by Alec Peche
Damian took a look at the files he'd be combing for face matches and they were indeed large. He decided he would speed up the first pass thru of the data by eliminating some faces that were definitely male, not children in Olivia's age group or kids with blond hair. Olivia's hair color was brown. Though he wanted to look at all five years, he started with one year at a time, and in particular the most recent twelve months. He set the program running, and it estimated that it needed twenty-four minutes to locate every child close to Olivia's physical appearance. That limited the potential number of faces down to just under a million; then his software went to work trying to match Olivia's age-adjusted picture to the pictures on the park cameras. It was a needle in a haystack that he was searching for. The three of them chatted about what they were doing for work and future plans to expand the Fantasia Park.
The computer signaled it had finished the facial recognition search and the three of them sat there dumbfounded at the result.
They had a match.
“Oh my God!” said an astonished Mark. “I honestly didn't think you would find a match at all or even so soon.”
“Me either,” agreed Natalie.
“It's the lure of Fantasialand. What parent, even a fake parent, can resist taking their young child here. To me, that bodes well for the child being kept in good conditions and not abused.”
“Actually you can't link the two ideas. Remember that family of about twelve kids from Southern California. They were grossly abused, yet there was a picture of them at Fantasialand,” Natalie said.
“That true,” Damian replied a little less joyful at finding Olivia. He hoped she hadn't been abused beyond the act of kidnapping.
“So what are your next steps?” Mark asked. He knew he needed to get the lawyers of the company involved quickly, but he wanted to know which way Damian and Natalie were going to go.
“I think we need to collect all of the footage from all of the cameras as evidence collection,” Natalie said.
“I'll want all of the footage on this day to determine who is with her at the park,” Damian replied. “In this image for example, we can't see the full face of the woman that's with her.”
“I can pull up the archive of that day, but before I do, let me check with our counsel. I don't want to violate any policies or privacy rights. Is there a way you can have your software identify only the girl in the picture and someone she's holding hands with. We don't want to be responsible for harassing good citizens simply because they're standing next to a child.”
“My software can't do that, but I'd be happy to have you or your counsel go through the still frames first and eliminate any pictures that are likely random strangers rather than the woman that kidnapped the child. Let's try that first and see what we end up with; we can pursue other strategies if this first one doesn't work.”
“Okay give me some time,” Mark said as he left the room.
As soon as he left, Damian texted Hermione to let them know he was going to be longer than expected due to the discovery of the girl. He also let the teenager know how she could go about having her picture taken.
“Wow, Damian this is both exciting and nerve-racking. We might reunite the child with her parents within the next twenty-four hours. This will have implications for you and me. I'm sure that a lot of the brass in the SJPD will want to meet you and I bet the child abduction unit at the FBI will as well. You've written a whole new chapter on finding missing children. Fantasialand is in a difficult position. Do they add staff here to routinely look for every child abduction that might visit the park? How do we keep quiet about this so that abductors don't learn what they are doing? My mind is racing with a thousand questions,” Natalie said in a rush.
“Natalie slow down. We'll figure this out together starting with a story to hide my involvement. I'm not going to appear at a news conference. As a detective you thought of popular locations that children go to play. You convinced one of those companies to allow you to look at the film for the past five years. It was a long process. You used facial recognition software that the department has available. Neither Fantasialand nor I wish to be at all connected to reuniting this child with her parents,” Damian said firmly.
“Yeah I know you don't want fame and fortune from these cold cases that you solve, but you deserve some credit. Besides I bet Fantasialand will spill the beans on your role.”
“I bet they don't. They don't want a reputation for finding abducted kids in their park. It would be a huge distraction from their mission. It would change the very nature of who they are. It's to them and my advantage to remain silent partners in solving this crime. This is non-negotiable.”
Natalie heard Damian's resolve to stay as a silent partner solving cold cases in his voice. Besides, all they had done so far was see Olivia with a woman. They needed to track down the woman and hope the girl was still safe. She wondered when the department would be contacting the parents. Her mind was saturated with excitement for the parents to be close to being reunited with a child missing for five years.
“I hear you, maybe like a previous case, you can think of how I found the girl.”
“Let's wait until we identify the woman seen holding her hand. If Olivia is living with a stranger, that relationship may give us a clue as to your cover story.”
Mark eventually returned saying, “Oh boy, have we got a mess on our hands. We're excited for you, but is there any way you can keep our name out of any report you make about the case? Perhaps once you have the identity of the child's abductor, you can locate them on some other business or public camera?”
“Natalie and I were discussing that very scenario. Mark, like the company you represent, I absolutely don't want my name connected to solving this case. Both of us would be deluged with distraught parents across the globe that are still looking for their children.”
“Yeah, well Fantasialand doesn't want to be viewed as a collection of criminal fake parents bringing their stolen children to have a little fun to make up for the fact they were stolen to begin with.”
