Davenport Mysteries 03-Perfect Crime

by Varun Vashist

  “Haven’t heard about any activities by the Italian Mafia in New York for a while now. But, you’re right. It may have been orchestrated overseas, but the kidnapping happened here. There has to be a link,” Jake said while staring at his computer.

  “Yeah,” Kiara said. “What are you looking at?”

  “Looking for some details about the two families,” he said while scrolling down.

  Kiara walked to Jake’s desk.

  “Carlson is right. Both families are highly influential. 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 received 10 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 comes to around 15 million,” Jake said. “He now works as an independent consultant and helps some of the biggest names in the city with their investments.”

  “I don’t know about his clients, but he sure made a fortune with his investments,” Kiara said while looking at the figures. “Anything else that we should look into?”

  “Nothing else here. 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 in the society too. She runs a handful of charitable organizations and has organized over a hundred fundraising activities till now,” Jake said.

  “That may 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 are actually good at heart, 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

  “Okay,” Jake said and clicked on the other window. “Shawn is the only son. He is the Managing Director of one of the business units of a leading financial institution. Look at his earnings. We are in the wrong business. We should be working on Wall Street.”

  “That boat sailed twelve years ago. 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.

  “Okay,”

  CHAPTER 2

  “Cynthia comes from even a greater lineage than Shawn. Her grandfather was a senator and a pretty renowned one. Have you heard the name of Michael Campbell?” Jake asked as their car entered the main road.

  “Of course … I’ve even heard that every president used to seek his blessings,” Kiara said with surprise.

  “Yes, he carried a lot of weight within the party a few years back. And, his son Philip continued the legacy of political association, albeit in a different way,” Jake said. “For the last thirty years, he has funded the campaigns for all of the Republican presidential nominees. He’s a venture capitalist who has financed a number of start-ups, and some of them have even turned into major companies. Whatever he earns from there; he again puts into new ventures—that keeps his money rolling. His wife, Shirley, also comes from a family of politicians. I couldn’t find much about her, however. But, the thing that interested me the most was what I found about Cynthia.”

  Kiara looked at him. “What’s that?”

  “I read one of her interviews, where she said that she avoids using her last name, as the weight it carries makes people treat her differently and she doesn’t get an honest feedback that would help her grow as an individual. You know what was she doing when she met Shawn?”

  “No…What?”

  “She was working as a reporter for one of the local news channels. Father owns major stakes in some of the biggest media companies and daughter works as a lowly reporter. Isn’t it interesting?” Jake asked as they entered the Manhattan area.

  “It sure is. Maybe that was a cause of the rift between Shawn and her. Except her, everyone in the family seems to enjoy the limelight,” Kiara mused.

  “You are again over-reading the situation. They just celebrated their fifth marriage anniversary with a luxury vacation. I don’t think there was any rift,” Jake said at once.

  “Maybe he planned the vacation to show her face to the kidnappers,” Kiara replied sternly.

  “Hmm … we’ll come to know in the next five minutes,” Jake said and pointed at the twenty-five-storied tower to their right.

  “Liberty Plaza—yeah, that’s right,” Kiara said while checking the address in her journal. “This building is with guards and a separate parking area. That’s unusual for this area. Most buildings are without gates; with just a single entrance.”

  “When you have Managing Directors and C.E.Os living in your building, you ought to have security from the prying eyes of the media,” Jake said and stopped in front of the massive gate. Two guards came running to them.

  Jake lowered his window. “Shawn Hansen?”

  Kiara could see a police car parked inside the compound.

  “The Hansen live on the twentieth floor,” one of the guards replied while the other opened the gate.

  “What is the apartment number?” Jake asked.

  The guard smiled. “There is only one apartment on each of the floors. The elevator opens directly into the house. I will inform Mr. Hansen while you park.”

  Jake looked at Kiara, who smiled back. “You were right when you said that you were in the wrong line of business. I guess even the guards of Liberty Plaza earn more than you.”

  “Very funny,”

  After parking the car, they entered the beautiful and ornate Liberty Plaza building. The elevator opened directly into an entrance gallery that Kiara felt was even bigger than her bedroom. It had marble floors and parchment panels framed in mahogany. Both Jake and Kiara gazed around in awe at the apartment’s splendor. The ceiling was almost twenty feet high, and the floor to ceiling windows displayed the incredible view of the whole Manhattan skyline.

  It took them some time to realize that an officer of the NYPD sitting at the corner of the room was looking at them with amusement. As their eyes met his gaze, he walked over to them with a smile on his face.

  “Takes your breath away, doesn’t it?” he said proudly. “You can see all corners of Central Park from there.”

  “Where is Mr. Hansen?” Kiara asked, ignoring his words.

