Held for Ransom

by Kathleen Tailer

  Matthews shifted. “He was the first one I checked. His alibi was solid.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Matthews. Like I said before, I owe you one.” He returned to the conference room, where Sophia was just finishing up a call. He could tell by her body language that she had discovered something new. She was sitting taller and her face was animated and full of vigor.

  She motioned for him to sit, said a few final words on the phone, then hung up and faced him. “Well, I just uncovered some very interesting news.”

  “Such as?”

  “Well, it looks like Maggie had not only been working on her dissertation with Professor Keenan—she had also done the bulk of the man’s research and writing on the article he published under his name alone. In fact, she was the primary author. I called the editor and discussed it with him. I mentioned the copy we found in Maggie’s basement. It turns out that version was one of the last drafts of the article, and it only had Maggie’s name on it. According to the editor, Maggie spoke in detail about the work and was able to answer several questions he had about the methodology and the conclusions.”

  She paused and took a breath. “In other words, it was clear that she was the author, not Keenan. However, a couple of weeks later, the editor received a newer version with some minor changes, and Maggie’s name had been replaced with Keenan’s. When the editor asked about it, Keenan told him that he’d asked Maggie to handle the submission process because he was just too busy to deal with it, but that he had always planned to step in once the article was accepted and ready for publication. He claimed he had always been the primary author.”

  Noah shook his head. “Wow.”

  “Wow is right,” Sophia agreed.

  “And the editor believed Keenan?” Noah asked, pursing his lips.

  Sophia nodded, her eyes bright. “Sure. He’s a tenured professor at a major university. Apparently, Maggie called the editor the week before she died and complained when she found out what Keenan had done, but he told her she had to work it out with Keenan, or they would just cancel the article’s publication altogether. Then Keenan called the man after Maggie’s death. He claimed that he and Maggie had worked out their differences and the article should be published in his name alone.”

  Noah leaned back, amazed. “Unbelievable.”

  Sophia grimaced. “Yes, that man is not only remarkably offensive—he’s apparently a thief, as well. Anyway, I then called the chair over at ASU who heads up the science department. It turns out that Professor Keenan was under pressure to publish and his job was in peril.” She leaned back herself and bit her bottom lip. “What do you think?”

  “I’d say he definitely had motive,” Noah conceded. “And I think you’ve done a great job. But you have to understand, having a motive doesn’t make him guilty. Even if Keenan stole the article and got it published in his name, that makes him despicable. It doesn’t make him a murderer.”

  “Well, what about his relationship with Angie?”

  Noah shrugged. “Again, he’s contemptible, and he had a motive, but that doesn’t make him a killer.”

  Sophia nudged her phone a few inches back and forth as she considered his words, obviously frustrated. She finally pushed her chair back from the table, stood and started pacing. “You’re right. And I know you’re right.” She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I was ready to march over to the university and arrest Keenan, but having motive isn’t enough. We need proof he actually committed the murder.” She turned to face him. “I’m sorry.” She rubbed her forehead. “I guess I’m just desperate to get Kylie back, so I’m grasping at straws.”

  Noah stood, approached her and reached over to take her hand. “Hey, you’ve done an amazing job,” he said gently. “A lot of what you’ve discovered is new evidence that we never uncovered during the original investigation. There’s just one important fact that we can’t overlook—Arlo Prensky’s DNA was found at the crime scene. If Keenan is the murderer, how did Prensky’s DNA get there?”

  * * *

  Sophia gritted her teeth and drew her lips into a thin line as frustration and stress overwhelmed her. She felt tears threatening, but she didn’t want to release them. She didn’t mind crying in front of Noah, but she was afraid that if she allowed herself to cry, she wouldn’t be able to stop. “I’m so scared, Noah. What if they kill her? What if she’s already dead?”

  “We can’t give up hope,” Noah said vehemently. “We’ll keep looking until we find her.”