“I think there might be a long-term role with the FBI here to look for missing children, but that's for your employer to work out down the road. I'm just a basement hacker who was able to find one kid. I won't assist Natalie if she has other child abduction cases. While I might be prepared to sell my software to the FBI, I'm not going to make this my full-time job. Instead, I'm working on an invention that could be applied by police and allow GPS tracking of a child for five years at a time. It's not that I don't think having a child abducted is horrible – I do, but I'd rather be on the preventive side than searching for an abducted child.”
“Do you think you'll be able to come up with a cover story as to how the abductor was identified that leaves Fantasialand out of the equation,” Mark asked, worry evident in his voice.
“I do, and I think that once we identify the woman, we'll have our storyline that will leave you and me out of the discovery,” Damian replied.
“Okay then, here are copies of the woman that I retrieved from the system,” Mark said pulling a sheaf of papers out of a legal pad that he'd been holding.
Damian took a look at the pictures and said, “These are good shots. If you don't mind me using your conference room for a few minutes longer than I think we'll have her identity and our story.”
Damian plugged what he thought was the best picture into his system and waited while it searched his software database. Four minutes later, he had a ding matching an image in the Department of Motor Vehicles website for Jennifer Shields with a San Jose address.
“Oh my gosh!” Natalie exclaimed recognizing the street name from her detective days. “That's in Olivia Roth's neighborhood. I've got to call this into the station so the woman gets picked up for questioning, and Olivia is secured by child services. What's my story?” she asked looking at the two men.
Mark didn't have an answer, so Damian suggested, “One of her neighbors lent you her front door video footage for
the past two years, and you used the department's facial recognition software to discover Olivia and Jennifer Shields.”
“That's a weak explanation that no one would believe,” Natalie said.
“Then let your PR department come up with a better explanation. I want SJPD to get all the credit for solving this case. Surely your people can spin it to their advantage?”
“I agree with Damian, you must keep our name out of this story if you ever want our cooperation again.”
Natalie knew in the face of such opposition she needed to convince her department not to reveal the sources of pinpointing who gave her the information. Actually, she could just show them the one picture of Jennifer Shields and Olivia Roth and refuse to provide her source. They might end her role as a retired detective, but she understood what Damian and Mark were saying, and her non-cop mind had to agree.
“Can you give me a copy of that picture,” Natalie said pointing to the one in Damian's hand and then reached in her jacket pocket for the ubiquitous gloves that detectives carried. “Put these gloves on and print a copy of it for me. I want no fingerprints from either of you on the paper, and my superiors will have to live with me not saying where the paper came from.”
“Mark, grab a sheet from the middle of your print stack so that no fingerprints are on it from when the printer was loaded,” Damian suggested.
“I think I'll just open a new ream of paper while wearing these gloves and pull out a single sheet, that way I'm sure that no Fantasia employee's fingerprints are on the paper.”
After Mark left to get Natalie's copy, Damian said, “Thanks for taking the heat on this one and not revealing your sources.”
“Yeah, well my Lieutenant may guess that it's you, but he'll have no proof. I'm grateful the picture is timestamped.” Soon she left with a Fantasia escort to find her way back to the main gate.
“Mark, thanks for your help,” Damian said holding out his hand.
“Your welcome and I hope that little girl gets reunited with her parents soon. Say, if you need some kids to test your GPS film on, I'll volunteer mine. Getting to know, only briefly, this other little girl that was abducted from her family scares me.”
“I'll keep that in mind. Can you have someone direct me to the Mt. Everest ride, I have friends there waiting for me.”
“I'll take you there. I hadn't realized you were enjoying our park today.”
“I'll really enjoy it now that Olivia Roth was located. I mean she's not safe yet, but she's close to being so.”
“Do you think our names will be kept out of the story surrounding this child?”
“I do. Natalie doesn't want to lose my help on future cold cases and besides, she's a friend and wouldn't do that to me.”
Soon after Damian made introductions with Ariana and Hermione, he watched Mark's back disappear behind a stage door.
“Was this visit to Fantasialand helpful? Did you find the little girl?” Ariana asked.
“Yes we did on camera. Natalie's on her way home with a time-stamped picture of the girl with her abductor – a neighbor.”
“Wow,” Hermione and Ariana said at the same time as they engulfed Damian in a hug.
Damian looked at them in surprise and said, “What?”
“You're a great man for figuring out how to reunite a child with her parents. Look at all you have done for Hermione and now this Olivia. Both were strangers to you.”
“Stop, you're embarrassing me! And I haven't found Hermione's parents yet.”
“No, but you stopped her from being reunited with thugs who aren't her parents and that's equally important!”
“Let just forget about all of that and enjoy Fantasialand until it closes today. If you like this park, we can come back again.”
Chapter 13
Natalie traveled from the airport straight to her Lieutenant's office and fortunately, the two locations were a little more than two miles apart. She knew she had about thirty minutes before he usually left for the day. She hoped he didn't have something like a dentist's appointment to take him home early.
