Held for Ransom

by Kathleen Tailer

  “When this is all over, do you think I could take you out to dinner?” He held his breath, hoping she couldn’t tell that he was doing so as he waited for an answer.

  She paused for a moment, studying his face, then broke out into a smile. “I’d like that,” she responded softly.

  He exhaled, thankful that he had taken the chance. He didn’t know what the future held for either of them, but at least now he had something to look forward to once this entire mess was over and done.

  SEVENTEEN

  “Who performs blood tests besides doctors?” Sophia asked as they discussed the possibilities out loud. They had spent the night in separate hotel rooms, Noah’s adjoining Sophia’s, so he could hear her if there was a problem.

  They had returned to the conference room at the police station early this morning after a quick breakfast at the hotel. Noah was reusing the teal paisley tie that Sophia liked more and more each time she looked at it. But neither one of them had been prepared for another day away from their apartments, so they had stopped by a department store on their way to the hotel and had done the fastest shopping trip in history to get a few essentials.

  Today she wore the same shoes, but she had found a navy pair of slacks and a professional-looking turquoise button-down shirt at a bargain price that she really liked. She’d even found an inexpensive but attractive necklace on the way out of the store that was just enough bling to spice up the outfit without going overboard.

  They had decided to dig deeper into Arlo’s past, and they were well aware of the time crunch they were facing. The jury was still out deliberating, but could come back at any time. If Arlo Prensky truly was as innocent as his family claimed, Sophia and Noah wanted to prove it before the jury handed down a sentence that would be a serious miscarriage of justice. They also needed to find out who had gassed them at the university and set the bomb at Maggie’s apartment.

  Noah leaned back in his chair as he took a sip from his coffee cup. “Medical clinics and blood donation sites both handle blood tests.”

  “And all of that blood has to go to a lab somewhere. How hard would it be for someone to get their hands on a vial or two of Prensky’s blood?”

  “Labs have security, and they have to follow strict federal guidelines. Plus, if what you’re suggesting is true, that would mean that Maggie Spencer’s death was premeditated and not a crime of opportunity, like we’ve been thinking.”

  Noah suddenly pulled the laptop closer, put his coffee cup down and started typing. It was clear that something vital had just occurred to him.

  “What is it?”

  “Remember that study I said Prensky was participating in at the university?”

  “Sure. You said it was some sort of medication trial.”

  “Right. Well, what if they did blood draws as part of their study?”

  Sophia snapped her fingers. “Excellent idea. And that sort of lab might have less security than a hospital.”

  Noah nodded, got a number from the report he had pulled up and dialed the researcher he had originally interviewed about the study. After a ten-minute conversation, he made another quick call, then put the phone down. He turned to Sophia, who was waiting anxiously to hear what he had discovered.

  “The study Arlo participated in was related to diabetes. It required frequent medical checkups and blood draws associated with a blind study of a medication they were testing for the medical school.” He leaned closer. “The lab they used for the blood work was part of the university hospital system. It’s located on the second floor of the medical school.” He grinned. “The lab had a break-in the day before Maggie’s murder, but they didn’t notice much missing other than a few vials of blood. They wanted to keep the theft low-key because they were worried their study would be shut down if the school discovered the vials had been stolen.” He raised an eyebrow. “Although they claimed they reported it, somehow the report never got filed with the university police.”

  “Somehow?” Sophia scoffed. Still, she could sense Noah’s excitement. It was contagious. “Was Prensky’s blood the only blood that was taken?”

  “No. Three other students had to come in and give a second donation, but they didn’t complain because they got paid extra for their time. Since Prensky was out of the study anyway because of his arrest, the study staff didn’t worry about his missing blood.”

  “Who knew Prensky was part of the study?” Sophia asked.

  “They’re sending me over a list now of everyone who was aware of the participants. It’s a small list, but they’re being rather cooperative because they’re worried about the theft coming to light. They’re also sending over some of the basic information about the study, like the protocols, the participant survey and other details that they’re allowed to share with the general public. It’s all basic information, but we might see something pop.

  “My second call just now was to Roman. He’s getting a search warrant as we speak to find out who had access to the lab where the blood was stored. You have to have a keycard to bypass the security system, so if we can get the university’s security records, we should see everyone that entered and left the lab that day.”

  Sophia’s brow creased. “But wouldn’t they have already checked that log when they discovered the missing blood?”

  “Yes, but there weren’t any red flags. There was no forced entry into the lab. The lab tech I talked to tried to convince me that someone had just broken a few vials in error or labeled them incorrectly. He really tried to downplay the entire incident and didn’t even want to admit that any blood was missing, despite what the records show. I think he’s really scared that he will get blamed and it will cost him his job. Also, there aren’t any security cameras in the lab to prove the blood was actually stolen. Since they didn’t want to accuse anyone without proof, they just quietly got the second blood draws from the students and went on with business as usual.”

  Sophia jumped up and started pacing. “We’re so close, I can feel it.” She stopped for a moment and regarded Noah closely. “Do you think Angie Carmichael had access to the lab? That woman’s attitude still bothers me.”

