” Zubik asked.

  “Yes. She was pinned. Her little foot was wedged somehow between two of the beams, and no matter what Karen and I did, we couldn’t get it out. Cassie was hysterical, screaming and swallowing water. Karen and I tried to give her air from our mouths. It wasn’t working. Karen and I yelled for help at the surface. Some of the older boys tried to help. Someone ran to a phone to call for help. It took firefighters or police divers with tools a long time to get Cassie’s body out.”

  “You never saw Karen go in the water with Cassie?”

  “No. Can’t say for sure, but I’m pretty certain nobody did. It was all a terrible tragedy, one I’ll remember for the rest of my life. And now you tell me Karen’s daughter’s missing?”

  “Yes, Maddison. She’s twelve.”

  “Oh no, no,” Annie sobbed. “I’m going to pray with all my heart that you find her.”

  “Thank you.”

  Asher tapped a pen on the desk as she and Zubik weighed what they’d learned from scrutinizing the file, the polygraph results and their calls.

  “What do you think?” Asher asked.

  Zubik rubbed the bridge of his nose then shook his head.

  “It just doesn’t fit that Karen killed her sister,” he said. “We’ve also got Gatt and his pictures, we got the fact Maddison had argued with her mother, and the mystery number. I just don’t know, Fran.”

  Zubik’s focus shifted to the door. Asher followed it to a uniformed female officer. The nameplate over her right pocket said B. T. Bridges.

  “Excuse me, Detectives. My lieutenant suggested I talk to you.”

  “What about, Officer Bridges?” Asher said.

  “My aunt lives near the Lane family, and a few weeks before Maddison went missing she saw the father, Ryan, with her out front of her house, on the street.”

  “And?” Zubik said.

  “My aunt says they were arguing, and he abducted her from the street.”

  “Abducted her? How does a father abduct his child?”

  “It appears he grabbed her from the street and struck her.”

  Zubik and Asher exchanged a look before Bridges added, “I brought my aunt here if you’d like to talk to her. She’s downstairs.”

  “Give us a minute then bring her up to number one,” Zubik said.

  Bridges nodded but stopped midturn.

  “Oh, we also have video of it from her home security system.”

  44

  Maddison Lane is walking fast in the pouring rain along a sidewalk, and stops when a pickup truck suddenly rolls up beside her. The lettering on the truck’s door reads Lane & Sons Drywall Contractors. The driver’s window is down, and Ryan Lane is waving for Maddison to get in. She refuses and remains standing in the rain. Ryan rushes from the truck, grabs Maddison who fights him, arms swinging, legs kicking, as he drags-slash-carries her into the truck. The angle captures enough of the inside of the cab to show Maddie kicking at the dash and Ryan striking her before the pickup does a 180-degree turn out of frame.

  “One more time,” Zubik said.

  Asher replayed the short scene again.

  Officer Bonnie Bridges had downloaded the footage from her aunt’s security system to her tablet. Bridges’s aunt, Meredith Craig, sat patiently as Asher and Zubik studied it. She’d returned home from a Caribbean cruise yesterday.

  “When Bonnie told me about the Lanes’ tragedy, my heart nearly burst.” Craig twisted her wedding rings. “Then after I told Bonnie what I’d seen in front of my house before my trip, she insisted we check my security cameras. We did, then we alerted you.”

  “Yes, that was the right thing to do, Meredith,” Asher said.

  “I know the Lane family. They live a block away. They’re a nice family. But when I looked out my window that rainy day I was shocked. It was disturbing. I mean it was none of my business but dear Lord, that’s so troubling, especially now in the wake of what’s happened.”

  “We’d like to take a formal statement from you, and we need you to sign some forms for us, for the video,” Asher said.

  “Yes, of course. I want to help for Maddison’s sake.”

  * * *

  The video was a damning piece of evidence against Ryan Lane.

  Zubik and Asher reexamined Ryan’s statement, those of Karen and Tyler, and the analysis of his polygraph.

