It was a carefully worded answer, calculated to relieve their minds, since they worked in the building. It had the intended effect.
Then a boy raised his hand and asked whether the Hotline phones would be tapped.
Detective Croyden appeared to consider his answer before he gave it. Then he said, “The Hotline phones will not be tapped. Typically, phone tapping is done to allow the police to overhear conversations and to attempt to determine the location of the caller. Nancy has pointed out that if the phones are tapped, the Hotline could no longer claim that your conversations are confidential, and you would have to shut down for good. Although I believe that there would be some value from tapping the phones, we are not going to do it at this time. We will depend on you, the listeners, to file full reports for any calls that you consider to be suspicious.” He looked as if he might be going to say something more, but then he asked for the next question.
A few more people raised their hands and asked questions, but that didn’t produce any new information.
When the questioning stopped, Detective Croyden turned the microphone back over to Nancy, who said that Gail would explain how they would get the Hotline restarted. Gail was older than Nancy and a longtime Hotline employee. She had taken the job, which was part-time, as a sort of second career after her children had left home. She was beloved by all the listeners. And because she was in good shape, she looked younger than her years as she approached the lectern.
First, Gail said a few words about Joy. Then she said, “The security of the Hotline has been compromised to some extent by the news reports. It is possible to piece together from the reports which building we are located in. Not everybody will make the connection but, unfortunately, the people most likely to make it are the ones we least want to. The good news is that our office number hasn’t been publicized. And of course, we aren’t listed on the building’s list of tenants.
“But still, you should be careful when you come to work. If anybody suspicious is loitering near the building, report them to the guard. The guard will call Detective Croyden. We don’t want people following any of us up to our office. Fortunately, a lot of young people frequent the mall, so it is fairly easy for you teens to get lost in the crowd.
“As for the new rules, we haven’t completely finalized them yet, but the emphasis is on security. Therefore, at least two people must work the four-to-seven and the seven-to-ten p.m. shifts. On the late shift, at least one of the listeners must be male. If we can’t get the required listeners for these shifts, we will cancel the shifts. The listeners will walk to their cars together. On the seven-to-ten shift, the male will make sure any female listeners have safely left the area before he leaves. That means staying with someone who is waiting for a ride until that person’s driver arrives. And you will still use the guard as an additional escort after the seven-to-ten shift.”
Gail talked a little about the procedure for signing up to work, and then she said, “I would like all the male listeners to meet with me on the stage right now.”
Because he was sitting in an end seat, Tony was the first one to mount the steps to the stage. Over the next few minutes, between twenty-five and thirty other men and boys came up on the stage. Most of the female listeners clustered in front of the stage to sign up for shifts and talk to Nancy and Detective Croyden. Almost nobody left.
Gail ushered the males over to a corner of the stage, away from the chatter of the others. As they clustered around her, she said, “I realize we’re putting a lot of pressure on you guys. In a way, we’re implying that you’re not in any danger, which you realize is not completely true. So, if any of you have doubts about this or want to talk about it, now’s your chance.”
Tony looked around at the others. He estimated that four of them were adults. At least two were older than he was.
One of the older men said, “I have a license to carry a gun. I could bring it with me to the Hotline.”
Gail shook her head. “No, Dick, no guns in the Hotline office. We don’t want an armed camp. Or the risk of a shootout. Although there’s no evidence that the suspect used a gun.”
But there was also no evidence that he hadn’t used a gun. He certainly had a persuasive method of getting Joy into the park. Tony didn’t necessarily agree with the no gun policy, but as the new kid on the block, he figured he’d better keep quiet. But he had another question. “I assume different guards work the evening shift on different days. Have the police taken a look at all of them?”
“Nancy and I have talked at length to Detective Croyden about the guard situation,” Gail said. “And also to the building management. We would not have reopened the Hotline if we hadn’t been convinced that the guards were completely trustworthy.”
Gail had a positive way of talking that made you believe her. And Nancy did too. If they thought that the guards were reliable, Tony would take their word for it. There was some further discussion about safety procedures, which Tony used as an opportunity to glance around at the other men and boys. Most of them looked as if they could handle themselves in a fight. One of the boys was quite small, but he had a determined look in his eye. None of them talked about quitting the Hotline.
When they finished talking, they went back to the front of the stage where the signup sheets were located. Tony noticed that the teens filled most of the weekend slots quickly, since they didn’t have school those days. At first he thought he’d sign up for the seven-to-ten shift once a week, but after some hesitation, he ended up putting his name down for Mondays and Fridays for the rest of September.
CHAPTER 6
Tony kept a wary eye out for any suspicious people as he entered the building to work his first shift since Joy’s murder. There were the usual customers entering the shops in the mall, but nobody seemed to have any interest in him. Inside, he took the stairs two at a time to the third floor and was pleasantly surprised to find that he was not panting quite as hard as he had in the past. The workouts at the health club he had joined must be paying off.
The door to the Hotline office was locked, but it was now standard procedure to keep it locked after the office staff left for the day. He entered the combination to the lockbox and extracted the key. Upon entering the office, he saw two people, one male and one female, in the listening room, both on the phone. By the time he signed in, the man had ended his call.
The man walked out of the listening room and said, “We had some callers asking about Joy. Whether she worked for the Hotline. That’s how some people get their kicks. We told them we couldn’t give out any information.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Tony said. “I’m Tony.”
“Nathan.”
They shook hands. Tony noticed that Nathan didn’t look him in the eye. He remembered that Nathan had been at the Friday meeting. He guessed that the man was a few years older than he was, with sandy hair. Nathan was taller, but Tony was stockier. Nathan was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, in spite of the summer warmth.
“How long have you been on the Hotline?” Tony asked. It was a standard question.
“Six months.”
“This is my first shift without a mentor. I guess I’m about to lose my vir…”
Tony stopped in mid-word and Nathan laughed, a strange laugh that sounded like the cackle of a hen after laying an egg. “It’s okay; you can say it.”
The girl came out of the listening room, and when Tony gave his name, she introduced herself as Cecile. They shook hands. Most girls shook hands these days. Upon being assured that Nathan was walking out with Cecile, Tony went into the listening room and appropriated the table he liked best-the one facing the window.