"The Night Stalker" - читать интересную книгу автора (Swain James)

CHAPTER THREE

I pulled into Oakwood Elementary’s parking lot with my police escort in front of me. I’d made record time down 301, and wished I’d had a camera to record the faces of the different cops I’d passed on the way down. I leashed Buster and went inside.

In the lobby stood several nervous adults. With them was a small woman in her late forties wearing a black pants suit and a white brooch on her lapel. She introduced herself as Marge Heller, the school principal, and thanked me for coming. I smelled cigarettes on her breath and saw desperation in her eyes.

“Where are the local police?” I asked.

“Two deputies are in the back of the school, searching the grounds,” Heller said. “The others are conducting a door-to-door search of the local neighborhood.”

“They think the girl was taken off the property?” I said.

“Yes,” Heller said.

Oakwood was a large school, and there were plenty of places within the building where a child could be hidden. The police shouldn’t have left so quickly, but I saw no point in telling that to Heller or the others standing in the lobby.

“I need to speak with you in private,” I said.

“Of course.”

Heller led me down a hallway lined with classrooms. The school was locked down, meaning no children would be allowed to leave until Angelica Suarez was found. The classrooms were unusually quiet, and I wondered if the children knew that something was wrong.

We entered Heller’s office. It had a waiting area, with a desk for a receptionist, a watercooler, and a pair of couches with matching blue cushions. Heller pointed at one of the couches. “That’s where I left Angelica Suarez. I went into my office to call her new teacher. I wasn’t gone more than sixty seconds. When I came back, the child was gone.”

“Where was your receptionist?” I asked.

“Sally went to the cafeteria to get an orange juice for the child. I asked her to go.”

“Your receptionist didn’t see anything?”

“No. It happened when Sally was gone.”

Her voice was trembling, and riddled with guilt. If only I hadn’t asked Sally to get that drink! We went into Heller’s office, which looked out upon a manicured ballfield behind the school. Heller sat down at her desk, while I remained standing. Her eyes fell upon my dog.

“He’s beautiful,” she said.

“Thank you.”

“Does he help you find missing children?”

Hearing the hope in her voice, I nodded.

“I need to ask you some questions,” I said.

“Of course.”

“Is this the first time Angelica has been at the school?”

“Yes.”

“What about her mother?”

“Her mother appeared in my office yesterday and told me she wanted to register her daughter for our pre-k program. I gave her the necessary forms to fill out, and told her to bring Angelica in this morning. This morning was the first time I actually saw the child.”

I glanced at the wall beside her desk. It was covered with framed diplomas from various universities around the state. Heller was extremely well-educated, but none of her schooling had prepared her for this.

“I’m going to tell you what I think happened,” I said. “It isn’t pretty, but you need to hear it before we continue.”

Heller placed her hands on her desk. “Go ahead.”

“The person who abducted Angelica Suarez has been planning an abduction for a long time. He plans to sell Angelica to someone who’s shopping for a little girl.”

She put her hand over her mouth. “Oh, my Lord.”

“I know this for several reasons,” I said. “First, Angelica is a girl, and although I haven’t seen a photo, I’m guessing she’s pretty.”

“She’s a little angel,” Heller said.

“Well, little angels fetch a lot of money, sometimes a hundred thousands dollars or more. They’re prime targets for abductors.”

Heller closed her eyes, then opened them.

“Second, Angelica doesn’t speak English,” I said. “That makes the abductor’s job easier. If the child were to start screaming when she’s out in public, most people won’t understand what she’s saying.”

“A perfect victim,” Heller said.

“That’s right. The third factor is that Angelica is not in the school’s abduction prevention computer database. She’s new, and doesn’t have a file.”

“You think the abductor knew this?”

“Yes. Which leads me to my final conclusion. Someone on the inside, an employee of the school, was waiting for this kind of situation, and abducted this little girl.”

Heller sat up in her chair like she’d been hit with a cattle prod. “But parents come into the school every day. Couldn’t one of them have grabbed her?”

I shook my head.

“How can you know this for certain?”

“Your school has one entrance, and there’s a security guard in a golf cart parked next to it,” I said. “He would have seen them leave. One of your staff did this.”

“Oh, God,” she said.

“I’m guessing the girl was moved to an empty room inside the school, given a mild sedative, and then hidden.”

“Hidden how?”

“She might be in a closet or a locker.”

“But that’s barbaric.”

“The person who did this does not care about Angelica’s wellbeing. He plans to sell her and collect his money.”

“So you believe Angelica’s still in the school.”

“Yes. Once the police leave, her abductor will change Angelica’s appearance, put her into the trunk of his car, and go see the buyer.”

Heller shut her eyes and took a deep breath. What I had just described to her was inconceivable. Adults did not do this to little children. I had to bring her back to earth, and I loudly cleared my throat. Her eyes snapped open.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“I’m not done,” I said.

“I’m sorry.”

“Who knew that Angelica was coming to school today?”

“Do you think one of them is responsible?”

“Please answer the question.”

“Let me think. Her new teacher knew, and Sally, my receptionist. I also spoke to the school doctor, since all new children are required to have checkups.”

“So four people knew,” I said.

“That’s only three,” Heller said.

“I’m including you,” I said.

Heller’s mouth dropped open, but no words came out. An uncomfortable silence filled the office. I pointed at the phone on her desk.

“Please round up the other three,” I said.

Heller called her receptionist, the school doctor, and Angelica’s new teacher, and asked them to meet us in the media room. Hanging up, she glared at me.

“Do you think that I might be implicated in this?” she asked indignantly.

“The four of you knew Angelica was coming to school today. That makes you all suspects until proven otherwise. It’s how missing kids investigations work.”

“Guilty until proven innocent.”

“That’s right.”

“So I shouldn’t take this personally.”

I nodded. Heller stood up, and came around her desk. Her movements were brisk, and I could tell she was pissed off.

“After all,” she said, “I’m the one who called the police.”

I followed her into the hall. She shut the door behind her, took a key from her pocket, and locked it. Watching her, I noticed something that I hadn’t seen before.

“You don’t have a sign on your door,” I said.

“I moved into the office last week. The sign’s on order.”

Heller started to walk down the hall. I remained behind, and stared at her blank door. She came back to where I stood.

“Are you coming?” she asked.

My mind was working hard now, seeing what I hadn’t seen before. I tore my eyes away from the door, and looked at her. “You said that Angelica’s mother appeared in your office yesterday morning. How did she know where to find you?”

“Someone must have brought her to me.”

“Any idea who?”

Heller shook her head.

I envisioned Angelica’s mother coming to the school the day before, and getting lost. An employee had come to her aid, and escorted her to Heller’s office. Along the way, they’d talked, and she’d talked about her daughter, while unwittingly passing along information-perhaps a nickname, or the name of a pet-that would let a stranger gain the child’s confidence. That was why Angelica hadn’t cried or kicked up a fuss when she’d left Heller’s office.

“Where would she have parked?” I asked.

“In the visitor’s lot in front,” Heller said.

“Is that the only place?”

“Yes.”

I thought about the security guard sitting outside in the golf cart. He would have seen Angelica’s mother yesterday, and, hopefully, the employee who had befriended her.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” I said.