  Noah nodded. “It’s certainly possible. She was never a person of interest before, but now I’m starting to wonder.” He took out a fresh pack of Doublemint gum and offered one to Sophia before grabbing one for himself. She refused but gave him a smile.

  Noah picked up his phone and made another quick call, then reported his findings. “That was the state attorney’s office. The jury is still out. She says this is normal, and sometimes it takes a jury three or four days to deliberate and come up with a verdict. She said she’d call as soon as she hears anything.”

  He tapped something on his computer, and his email jumped onto the page. “Okay, here’s the information about the study and the list of people who had access to the participants’ names.”

  Sophia came to read the screen over his shoulder. There were four names of professors who were managing the drug study and four graduate student names. It was hard to keep the disappointment from her voice. “Angie isn’t on it. I guess she wouldn’t be. She’s a chemistry grad student, not a doctor or a premed student working on the drug trial.” She leaned closer. “Do you recognize any of the names?”

  “No.” Noah hit a few more keys, his frustration evident. “Wait—here’s another email.” He opened this one, and they both read the names of the study’s consultants. The email contained three additional names of people to be contacted if questions arose that related to their fields of expertise.

  “‘Professor Reginald Keenan,’” they simultaneously read out loud.

  “Oh, wow,” Sophia said, surprised yet pleased at the same time. “You’d better call Roman back. Now we need a subpoena for Keenan’s computer, too.”

  Noah nodded. “I was just thinking the same thing. I bet this all boils down to that academic paper Keenan go
t published. The one that Maggie Spencer wrote. He needed the credit to keep his job, and he killed her to keep it quiet.”

  “It certainly gives Keenan motive,” Sophia agreed. “But why would Keenan frame Arlo? I mean, why pick that guy?”

  “I have no idea,” Noah mused. “We never found any connection between the two. If they had met before, we certainly found no record of it,” he said tightly. He called Roman and asked for the additional warrant. While they were waiting, he downloaded and printed two copies of the medication study overview and all of the attachments, then gave one copy to Sophia and kept one for himself. “Let’s look these over while we wait for the warrants.”

  “What are we looking for?”

  “I have no idea. I hope we’ll know it when we see it,” he said as he handed her the papers.

  Sophia started reading. They were making good progress. She fervently hoped they would be able to discover the truth before Arlo Prensky’s jury returned with a verdict.

  * * *

  Noah set aside the fifty-two-page overview of the study and rubbed his eyes. He wasn’t even sure he understood everything he had just read since most of it had been written by doctors, for doctors, but he hadn’t seen anything in the report that would tie Keenan to Prensky. He turned to the attachments, then glanced over at Sophia, hoping that she’d been able to absorb and analyze what they were reading better than he had.

  “Anything?” she asked.

  “Not yet. You?”

  “This stuff is drier than wallpaper paste. I think I’d actually rather watch golf on TV than read another one of these studies.”

  Noah smiled. “Even the Masters?” he quipped, mentioning the illustrious golf tournament played in Georgia once a year in April.

  “Yes, even the Masters,” she agreed. “Could anything be more boring?”

  Noah laughed and returned to his reading. The first two attachments, graphs of the chemical components included in the study, meant nothing to him. But the third attachment was much more interesting. It was the survey completed by all prospective participants to determine their suitability for the study.

  “Check this out,” Noah said as soon as he had read the survey in its entirety. “A lot of these questions are asking for a psychological profile of the applicant. I’m no expert, but they go a lot further than just trying to decipher a person’s medical history.”

  Sophia flipped to the survey and started reading the questions. “You’re right. It looks like they wanted to make sure the person was at least stable enough to stick with the study. They also probably wanted to verify that the participant wasn’t taking any psychotropic medication or other drugs that would be contraindicated for the medication they were testing.”

  “Keenan was a consultant. According to the introductory documents, he would have had full access to the completed surveys...” Noah started to say.

  “Which means he would have known that Prensky had a family, but didn’t have a steady job or other means of support.” Sophia finished the thought.

  “With just a little bit of research, Keenan could have discovered all he needed to know about Arlo Prensky. We may never know exactly why he chose him over the others, but something in this survey must have made Keenan feel like Prensky would be a good person to frame for the murder. Then it was just a matter of stealing the vials, killing Maggie and staging the scene with Arlo’s blood,” Noah said fervently.

  “Do you think Keenan kept the older versions of the article on his computer? We’d need those to prove his motive, right?”

  “We have the draft that we got at Maggie’s apartment, but even if we find some of the older versions, I still think we need more. Hopefully, when we seize Keenan’s computer, we can also find some old emails or other proof that will bolster our theory. If they aren’t on his computer, we might be able to subpoena the university’s server to see if they have any of the older emails. We’ll just take it one step at a time.”

  The door to the conference room suddenly opened and Charlie came striding in. He gave them both a nod, and Noah rose to greet him. “Welcome back to the big city! How’d you like Flint Rock?” The two men shook hands, and Charlie clapped Noah on the back with a good-natured grin.

