Call Of The Witch (32 page)

“
We saw him drop
something.”

Dominic asked, “Could he have dropped
something other than the money?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
Wouldn’t matter,” said
Carlos. “Whatever it was, it should still be there.”

“
Not if it was an empty
paper bag. That would have floated downstream.”

“
It wasn’t,” I said. “It
was the money. I saw it.” I nudged Dominic’s elbow off the railing.
“Get down there and find it. Maybe it’s under the bridge a little
ways.”

Dominic hurried to the end of the bridge and
slid down the shallow embankment. As he waded into the water
towards the center of the creek I asked Carlos, “Is it possible
someone came up the creek, I mean right in the water in a stoop
like Brit suggested, or maybe on a floatation device of some
sort?”

“
No.” He sounded certain.
He pointed at the group of cops packing gear into the SWAT team
truck. “Nicholson was up on the roof of the theater. He had a
sniper’s rifle with a scope and a direct line of sight up the
creek. From his vantage point, he could see everything. Nobody
could have slithered upstream without him seeing it.”

“
Maybe he did.”

“
What, see someone coming
upstream?”

“
Yes.”

“
Tony, no. Not Nicholson.
He’s a family man. I’ve known him for years.”

“
Carlos, so have I, but
even a family man sometimes yields to temptation.”

He shook his head emphatically. “Then that
just goes to prove what I’ve been saying. You don’t know people
like I know people. Nicholson’s a good man.”

“
All right.” I splayed my
hand out over the water. “Then you explain what happened to the
money.”

He didn’t answer. Instead, we both turned our
attention to Spinelli, who was directly below us now. He had
covered every inch of the creek bed in a ten-foot radius beneath
the hand railing. “It’s definitely not here,” he said.

“
Well then what the hell
did Lionel drop into the water? I saw the splash.”

“
Wait a second.” Spinelli
bent down lower until his face was nearly in the water.

“
What is it?”

He cupped his hands to shield the glare of
the sun. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“
What? What do you
see?”

He began a slow walk toward the underside of
the bridge, still looking down, studying the water.

“
Dominic. What do you
see?”

He straightened his back some, not
completely, but enough to peer under the bridge in a crouch, his
hand now on his brow to visor the sun.

“
You’re not going to
believe this.”

“
Believe what?”

He pointed at the creek bottom and gestured a
sweep of his hand as if indicating a straight line running under
the bridge. “I think I see the markings of a dragline.”

“
A what?”

“
Someone has pulled
something through the sand here recently.” He pointed again.
“There’s a clear trail through the pebbles and sediment. I think….”
He rocked his head back to look up at us. “I think someone pulled a
dragnet through here.”

“
What are you talking
about?”

He spread his arms wide. “A net, Tony. Like a
cast net. I think the kidnappers laid one out here below the
railing. They probably covered it up with an inch or two of sand so
no would see it. I bet when Lionel dropped the money into the
water, it landed right in the center of the net. Then, when he
walked away….” Dominic gestured a pulling motion with both hands as
if reeling in a line. “The kidnappers simply hauled in their
catch.” He shaded his eyes again, ducked below the arch of the
bridge and pointed upstream. “I bet if we look about a hundred
yards upstream there, beyond the culvert, we’ll find the rope and
net.”

I pushed away from the railing, looked at
Carlos and shook my head, disbelieving that we had been outsmarted.
“What do you make of that?” I asked. His expression seemed somehow
inappropriate. And I couldn’t be sure, but I thought he was forcing
back a smile. I hit him on the chest. “What?”

My question gave life to his smile. “Told you
it wasn’t Nicholson.”

After helping Spinelli from the water, the
three of us drove around the overgrown field to the north of the
creek. We found a small break in the rough vegetation and followed
a foot trail back to the water. There, as Spinelli predicted, we
found a six-foot cast net, five-hundred feet of line and an empty
leather bag.