She entered the detective division to a chorus of 'hellos' and walked into Lieutenant Shimoda's office. He was reading emails and she was happy to see that she wouldn't have to wait for someone else to leave first. She had in her hand two pictures; the age-adjusted sketch of Olivia Roth created by the police artist and the picture of her with a woman at Fantasialand.
When the Lieutenant gave her the case, he cautioned that it might be her hardest yet to solve, but he was secretly curious to see how Natalie's friend, Damian Green would approach the case. He thought they could all benefit from how the man thought about cases as he tried to solve them on purely a data basis.
He looked at the two pictures analyzing what he was seeing and exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, Olivia Roth is alive and would appear to be well. Where is she?”
“That's why I'm here LT, the woman holding her hand in the picture is identified as Jennifer Shields. She's a neighbor about twelve blocks away from the Roth house.”
Shimoda went to his doorway and yelled, “Everyone to the conference room and Jenkins call up SWAT to report here as well. Five minutes everyone.”
Natalie had loved working for the Lieutenant when she'd been a full-time detective for this very reason. He trusted her to bring legitimate information to his attention and didn't waste time giving her the third degree as to whether her information was correct. When he offered her the position of cold case solver, she'd said yes as long as he was her superior.
“I don't suppose you're going to tell me where you got that picture?”
“No, sir. I made a deal with the men that made this picture possible that I wouldn't reveal their names. They don't want to become a source for parents of missing children in the world and I respect that. They suggested a story I tell, and I was hoping with the help of our PR people we could craft a logical message about this case.”
“Let's get the recovery of Olivia Roth launched, then we'll talk to PR. Tell me what you know about the woman in this picture. All I know at the moment is her name and address. I recognize the street name from when I was on the job. She's a neighbor of the Roths. Okay, our priority at the moment is Olivia's safe recovery. Let's get a computer search going on our abductor in the conference room,” Shimoda said as he ushered Natalie out of his office and toward the conference room.
Minutes later Natalie watched the detectives and officers of the department she used to work for assemble a plan to rescue a little girl with little advance notification. They debated contacting the parents sooner rather than later but wanted the little girl in their safe hands before they made that call. The plan was for Natalie to take immediate charge of the girl after SWAT recovered her, pending the parent's arrival. Natalie was cool with that task as she was sure the child would be shocked and distressed.
An hour later, Natalie found herself sitting on the sidelines as watched her fellow officers from a distance. She knew they were using infrared sensors to determine who was in the house. The last thing anyone wanted was the abducted child injured or killed during their operation. They'd quietly evacuated neighboring houses as soon as they detected two heat sources inside the home. The abductor appeared to be preparing something in the kitchen, while a smaller heat source was sitting in another room watching something, perhaps a TV or doing homework.
In their research on Jennifer Shields, they could find no record of a birth attributed to her. They hadn't had time to research school records or indeed any other kind of records as they'd been in place and mobilized to extract the girl and detain Ms. Shields. In the back of Natalie's mind was a tiny worry that Olivia Roth might not be the child inside, but those worries would end as soon as she saw the child. Every officer on the tactical squad had her picture. Another two officers had the contact information of Olivia's parents and they sat outside of each parent's residence waiting for the call to retrieve the parent. An ambulance was also parked at the end of the street as was th
e protocol for any SWAT operation.
SWAT had its officers in place surrounding the house. Another officer was charged with ringing the doorbell and getting Ms. Shields to step outside her home. The moment she stepped outside, she would be detained as they searched for the little girl. If the woman looked up and down the street, she would notice that something was amiss. No one was outside their home and no traffic was driving down the road. If she stepped out far enough, she would see a long line of police cars, but her view was blocked by plants around her front porch.
The operation went as planned and a child matching Olivia Roth's description was brought into Natalie's company pending the arrival of her parents. The little girl was crying from the fright of the officers in their SWAT gear. Natalie had brought a video game tablet with her as well as a book deemed popular among ten-year-olds. Natalie was just settling the girl down when the first parent arrived via police escort. It was her father and he approached cautiously afraid the little girl wouldn't remember him. An FBI psychologist had provided talking points for the police to talk to the father. Since she'd been abducted at an early age, she might not remember him, so he needed to tell her a story of a fun time they had together. He stood near his daughter and spoke to her in a soft voice,
“Olivia honey, it's your daddy,” Aaron Roth said looking for signs of recognition and acceptance and only seeing terror and confusion in his daughter's eyes. At the same time, he searched the face he longed to see for the past five years. “Do you remember the sandcastles we built when we went to the beach a few years ago? We had a big castle with a fortress around it?”
Olivia was leaning next to Natalie listening to what the man in front of her was saying. He looked vaguely familiar like maybe a man at her church. She remembered the story he told and nodded.
“Do you remember when we went camping in the mountains, and we had an unexpected rainstorm that required us to close up the campsite and huddle in the car wet?”