  Sophia was about to respond when her phone beeped with a notification. She dropped Noah’s hand and went back over to the conference table. Picking up her phone, she swiped to the correct screen. When she saw what had arrived, she turned quickly and held up the phone to show him. “It’s a video of Kylie! Look!”

  Noah moved quickly to her side and bent his head so he could see her screen and they could watch together. Kylie was again secured with zip ties like in the first photo the kidnapper had provided, and she was sitting in a chair surrounded by boxes. Faint red marks could be seen around her wrists and ankles. Her eyes were puffy as if she’d been crying, and also had dark circles under them. Sophia hit the play button and her heart clenched as the video commenced.

  “Sophie! Please help me! I’m so scared. They said they’re going to kill me if you don’t do what they ask. Whatever they want, please give it to them. I want to come home! Please, Sophia, help me.”

  The video ended, and Sophia started shaking so badly she had to put the phone on the table so she wouldn’t drop it. She covered her mouth with her hand, trying to bring herself under control before she spoke.

  Noah put his hand on Sophia’s shoulder and squeezed it gently. “Okay,” he said forcefully, “let’s get this phone to Roman. Come with me.”

  They found Roman at his desk in the middle of researching some of the information found in the box of newspaper clippings. He was typing furiously on the keyboard and staring intensely at the screen.

  “Making any progress?” Noah asked.

  “Not so far,” Roman answered, his voice baring his frustration as he turned from his keyboard. “What have you got?”

  Sophia showed him the video on her cell and he quickly took the phone and forwarded a copy of the video to his computer. He then downloaded the video onto a small flash drive and handed it to her. “Here. You can analyze this in the conference room while I see if I can track down the source from your phone. Let me keep your cell for a minute or two. I’ll bring it back to you shortly.”

  Sophia handed the USB to Noah and he grabbed a laptop from his desk as they made their way back to the conference room. En route, Noah pulled in Detective Matthews, who immediately set aside the file he had been reading and jumped up to join them. She was glad Noah was getting help. Fresh eyes never hurt, and she could tell Noah was tiring, despite the new adrenaline the video had obviously pumped through his veins. She realized, like he did, that this short clip was probably the best clue they had right now.

  Once in the conference room, the three of them sat at the large table. Noah opened his laptop, connected it wirelessly to a large wall-mounted screen and brought up the video so they could all see it.

  “Sophia, we’re going to have to watch this again—a few times, actually. We want to look for anything that will give us a clue as to Kylie’s whereabouts. It’s going to be difficult for you to see. Would you rather wait at my desk so you don’t have to go through this?”

  Sophia took a moment to think. True, it would be hard to see Kylie’s pleas for help over and over again, but if it helped them find her, Sophia would walk on hot coals to save her sister.

  “I want to stay. Maybe I’ll see something important.”

  Noah nodded and started the video. They watched it twice before Noah stopped it on the last frame. “Okay, what do you all see?”

  Sophia tilted her head slightly as she tried to focus
on everything in the video other than the anguish in Kylie’s voice. “She’s wearing a T-shirt I bought her for Christmas. She looks tired, so I don’t think she’s had much sleep.”

  “Good.” Noah nodded. “What else?”

  “She was trembling,” Sophia added. “But I think it was from cold, not just because she’s scared. This time of year, she usually wears a hoodie or sweater almost every day, even if it’s sunny outside.”

  “Okay, that’s great information. That means she’s probably somewhere that’s not heated—or at least not heated well.” Noah ran the video back again. “This time, listen to her words. Is there anything special about what she says or how she says it?”

  They each listened carefully, but none of them heard anything out of the ordinary, even when the volume was turned up to maximum level.

  “No sounds in the background. No motors running, no traffic, so they’re probably not near a major highway,” Matthews observed.

  “Wait,” Sophia said quickly. “I want to focus on the background noise again. Is there any way to lower the voice and bring up the background sounds?”