“
Unbelievable,” Spinelli
remarked. “That’s just too damn clever. What do we do
now?”

“
We call forensics in.” I
pointed at the ground around our feet. “And we get the hell out of
here. Look at all the footprints we’ve made already.”

“
And look at those” said
Carlos. He pointed at a set of footprints that seemed enormous
compared to the ones we made, which is saying a lot, considering
the size of Carlos’ feet.

“
What do you make of
that?” I asked.

Spinelli said, “They look like clown’s feet.
Who wears shoes that big?”

“
No one.”

“
Sasquatch,” said
Carlos.

Dominic laughed at that. “Sasquatch doesn’t
wear shoes.”

“
Sasquatch doesn’t have a
need for $300,000 either,” I said. “Let’s get a team out here to
collect evidence. Then I think we should––”

“
Wait!” Dominic held his
finger up to stop me. “My phone’s vibrating.”

“
Lucky you,” said
Carlos.

“
No, Brittany’s
calling.”

“
Why is she calling you
and not me?”

“
Or me?” I
said.

“
Hello?” Dominic held the
phone to his ear with one hand while silencing us with a splayed
palm on the other. “Yes?” He was looking down, but his eyes were
hyper-wide open. “You’re kidding! Really? Oh, gosh, that’s great.
That’s really great! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ll tell
them right away.”

He hung up, and before we could ask him
anything, he blurted out, “She’s safe! We have her! We have Kelly.
She’s all right!” And then he started to cry. “She’s all right,
Tony.” His expression pulled at his face in all contorted ways as
he tried to remain composed. They dropped her off on a street
corner. She’s okay. She’s….” He trailed off and then lost it.

“
I know. I heard,” I said.
I put my arm around him and gave him a great big hug. He collapsed
onto my shoulder and let it all out.

“
Carlos!” he said,
reaching out to pull him into the fold. Tears were parading down
his face like rain. He was laughing and crying at the same time.
“She’s all right, Carlos. She’s all right.”

I saw that Carlos’s eyes were pooling, too.
“I know,” he said. “I heard. Isn’t it wonderful?”

For a moment––for a glorious moment or two,
the three of us just stood there in a tight huddle; Spinelli crying
like a baby. Carlos trying not to cry like a baby. And me…. I don’t
know. I might have cried a little like a baby.

We called and waited for a member of
forensics to come and secure the scene before we high-tailed it
down to the hospital. By the time we got there, Kelly had already
been moved to a private room. Doctors had examined her and declared
her physically well. She showed no signs of maltreatment,
malnutrition and best of all, no indication whatsoever that she had
been molested. Experience told me, however, that her mental health
would require extensive monitoring before anyone could pronounce a
similar prognosis in that respect. Still, for a young lady so
bright and well-adjusted, I didn’t imagine the scars would run all
that deep.

After a brief family reunion, I asked Carlos
if he would take the Brewbakers downstairs for coffee while I
interviewed their daughter.

“
Why don’t you ask Dominic
to do that?” he complained.

“
He’s processing evidence.
Collecting Kelly’s clothes, documenting the hair and fingernail
clippings we gathered….” I made a face I knew he wouldn’t like,
“examining her undies.”

He reciprocated with a similar facial
expression. “What about Brit?”

“
No. I want her here. It’s
best if I have a female in the room with me when I interview
Kelly.”

“
Yeah, yeah, a woman’s
touch. I get it.”

“
Glad you understand.
Besides, the Brewbakers are your friends. I think they’ll be more
comfortable downstairs with you?”

“
All right. Fine, I said
I’ll go.”

Dominic stepped from the elevator, toting a
large, kitchen-sized plastic evidence bag and a medium-sized manila
envelope filled with Kelly’s belongings. “All finished bagging and
tagging,” he said.

Carlos made a gesture of disapproval now that
Dominic was back, but I shut him down with a stare. He left without
protest and escorted the Brewbakers down to the cafeteria.

