The Love of Money Part 4
posted October 20, 2009 - 12:47pm
Officer McFaiden turned back to the whiteboard and began explaining its contents to Jesse. On the upper left-hand side of the board was a timeline, on which there were several large gaps. Below the timeline was a list of facts about Matt, a recent photo of him,
and some theories about what had happened to him and where he might be. The lower right-hand side of the board contained other facts about the case; such as Matt’s request for 5.5 million dollars, and his call to Jesse’s workplace, Highsburg Borgen and Burke’s Accounting Firm. Above that, in the upper right-hand corner, was a little map printout which turned out to be of the immediate area where Matt’s house was situated. Under the map, photos were posted and these looked like they might be of Matt’s property. Jesse wasn’t sure though, because she had never actually been to his place.
A picture of his truck, a silver 2006 Ford F150, and a close up of his licence plate number stood out to Jesse. The photograph showed his truck in the driveway of his home, and there was no doubting the truck was his; the licence plate number was Matt’s—ABZY•395.
Jesse stood up, knocking her chair aside in her haste, and startling Officer McFaiden.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Why is his truck at his house? That’s Matt’s house, right? If he’s gone, why is his truck still there?” she asked shakily, afraid to admit to herself what she was thinking. It couldn’t be…no. Matt wouldn’t do this, her mind argued with itself.
“Boy, you’re sharp, Jesse. I was getting to that. We only got photos of the property, which I assume, belongs to him, given the address you gave us. We couldn’t search the place, because we didn’t have a warrant, but it’s curious, isn’t it?”
“I would think so. He’s in trouble; why wou—oh, I get it!” A thought suddenly struck Jesse. “Maybe his captors did that on purpose, so as not to raise suspicion with the neighbours. Neighbours!!! Did you question the neighbours to see if there were any suspicious activities in the last few days?”
“Whoa, whoa, girl! Slow down! You’re getting ahead of me.” Officer McFaiden attempted to hide a smile, but did not succeed. “Besides, I haven’t had time to question the neighbours, because I only started working on this case last night. But that is my next step.”
“Sorry. I guess I got a little carried away.” Jesse said sheepishly. “I’ve never worked on a police case before, and I watch a lot of cop shows on TV, so I get ideas from there.”
Officer McFaiden grimaced. “You know those shows make our jobs out to be way more exciting then they really are right?” Jesse nodded. “But they do allow the public to know some of our methods in finding and solving crimes. I guess that is a good thing in one sense, but it’s definitely bad in another.” He sighed.
“How do you mean, sir?” Jesse asked curiously.
“Well, I don’t think police should be more powerful then the people in some ways, because power tends to corrupt. In this way it’s good that the public knows what we’re about, what we do, how we solve crimes. But on the other hand, the bad eggs in the public who gain this knowledge can use that information to get away with crimes, which makes our job harder. For that reason, it would be better sometimes if the public didn’t know our methods so well. It’s a double edged sword, really.”
Jesse looked away. She was beginning to get a sick feeling in her stomach. No, please, no Matt, she thought. She knew something was off, and the more she thought about it, the more it made sense. But maybe Officer McFaiden would unearth something that proved her wrong. She was an amateur after all, how could she possibly be right about this? She was definitely taking Officer McFaiden’s advice and taking stress leave from work. All the worrying was getting to her, and she was afraid that it was making her crazy. She had to stop imagining things. But am I imagining things?, she wondered.
As Officer McFaiden continued to explain the items on the whiteboard to Jesse, he noticed a change in her demeanour. Pausing with his arm midair, he asked, “Everything alright, Jesse?”
Jesse looked at him absent mindedly for a minute before responding. “What?”
“I said, is everything okay? You look like you are miles away.”
“Oh! Oh yeah, everything is fine. I’m sorry. Short attention span. Sometimes my mind wanders.” She brushed him off.
“Are you sure? You sure you don’t have an insight into this case? Cause it kinda looked like you had a sudden thought when you saw the photo of the truck.”
“I’m sure, Officer McFaiden. Now, let’s get on with the case. I promise I will pay better attention. I’m sorry.”
“Alright, if you’re sure.”
Officer McFaiden didn’t believe her. He was sure that the photograph of the truck had triggered something in her brain. He would just have to get it out of her later, another way.
After discussing the contents on the whiteboard for an hour, they finally decided what course of action to take next. Officer McFaiden was going to go back to Matt’s neighbourhood tomorrow, and question some of the neighbours. From there they would try to find a way to get a warrant to get into Matt’s house. Jesse was going to request a leave of absence due to stress, and take home a copy of everything on the whiteboard to see if she could think of anything that Officer McFaiden may have overlooked.
Abruptly, Jesse said, “But wait, weren’t you going to start with the firm? This morning on the phone you said you wanted to start there since some one had tried to get a large sum of money from the firm.”
“Yes, I did say that,” began Officer McFaiden. “But, believe it or not, you have helped me uncover an inconsistency with our theory about Matt being taken against his will.”
“What inconsistency is that?” Jesse asked, thinking to herself that she already knew.
“Well, his truck is in the driveway, the house looks perfectly undisturbed, and usually, in cases like this one, the captive is made to take his own vehicle.” Officer McFaiden looked meaningfully at Jesse. “I think it was a good call to get you on board with this case. We don’t usually do that, but I am gaining faith in your abilities. See you here same time tomorrow?”
“Sure. I’ll talk to my boss tonight. I scheduled a late supper with her for tonight, so I better get going.”
“Oh, and Jesse, I am going to get to the firm at some point, but for now I think it best to start with the neighbours. Agreed?”
Jesse smiled. “Agreed.” With that she stood up and sauntered out of the police station. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow. This case was starting to become interesting. Or was it?
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Comments
Theories to Ponder?
Well, I am about to begin answering some questions in the next segment. Keep your eyes peeled for it. For curiosity's sake, what theories do you have in mind? I am curious to know what you, the reader are getting out of this story. Thanks! :)
I am glad you are enjoying my story, Wdzzz.
The tension...
You have a way of filling a moment with a lot of ideas!
Will the next one answer some of these questions or give us more theories to ponder?
I guess I'll have to wait and see!
Another great installment...
Well written and a pleasure to read. Thank you for posting it.
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