  “Oh … he’s in the conference room, attending to some calls,” the officer said at once.

  “His wife might be dead by now, and he’s busy minting money,” Kiara said, “And, what are you doing sitting here? Enjoying the view?”

  “I … I…” The officer was taken off guard by Kiara’s sudden outburst.

  “Tell him to come out at once,” Jake retorted before the cop could have replied.

  The officer cursed his luck, but he had to do something. He went to the adjoining room and came back immediately with his head down.

  “He needs a few more minutes,” he said sheepishly.

  Jake gave a loud grunt. “I’ll get him. You take the documents from him and if possible, get him out of here before we start questioning this rich guy.”

  “I will—” the officer was about to say something but was cut short by Kiara.

  “No. You won’t. Just give me everything related to this case and then you’re relieved of your duties. Your captain knows about this, and you should also know your jurisdiction.” With that, she gestured Jake to get Shaw
n Hansen. Jake nodded and left.

  Jake tapped at the glass door making Shawn Hansen turn around. He looked at Jake with confusion for a moment and then pointed towards the hall. With that, he went back to attending his call. Jake was already at his wit’s end, and Shawn’s behavior only added fuel to the fire. He pushed the door open and hurried towards Shawn. Before Shawn could’ve understood anything, Jake took the receiver from him and disconnected the call. Shawn’s face turned red as a streak of anger ran through his body.

  “I’m going to get you fired!” he shouted at the top of his voice.

  “And I’m going to make such a strong case against you that you’re going to spend the rest of your life behind bars!” Jake shouted back.

  “Who the hell are you? I’m not going to stand here and listen to your bullshit,” Shawn said and dialed a number.

  Jake took out his journal and pulled one of the chairs. Shawn looked at him while waiting for the call to be answered.

  “Wife is missing for a week. For the husband, it’s business as usual. No change in body language and no change in day-to-day activities. He is hiding evidence and is threatening the investigation team to be removed,” Jake said loudly while scribbling down.

  Shawn disconnected the call immediately. “When did I hide any evidence?”

  “Oh … that’s a premonition. Usually, the prime suspects do that, especially when they’re not on good terms with the victim,” Jake said casually while still scribbling in his journal.

  “I love my wife, and she equally loves me,” Shawn said and snatched the journal. He was surprised to see that it was blank.

  “Just breaking the ice,” Jake said while taking the journal back. “I’m Agent Jake Carter and my partner, Agent Kiara Davenport, is waiting for you outside.”

  Shawn shook his head in frustration.

  “Let’s have this discussion outside. By now, my partner should’ve relieved the officer that was investigating the case earlier,” Jake said and stepped aside.

  “No, you can’t tell him to leave just like that. He’s been handling this case for the last three days,” Shawn said immediately without giving it a thought.

  “So you’re comfortable with him, and I suppose he’s also comfortable with you,” Jake smirked.

  “It’s not like that,” Shawn said while wiping the sweat off his face. “I’ve already told everything umpteen times. I don’t want to repeat the same thing again. I just … am not in the right frame of mind right now. Both my personal and professional lives are getting screwed.”

  Jake looked at his face. His expressions did seem genuine.

  “What happened?” Jake asked and paused. “I mean professionally.”

  “These things keep happening. Some clients lose money while others make profits. Don’t bother.” Shawn tried to evade the question. Jake noticed it. However, he and Kiara had the whole day to get everything out of Shawn. He thought of asking it later.

  “You can call your client and apologize for disconnecting the call. We’re waiting outside,” Jake said while pushing the phone toward Shawn. “Just make sure that you’re with us in the next two minutes.”

  Shawn just nodded. All arrogance that he had five minutes earlier had been replaced with a nervous demeanor. He kept looking as Jake got out of the room. He walked to the door and made sure that Jake had reached the hall before jumping back on the phone.

  He waited impatiently while the phone rang.

  “What happened?” a female voice came from the other end.

  “No … nothing. I guess some connection problem,” he said and thought for a moment. “We need to be discreet for some time till all dust on Cynthia’s kidnapping settles down.”

  There was no response from the other end.

  “You there?” Shawn asked while still looking toward the door.

  “Yes … yes. I will do as you said,” she said in a frail voice.

  “Okay … got to go. The cops are waiting,” Shawn said hastily.

  “Be brave,” she said softly.

  “I will … I have to,” Shawn said and disconnected.

  With that, he got up and ran his fingers through his thick, black hair. He wiped the sweat from his brow and cleared his throat. Once confident, he pushed the door open and walked into the hall.

  “He’s here,” Jake said and looked at the officer. “We’ll let you know if anything else is needed. You may leave now.”