  “It’s all here in Karen and Tyler’s statements,” Asher said. “They acknowledged that Karen and Maddison argued, that she ran out and that Ryan went after her and brought her home.”

  Zubik massaged his temples.

  “Take a closer look at Ryan’s statement when we questioned him about ever being physical with his daughter, ever being violent. He either said no, or didn’t answer. Then go to his polygraph analysis when Kirby asked him if he’d ever hurt Maddison, if he was a violent person, if he lost his temper easily. Each time Ryan’s response was no, but Kirby flagged those responses as inconclusive, meaning Ryan could be telling the truth or he could be lying.”

  “Right,” Asher said.

  “Then weigh that against Ryan’s actions in that video.”

  “Not good.”

  “Damn right, not good. We need him down here,” Zubik said.

  45

  Why call me down here again?

  Sitting alone in the same white-walled room at police headquarters, Ryan looked around. He hated being in this place—it gave him a bad feeling.

  Maybe they found Maddie? Maybe she’s dead and they need me to identify—

  The door opened and Zubik and Asher entered.

  “Thank you for coming down,” Asher said as Ryan strained to read the detectives’ faces. “I want to remind you that you’re still under the Miranda warning that was given to you for the polygraph.”

  “Miranda? Why, what—Why am I here?”

  “We need your help.” Zubik’s chair scraped as they sat across from him. “New information has come to light.”

  “What new information?”

  Asher was busy tapping and swiping on her tablet.

  “We’re going to show you video footage recorded by the security cameras of one of your neighbors a couple of weeks ago,” Zubik said.

  Asher angled her tablet for all of them to see, then played the video.

  Ryan froze.

  There was Maddie walking in the rain and there he was in his truck, angry, hauling her kicking and screaming into his cab where she kicked at the dash and he struck her. Staring at that entire raw, horrible scene, Ryan’s emotions hammered at his heart, breaking it into a thousand pieces.

  The detectives observed him, their faces void of sympathy. Zubik opened a file folder.

  “In your polygraph statement, you were asked if you’d ever been violent or lost you temper with Maddison. You said no.” Zubik continued. “You were asked if you’d ever struck her. You said no.”

  Zubik’s gaze drilled into Ryan.

  “Now, having seen recorded evidence to the contrary, we can conclude al
l of your answers were lies, weren’t they?”

  Ryan said nothing and lowered his head.

  “We want the truth,” Zubik said. “Look at me, Ryan.”

  He looked at Zubik.

  “The truth. Do you know where your daughter is?”

  “No.”

  “Did you help someone in your family cover up an accident?”

  “No.”

  “Did you kill your daughter?”

  “God, no!”

  “Why should be believe you now when we know what you did in the time before Maddison disappeared? The footage clearly shows what you’re capable of. The incident at the bank shows what you’re capable of. Why should we believe you?”

  “Because it’s the truth!”

  “Bull!” Zubik said.

  “Yes, I was violent with Maddie. I was so pissed off that day, stressed over money and the business, then the crap with Karen and Maddie. I was nearly out of my mind with anger at having to go into the freaking rain to find her—that she refused to get in the truck. When I got her in the truck she was out of control, kicking the dash, mouthing off about Karen, calling her mother a bitch, and I just lost it and smacked her with the back of my hand, told her to shut the fuck up.”

  Tears rolled down Ryan’s face.

  “I told nobody what happened and Maddison said nothing about it, but I knew I’d crossed the line with her. I’d never, ever struck her before. My God, she’s my little angel. I apologized to her later. I was ashamed that I’d lost control. I never told you because I was so deeply ashamed.”

  Zubik and Asher were silent as he continued.

  “I swear I had nothing to do with her abduction, but I’m guilty of failing her as a father, as a protector.”

  Ryan wiped at his tears, his chin crumpled.

  “I slept in my bed while someone came into my house and took my daughter.” He shook his head as his voice broke. “And the last thing I may ever have to remember is that rainy day and how I treated her.”

  The detectives looked upon Ryan sobbing before them without compassion for they hadn’t decided if he was a distraught father.