“Dr. Fibre’ll meet us there so he can get started on the forensics.” Harper flipped his phone closed.
Lane nodded. He thought about their next move.
“Even if the fibres and hairs are a match, it probably won’t be enough. We’ve got to get someone to testify.
With Bobbie, we’ll need more rather than less evidence.” “So, we need a witness. And, so far, we’ve only got two likely candidates,” Harper said.
“And both have disappeared. A bit too much of a coincidence,” Lane said.
“Talking with Tommy Pham is the next step, then,”
Harper said.
They got the call thirty minutes later.
Lane and Harper sat side by side at the conference table. The clock on the wall showed 5:00 PM. Tommy Pham’s office was occupied by a group of lawyers in a renovated house north of the river. The house looked down onto Chinatown. The sun shone in the window, and they squinted at the Lion’s Bridge.
“How old is Tommy?” Lane asked.
“Maybe thirty,” Harper said.
“So, he’s a recent grad,” Lane said.
“Where are you goin’ with this?” Harper asked.
“It’s just that he’s doing very well for a lawyer who graduated in the last couple of years,” Lane said.
“So?” Harper looked sideways at Lane.
“Uncle Tran runs a restaurant, offers financial aid to the community, and it looks like he set Tommy up in this place.” They looked at the oak finish on the walls, solid-oak table, and oak armchairs. “Uncle Tran must sell a tonne of satay.”
Tommy opened the door. He was followed by Jay
Krocker and Uncle Tran. The three sat across the table from Lane and Harper.
“Please close the blinds,” Harper said.
Tommy pressed a button under the table. A motor whirred. The blinds closed. They made very little difference. Lane and Harper were forced to squint into slightly-shaded sunlight.
Lane smiled and waited. In times like this, he thought, the only thing to do is wait. We’re being put at a disadvantage, so we wait. Let them make the next move.
Harper looked at Lane, then across the table at Tommy who wore a grey suit and red tie.
The silence of the first minute stretched into five.
“I’ve got an appointment at 5:30,” Tommy said.
Lane nodded. He thought, Pissing contests can be so tedious.
Uncle Tran smiled. “We have limited time, gentlemen. A child is in danger.”
Lane forced himself to sit still and wait some more.
Harper inhaled and leaned forward.
“We would like to know if you are interested in the whereabouts of Cole Reddie?” Tommy asked.
“Of course.” Lane watched Jay shift in his chair.
“What will happen to the child if he’s released into your custody?” Tommy asked.
“That depends,” Lane said.
Harper leaned closer to Lane and said, “Protective custody?” “We have reason to believe the child will be in
danger if returned to his mother,” Tommy said.
“It’s very important you be specific with your reasons,” Lane said.
Jay looked at Tommy who nodded back.
Jay said, “He talks in his sleep. Cole says, ‘Mommy, don’t put Kaylie in the trunk. Please Mommy, why won’t she wake up?’ He says it over and over again.” Jay’s eyes were all at once pleading and resigned as he looked at the officers. “When I was fifteen, Bobbie burned our house down and killed my parents. I kept quiet because she threatened me and Cole.”
“Did she ever confess to you?” Lane asked.
“She told me she was afraid Cole would die in his sleep. I told you this before. It’s the way my sister makes threats. She was telling me that Cole would die, if I told anyone that she’d started the fire in my parents’ house,” Jay said.
“There is another matter. Jay is voluntarily surrendering the child. He has no interest, whatsoever, in the reward offered for the safe return of Cole Reddie. Jay’s only interest is in the safety of his nephew. Our interest,” Tommy nodded at Uncle Tran, “is in the safety of Cole and Jay.”
“Speaking of interests, we’re interested in Uncle Tran. So far as I can tell, he doesn’t exist,” Harper said.
There was a prolonged silence around the table.
Uncle Tran smiled.
Tommy looked at Harper as if the cop had just crapped in the punch bowl at the mayor’s year-end bash.
Lane thought, Don’t let this fall apart before the child is safe! “Right now, our major concern is the safety of Cole and Jay. Both will be placed in custody.”
“You are guarantying that both Cole and Jay will be placed in protective custody?” Tommy asked Lane as if Harper had disappeared from the room.
“Jay may be charged with abduction. Whether we like it or not, there are some things beyond our control,” Lane said.
Tommy looked at Uncle Tran. Tran shook his head from side to side.
“We need your assurance that Jay will not be charged. His only thought was to protect the child from a deadly situation,” Tommy said.
Uncle Tran is one tough negotiator, Lane thought.
“I’ll need to make some phone calls.” Lane got up and motioned for Harper to follow. They stepped outside and closed the door. In the hallway, Lane pulled out his phone and said to Harper, “What the hell did you ask that question for?”
“I can’t find any record of Uncle Tran. He doesn’t exist,” Harper said.
“Next time we’re in a situation like this one, leave out questions like that.” Lane speed-dialed.
“I don’t think we’ll be in a situation like this again,”
Harper said.
They returned five minutes later. Tommy and Uncle Tran were speaking Vietnamese. Jay looked like he had aged a year.
“Both Jay and Cole will be placed in protective custody,” Lane said.
Jay took a deep breath.
“Will they be together?” Uncle Tran asked.
“What?” Harper asked.
“While you were outside, we received a call. The child is becoming very agitated without his uncle. Will the child be kept with Jay?” Uncle Tran asked.
“Man you got a pair on you,” Harper said.
“What did you say?” Tommy asked.
Uncle Tran smiled.
Lane said, “I’ll see to it. Now, where is the child?”
“Will Jay be charged?” Uncle Tran asked.
Lane said, “No. Now, where is Cole?”
“Very close,” Tommy said.
Lane drove down Centre Street and over the Lion’s Bridge. Harper sat in the back with Jay on one side, and Cole in the middle.
The red hair is a nice touch, Lane thought. He noticed the haunted look of the child’s eyes.
“I know you,” Cole said, looking at Lane.
“Yes, we’ve met before,” Lane said.
“Are you feeling better?” Cole asked.
“Pardon?” Lane asked.
“You got sick outside of my house,” Cole said.
“I’m better now.” Lane thought, Jay’s right about this kid.
“Good,” Cole said.
They turned east. When they arrived at the station, the cameras and reporters were waiting.
“How’d they know?” Jay asked.
Harper said, “You tell me. Scanner, probably. They listen in on our communications. It’s like a game, and they’re always up to new tricks. Might as well make the best of it.”
“Smile everybody.” Lane put the turning signal on and slowed to a crawl.
The car was surrounded by reporters, cameras, and microphones. Lane concentrated on looking ahead and moving forward without running anyone over. The camera flashes were mostly to his right and left, so he wasn’t blinded.
Harper, Jay, and Cole weren’t as lucky. Cole sat bewildered by the entire experience. One photograph caught Jay attempting to shield his eyes from the lights and camera flashes. It froze his hand over his eyes where it appeared he was attempting to mask his identity. It was not the image which made the evening news, but it did make the morning papers across the country. Then the story went international.