  The officer looked at Shawn, who nodded reluctantly. Jake and Kiara looked at each other. The officer collected his bag and left unwillingly. By the time the elevator doors closed, Shawn had taken a seat opposite to Kiara and Jake.

  “I’m sorry for my previous behavior,” he said softly. “I’m willing to lend any support that could bring Cynthia back.”

  “Mr. Hansen, we will try not to ask what you have already told the police and the media several times. However, you have to be patient with us. There may be certain things that we would like to analyze from our point of view,” Kiara said while trying to read Shawn’s body language.

  “I understand. I’m willing to tell everything one more time,” he said with a faint smile.

  “That’s great,” Kiara replied. “So, how was your relationship with your wife? Any recent arguments—any major disagreements?”

  “No … nothing like that,” Shawn said at once. “I love her more than anything in my life, and I meant the world to her too. In fact, as you may know, we just celebrated our fifth marriage anniversary.”

  “About that. What happened in Rome?” Jake asked bluntly.

  “What do you mean?” Shawn was taken aback by Jake’s direct inquiry.

  “The Mafia, who apparently kidnapped her, must have taken notice of her while you were there. Did you notice anything while you were there?”

  “The police have been asking this since the call for ransom came. I have no clue when they planned to kidnap her. Cynthia comes from an extremely influential family. Her grandfather had a large Italian-American voter base. He betrayed them in a way. I’m not sure if her kidnapping has something to do with that, but I don’t see any other reason behind it.”

  “Betrayal? What do you mean?” Kiara asked, raising her brow.

  “Well, in those days there were issues related to the legalization of some of their properties for which they had approached Michael … Cynthia’s grandfather. He couldn’t help them, and they assumed that he didn’t want to, as he was about to retire and didn’t want to risk his image. There were some protests also. I’m not sure, but that’s the only connection I can make between Italian Mafia and her kidnap.”

  “But, that must have happened twenty years back. Why would they kidnap Cynthia now?” Jake asked with confusion.

  “Last week, Michael had visited the Italian-American community for reconciliation as it has cost the party in the previous elections,” Shawn said, looking at Jake. “The party has been pressuring him to get the differences sorted out before the next elections.”

  “Hmm … and I guess it didn’t go down well,” Kiara said thoughtfully.

  Shawn nodded. “Not only that, they even threatened him with dire consequences if he tried to reach out to them again.”

  “Well, we will definitely look into it. But our question about your Europe trip was slightly different,” Jake said, “We wanted to know if you forced her to go on a vacation with you.”

  “Why would I do that? I already told you that I love her,” Shawn said in angst. “Besides, she made the bookings. I only came to know about it a couple of days before our anniversary. It was a surprise gift from her.”

  Kiara looked at Jake and then toward Shawn. “You can prove that, right?”

  “Absolutely. All her credit card statements are in the file. You can also check her phone records if you want to. She made all the reservation when I was in the office. Even the call data record will confirm that she was at home when she made those calls,” Shawn said.

  “We will do that. Before moving forwar
d, we would like to know what happened on the day she was kidnapped,” Jake said while Kiara took some notes.

  Shawn gave a muffled grunt. Kiara looked at him.

  “Mr. Hansen, we understand that you have to relive the same day every time someone asks you this question. I promise this will be the last time. Maybe, we’ll notice something that the other officers couldn’t.”

  Kiara’s words helped, as Shawn nodded and took a deep breath.

  “I was working late that day. My clients are spread across the globe, and I have to adjust my work schedule accordingly. Sometimes I have calls throughout the night, and it was also one of those days. I finished a call at around two in the morning and had another call at six. So, I rested in my office lounge and after completing the six o’clock call, I came back home at around nine o’clock. The door of our bedroom was closed. Cynthia generally writes her blog during the night, and when I’m not around to stop her, she continues writing until dawn. I thought that she had done the same that night too. So, instead of disturbing her, I took a shower and had my breakfast. By ten thirty, I started feeling a little anxious and thought of waking her up. When there was no response from her end, I pushed the door. It wasn’t bolted from inside, and the bedroom was empty. I tried her phone, but she had left it in the bedroom closet. Even her handbag was also there, and the closet looked as if it was untouched. I checked with the guards, but even they didn’t see her leaving the apartment.

  “I called the police immediately and informed both families. The police came and questioned me. They also checked the whole apartment for any signs of struggle, but there was nothing that pointed to anything. Everything was in its place – there were no signs of any forcible entry. We called the maid, who had left around eight o’clock. Even she was also clueless. Just like me, she had thought of Cynthia being asleep. It was as if she vanished into thin air.

  “The police interrogated everyone, including the families, close friends, our maid, and the security guards, but no one has any clue about her disappearance. One moment she was here, and the next she had disappeared without any trace. And then after three days, we got the call for ransom.”