  Noah nodded, fiddled with the controls and then played the video again. This time, they could faintly hear an electronic beeping.

  “That sounds like some sort of machine that is backing up,” Matthews opined.

  Noah nodded, made another adjustment on the controls, then played it again. They heard the beeping and a small amount of engine noise. Both sounds were clearly coming from some sort of machinery that was reversing.

  “Who needs heavy equipment that beeps like that—a construction site? Maybe a warehouse or storage facility?” Matthews asked.

  “I don’t think a construction trailer or a warehouse would necessarily have good heating, even in an office. If she’s being held in a part of the warehouse that’s open, it could still have very poor heating and cooling. Most of those types of buildings usually have high ceilings and little to no insulation,” Noah noted.

  The group was considering the possibilities when Roman knocked, entered and handed Sophia her cell phone. “I can’t trace the video transmission. The signal bounced between too many IP addresses. I’m really sorry. Whoever we’re dealing with has some decent computer skills.”

  “Thanks, Roman. Want to check this video out with us?” Noah asked. “An extra set of eyes can’t hurt.”

  Roman agreed and took the chair next to Matthews as Noah cued up the video again after explaining what they’d already discovered. “Okay. This time, look at the surroundings. What can we see in the room where they are holding her?”

  They watched the video twice more and then went back to watch it frame by frame.

  “Stop. Okay, look. I see old seventies-style paneling in the background. You know—that wooden stuff in about six-inch vertical sections?” Roman stood, walked over to the screen and pointed to the paneling he had noted. “See? That means wherever they are holding her, it’s an older building.”

  Noah stood, as well, and stepped closer to the screen. He pointed to a stack of boxes to Kylie’s right, one of which had a sticker on the side. “Can anyone read this? It looks like it’s referring to some sort of flower festival.” He pointed to a design in the upper left corner of the sticker. “Isn’t that a cherry?”

  Roman moved over to the laptop and blew up the section of the video where the sticker was visible. The picture was highly pixelated, but they were still able to see it a bit better.

  Noah pointed again. “I think that’s a cherry and flowers, and I think that word is ‘March.’ So maybe this box is supposed to go to some festival or other event that has something to do with flowers or fruit?” He turned, his hands on his hips. “Maybe Kylie is being held in a warehouse that provides some sort of item to a March festival?”

  Sophia’s heart started beating even harder against her chest. It wasn’t much, but it was a lead. Maybe, just maybe, they were one step closer to finding Kylie.

  TWELVE

  “So, you’re Maggie Spencer’s fiancé,” Noah said caustically as he tossed a file on the table across from Mason Tucci, who was sitting in the interrogation room chair, handcuffed to a metal bar fastened to the tabletop. It was late, and he was tired, but Noah had to conduct this interview before the day was over. He knew that Kylie’s time was running out, and he needed to do everything possible to find her before it was too late.

  He glanced at the man who looked just about as beat up as Noah felt. His face was bruised, marked with angry red scratches, thanks to the airbag deployment. His hands were marred with scabs and cuts from the windshield glass. A couple of deeper wounds had been sewn closed on his face, the black synthetic stitching making his injuries appear even more severe than they actually were. At least his bloody clothes had been traded for a set of scrubs at the hospital.

  “We interviewed Professor Keenan a few days ago. He says Maggie didn’t have time for a relationship. He claims she was too busy.”

  “Keenan doesn’t know spit,” Tucci grumbled. “And, yes, I was Maggie’s fiancé, until she was viciously murdered.”

  “And you thought killing Ms. Archer and me would bring her back?” Noah asked, unable to keep the anger from his voice.

  “You were trying to get her killer off. You want that animal Prensky to go free.”

  Noah’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

  “Prensky killed my fiancée!” Tucci snarled, his tone derisive. “He deserves to go to prison for the rest of his life. You and that investigative reporter reopened the case. Now you’re trying to prove that he’s innocent. I want somebody to pay for Maggie’s murder.”