  “It’s a hole-in-the-wall compared to Atlanta. If you blink twice, you’ll miss it when you drive through, but it’s a nice enough little town,” Charlie answered.

  Noah laughed, knowing that his partner had been raised in Atlanta and preferred the larger metropolis over the smaller towns any day. He turned and reintroduced him to Sophia. She thanked him profusely for his help with finding her sister, and finally Charlie handed some papers over to Noah.

  “I almost forgot about these. Roman asked me to give them to you. He said he knows a guy over at the Atlanta University police force, and was able to expedite the warrant for the passcode information at the hospital laboratory. One of these documents is the list of people who had access to the lab during the time frame that you were interested in.”

  Noah quickly perused the sheets and found what he was looking for. He read through the names, then looked up and met Sophia’s eyes. “Reginald Keenan was the last person to access the lab the night before Maggie’s murder.” He flipped a page. “And here’s an affidavit saying the door is intact, has never required service and shows no signs of tampering or forced entry.”

  “That’s a smoking gun if I’ve ever seen one,” Sophia replied, her eyes bright.

  Noah looked back over at Charlie. “Did Roman say whether or not he’d gotten the subpoena for Keenan’s computer?”

  “He said it was on its way and you’ll have it in thirty minutes or less. He actually requested two. One for Keenan’s computer at his office at the university and one for his home computer and laptop. He said his friend at the university is on standby and will execute the warrant as soon as it comes through.”

  Noah smiled and rubbed his hands together. “I love it when a plan comes together. Want to execute a search with us at Professor Keenan’s home?” He quickly recapped everything they had learned in the last few hours to bring Charlie up to speed on their working theory. “Now we know Keenan had access to Prensky’s blood. All we need now is proof of his motive, and we’ll be ready to make the arrest.”

  “I’d be delighted to join you,” Charlie answered, once he had a clear understanding of what was happening. He took a sip from the coffee cup he had brought in with him and then tossed it in the trash and grimaced.

  “Wow, that’s awful. Did you make the coffee again, Noah?”

  “Wasn’t me,” Noah said, his hands raised. “Blame Matthews for that brew. I couldn’t swallow it, either. Thankfully, I got a cup of the good stuff at the hotel this morning.”

  Charlie laughed as the three left the conference room and headed to the parking deck to get their car for the drive to Keenan’s house. Charlie kept in contact with Roman while Noah drove, making sure they would know the instant the search warrant was signed and electronically delivered to the officer’s phone. Sophia rode along and had agreed to stay in the car while the officers were performing the search.

  Noah felt conflicted as he drove. He had been so sure Arlo Prensky was guilty. A sinking feeling started churning in his gut.

  Had he arrested the wrong man?

  EIGHTEEN

  “Police! Open up!” Noah shouted. He banged on the door, then moved out of the way so one of the uniformed officers who had joined them could breach the door and break the lock. It only took one strong blow to force the door open. The officer moved back and out of the way as the door swung worthlessly from its hinges and fell back against the door frame. Noah and Charlie entered, their weapons drawn.

  They moved silently through the house, looking for their quarry, but they heard nothing as they searched the kitchen, living room and dining room. The other officer searched the bedrooms in the back of the house and re
turned moments later, holstering his weapon. The house appeared empty.

  “The back rooms are clear,” the officer reported.

  Just then, they heard a noise from the rear yard. The three officers rushed to the back door and noticed Professor Keenan just as he finished pouring lighter fluid over some dark items in an outdoor decorative firepit. He had a lighter in his right hand, an empty lighter fluid can in his left.

  “Light that, Professor Keenan, and it will be the last thing you ever do,” Noah threatened as he approached the older man, his gun pointing at the professor’s midriff. The acrid odor of the lighter fluid permeated his nostrils.

  “Hands up!” Charlie ordered, close behind Noah. The other officer had also drawn his weapon again and was also pointing it at the professor.

  “Don’t shoot!” Keenan pleaded, clearly surprised by the officers’ arrival. Dropping the lighter and the can of lighter fluid, he took a step back.

  Noah and his team kept advancing until Noah was right behind Keenan. He holstered his weapon and pulled out his handcuffs. “Having a barbecue?” he asked lightly as he cuffed the man’s right hand and pulled it behind him, tugging back his other arm to do the same.

  Charlie scrunched his nose and held up a laptop that he pulled from the firepit with two fingers. The lighter fluid dripped from the casing and landed in a pool at the bottom of the pit. “I prefer ribs or maybe a good steak.”

  “Reginald Keenan, you have the right to remain silent...” Noah recited the rest of the Miranda warnings. “Do you understand these rights as I have explained them to you?”

  Once he finished with Keenan, he handed him over to the officer to watch while he sifted through the pile of computer equipment that filled the firepit. If they had arrived even five minutes later, they would have probably lost all of this evidence. Noah was no computer expert, but he imagined it would have been hard to recover all of the data stored on the various pieces of equipment if they had been destroyed by fire.