I said to Dominic, “Did you get
everything?”

He held up the large plastic bag. In it were
Kelly’s clothes, as well as other smaller plastic bags marked and
dated in red ink. “This is everything she was wearing; pants,
shirt, jacket, shoes and what have you, plus some of her personal
effects.” He then held up the envelope. “And in here, I’ve isolated
some interesting samples.”

“
Oh?”

“
Yeah, I was able to
collect a few pieces of straw from her pant cuff. Forensics should
be able to tell us if they match the samples you and Carlos
collected at Haywood’s ranch.”

“
Good job.”

“
Oh, and I also found
this.” He pointed through the layers of plastic in the big bag to
what looked like a bus token. “I don’t know if it means anything,
but I thought I’d mention it.”

“
Okay, I’ll ask Kelly
about it.” I turned to Brittany. “Now tell me about her
release.”

She glanced across the room at the young girl
dressed in a pink hospital gown and slippers. Dominic and I
followed her gaze. We saw Kelly sitting on the edge of her bed,
staring out the window, seemingly entranced by the late morning sun
reflecting off the duck pond outside. She looked smaller in person.
Even after seeing her picture, I hadn’t imagined her so small and
frail looking. I remember Lionel Brewbaker called her his little
Peanut. I guess that nickname fit.

“
She’s a brave little
girl,” Brittany said, shaking her head faintly. “I was with the
Brewbakers when the call came in. Witnesses say she stumbled out of
an alleyway, still blindfolded, her hands tied in front of
her.”

“
Did anyone see her
getting dropped off?”

“
No. No one saw anything.
A shop owner at the end of the alley spotted her after she tripped
over a trash can and fell onto the sidewalk. He rushed over to her.
After making sure she was all right, he called 911 and well, you
know the rest.”

“
And the entire time you
were with Amanda Brewbakers, did she make any phone
calls?”

“
Not a one.”

“
Anyone call
her?”

“
No.”

I looked at Dominic. “I’ll check Lionel’s
phone records this afternoon,” he said.

Brittany said, “Lionel didn’t call
anyone.”

“
He could have while he
was driving to and from the ransom drop.”

“
You think he
did?”

“
I don’t know. We have to
check everything. Let’s talk to Kelly first. See what she has to
tell us.”

Brittany walked into the room. I followed.
Dominic came in behind me. We approached Kelly from behind, and the
first words out of her mouth convinced me that we were dealing with
no ordinary nine-year-old.

“
Detective Olsen,” she
said. “You brought company.” She turned and smiled at us. Her face
and hands were still dirty with grease, probably from the van. But
that didn’t take away from the shine in her eyes when she spoke.
“Detectives Marcella and Spinelli, I presume.”

“
That’s right,” I said.
“How did you know?”

She gestured toward the window. “I saw your
reflection in the glass.” She gave Brittany a nod. “I’ve already
met Detective Olsen. She told me that the other two detectives
helping my Uncle Carlos find me were very handsome.”

“
Did she?” I looked at
Dominic. He seemed as genuinely impressed by this spirited little
angel as I was. “Well, she’s too kind, isn’t she?”

“
Actually,” Brittany said,
“I told her only one of you was very handsome. The other, I said,
only thought he was.”

The two girls laughed. I told them, “We’ll
just let it go at that.” I pointed to the edge of the bed next to
Kelly. “Is it okay if I sit down here?”

She scooted over some. “Be my guest.”

“
May I ask you some
questions?”

“
You may,” she said
politely. “But I’ve already answered a lot of questions. I’m not
sure if I can help you much.”

“
That’s okay. Anything you
can tell us will be just fine. Now then, I want to start with what
happened Saturday afternoon, when you were taken. Do you remember
much of that?”

I watched as her expression hardened, so much
so, I thought she might freeze up on me. But she didn’t. She let
her eyes settle on a spot in the corner that seemed infinitesimally
small, perhaps as small as her desire to remember that day at
all.