  Noah rubbed his forehead. “You started following us from the courthouse. Don’t you realize that the only reason I was at the courthouse in the first place was to testify against Prensky? I’m the one who arrested him!”

  “Yeah, so you say. But like I said, that Archer woman you were with is an investigative reporter. She wants to get Prensky off.”

  Noah threw up his hands, knowing there were only a handful of people who knew the motivation behind Sophia’s investigation. How could this man know anything about it at all? “What? Where did you get that idea?”

  Tucci shrugged.

  “Oh, no,” Noah said, shaking his head. “That didn’t just pop into your head. Who told you that?”

  Tucci still didn’t respond. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and slouched, as if totally disengaging from the entire conversation. The man’s body language made Noah even angrier, but he realized that getting upset wasn’t going to make the man talk. He tried a different tactic.

  “We found out that Professor Keenan was trying to publish an article on perovskite. Do you know anything about that?”

  This topic got Tucci’s interest. He slowly straightened. But he fisted his hands and pulled against the cuffs so hard that red marks started to appear by his wrists. “The man is a thief. Maggie wrote that article.”

  Noah shrugged, intentionally goading Tucci, hoping he would talk and divulge something useful that would help their investigation. There was definitely more going on here than met the eye, but so far, the pieces just weren’t fitting together in this puzzle. “I don’t know. Ms. Archer talked to Professor Keenan. He claimed he wrote the article.”

  “He can claim it all day long. That doesn’t make it true.”

  “I think the same can be said of your fiancée. Do you have any proof?”

  Tucci hit the table with both hands. “He stole that article! Maggie did all the work, and then he deleted her name, put his name on it and took all the credit. I saw her do the work. I witnessed it with my own two eyes. He’s the one who needs to go to prison. Not me.”

  Aha. Now they were getting somewhere. “Again, what proof do you have?”

  Tucci’s body deflated. “None. That’s my problem. When Prensky killed her, he
took her laptop and hard drive. Everything that proved it was on that computer. Maggie didn’t believe in using cloud storage. She said it wasn’t safe. And now somebody’s blown up her apartment. If there was anything left, it’s gone now.”

  “Ms. Archer found a copy of an earlier draft of the article with Maggie’s name on it.”

  Tucci leaned forward. “Then you know I’m telling the truth!”

  “Actually, I do know. But one prior draft is circumstantial. Anyone could have put her name on it and printed it. What we need is the laptop to pursue that scenario or a hard drive with the previous versions. Then we could see the properties of the various documents.” Noah tapped the table with his fingers. “Do you think Keenan had anything to do with Maggie’s death?”

  Tucci narrowed his eyes. “I thought so at the beginning. But then you arrested Prensky. It has to be Prensky, right? Otherwise, you arrested the wrong guy.”

  Noah straightened, trying to show more confidence in his prior actions than he really felt. “I still think Prensky killed Maggie. We got the right man. His DNA was at the scene.” He rubbed his chin. “But what I want to know is how you found out Ms. Archer was interested in the case in the first place. It’s not like she took out a billboard. Why did you target her?”

  Again, Tucci shut down and refused to answer, so Noah opened the file folder he had brought in and pushed it forward. “I checked you out, Mr. Tucci. I saw how you were a student at ASU in the computer science department until you dropped out in December, and I see how you have a job at Protel, the regional cell phone company. You’ve worked there almost two years.”

  “So?”

  “So, here’s what I think. I think you got suspicious of Professor Keenan when you discovered he put a cell phone blocker in Maggie’s office. I think you knew he was taking advantage of Maggie and stole her work, and after he stole her paper, I think you cloned his cell phone so you could hear his conversations and get the proof you needed to show that he was a thief.” Noah narrowed his eyes. “I think you’re still listening, and I think you overheard our conversation with Keenan when Ms. Archer was asking him questions, and you didn’t like her asking those questions. I think you decided to do something about it.”