“Laurie!” Jack called out, with mild irritation that she was deliberately ignoring him. Picking up his speed, Jack pursued her. When he got to the end he could see the stairwell door was closing. Slapping it open, he could hear her footfalls descending below. In hot pursuit he reached the morgue level as the lower door was closing.
Laurie ran into the mortuary office. One of the techs was in the process of logging in a recently arrived body. “Where are you putting the bodies that have been coming in recently?” she demanded, out of breath.
“In the main cooler,” the mortuary tech said. He tried to ask Laurie whom exactly she was looking for, but Laurie was already gone, racing down the morgue’s composite-tiled corridor with her heels clicking loudly on its rock-like surface. Jack had joined up with her as she emerged from the mortuary office.
“What on earth are you doing?” Jack panted. “Why are we running?”
Laurie merely shook her hand to indicate she didn’t want to talk; instead, she concentrated on making a sharp left-hand turn in the corridor in her slippery leather-soled shoes. By the time she was at the main cooler, she had to skid to a stop. Grasping the meat locker- style latch, she pulled open the heavy, insulated door. Stepping into the cold, misty interior, she snapped on the lights, which consisted of bare bulbs in metal cages that cast complicated crisscrossing shadows over the scraped and soiled white walls.
Jack entered as well and let the door click shut behind him. He shivered momentarily in the chill. Laurie was yanking down the sheets covering the bodies near the door, exposing the corpses’ faces and upper chests. There were nearly twenty gurneys angled every which way, each with a shrouded body.
“Can I help?” Jack questioned. He was still in the dark as to what Laurie was doing, although having seen Warren upstairs, he was beginning to have a very disturbing idea.
Laurie didn’t answer. She was intent on exposing each corpse’s face and leaving it exposed as she went on to the next to avoid having to do it again. She had to move the gurneys around as she worked her way into the room.
Finally she hit pay dirt. As she flicked back a sheet, she caught her breath. It was definitely Leticia Wilson staring vacantly at the ceiling. Her pale, sallow face appeared nestled into a cumulus of dark, curly hair. The only defect other than the pallor was a small oval entrance wound in the center of her forehead, which to Laurie’s practiced eye angled downward toward the base of the brain.
Laurie slapped her hand over her mouth and shuddered. Jack put his arm around her.
“Oh my God!” he said.
“Where’s my baby?” Laurie questioned plaintively.
“Was that Leticia’s mother upstairs?”
Laurie nodded as if in a daze. She had no idea what to think. Was this truly happening, or was it some kind of nightmare trick that her mind was playing on her?
“Come on!” Jack said. “Let’s get Lou involved in this. We’re lucky he’s here.”
Jack led Laurie out of the cooler and to the elevator. “I’ll take you up to your office and then go down for Lou. Okay?”
Laurie nodded but didn’t speak. She tried not to think about where JJ was at that moment or what he was doing or how he was feeling. She wasn’t very religious, but she found herself bargaining with God for his safe return.
As if reading Laurie’s mind, when they got to her office, Jack said, “Try not to think too much until we get advice.” After taking JJ’s photo from the top of her desk and stashing it in a drawer, he got her to sit.
As quickly as he could, Jack went back to the registration area, where there were significantly fewer people. Family members had gone into the identification room while some of the other visitors had left. Jack found Lou and Warren sitting together on the couch. They both stood when they caught sight of Jack.
“Sorry about all this,” Lou said, as soon as Jack was in earshot. “Is Laurie holding up?”
Jack acknowledged Lou’s concern and said Laurie was extremely upset but hanging in there.
“I checked up on the situation while you were away,” Lou said. “JJ has been kidnapped. If it’s any consolation, the police are taking this very seriously, declaring it a major case with all that entails. Even the commissioner has been apprised. The whole force is participating, and they’ve already put out an Amber Alert. The entire city is going to know about this. I just talked with the current head detective running the case as the case agent. His name is Bennett, Mark Bennett. He’s out of the Major Case Squad using help from detectives from the Manhattan North Borough. He’s a good man, and you should be happy to have him on board. There are a number of other people involved as well, but Mark is the lead guy who will be pulling everything together.”
“What about the FBI?”
“The FBI has been alerted, too. Everyone is taking this very seriously.”
“So it’s definitely considered a kidnapping?”
“Absolutely,” Lou said. “A homicide and a kidnapping. Surprisingly, there was only one witness: a mother with her toddler. She was headed for the Hundredth Street playground when she glimpsed a gunman walk up to your nanny, shoot her, and with four accomplices calmly carry JJ and his stroller off to a waiting white van. The van’s already been located, thanks to the Amber Alert. It was found abandoned in Garden City and hauled off to a crime scene lab to be thoroughly processed.”
“Anything of interest obtained from the crime scene?”
“Crime scene unit is still working the crime scene. If there’s anything to be found, they’ll find it. I haven’t seen this kind of mobilization in years. There’s going to be enormous public interest.”
“Any demands yet from the abductors?”
“Not a word, which I must say is somewhat disturbing. Demands are healthy, if you know what I’m saying.”
“I can imagine,” Jack agreed.
“We need to get into negotiation with the bastards.”
“Why weren’t we notified earlier?” Jack asked. He wasn’t blaming, just questioning.
“Initially, the first responders had no identity on JJ, nor did they have it on the nanny, for that matter. She was not carrying any ID. They figured out who she was from her cell phone, and even that was more difficult than usual.”
“Let’s get back up to Laurie,” Jack said to Lou. “I don’t want her to be alone too long. If I know her, she’s probably going to blame herself for JJ’s disappearance.” He turned from Lou to say a fast good-bye to Warren, when Warren spoke up. “I know this is a difficult time, but I’d like to come with you. I want to assure Laurie that the family doesn’t hold her in any way responsible for Leticia’s death, despite what my aunt Marilyn said. She’s obviously distraught out of her mind.”
Although Jack was frantic and hardly thinking clearly, he tried to consider Warren’s request in view of what he thought Laurie’s best interests were. He almost immediately thought it would be good for her to hear what Warren wanted to say. Anything that could keep Laurie from falling into a self-critical despondency was going to help the situation. “Do you need to say anything to anybody before you leave here?”
“I don’t,” Warren said.
“Then come on up with us!”
As they ascended in the elevator, Warren told Jack what he knew while Lou called Mark Bennett back to say that the Stapletons were now aware of their child’s disappearance. Lou tried to keep his voice as quiet as possible.
“Where are they at the moment?” Detective Bennett asked.
“They are still here at OCME.”
“Ask them to get home ASAP,” Mark said. “We haven’t heard from the kidnappers, which worries me. I’m hoping they’ll initiate contact through the Stapletons’ home phone, and I want to get the phone wired up so we can listen in on it and also track the incoming calls. As you probably know, in child kidnap cases with no demands, seventy or so percent of them are dead in the first three hours.”
“Thanks for the information,” Lou said, making sure Jack was not l
istening in on his conversation and thinking that he would not pass on that particular statistic to Laurie and Jack.
“I just wanted you to know, since you said you’d be hanging around with them,” Mark added.
“I’ll get them home right away,” Lou promised. “And if you want to talk with me before then, you have my mobile number.”
“I have it, but I’m coming over to the Stapletons’ myself to make sure everything is done right.”
“Will you be willing to talk to the couple and explain everything that is being done on their behalf to retrieve their son?”
“Absolutely. Maybe I’ll call Henry Fulsome and have him drop by as well. Do you know Henry?”
“Can’t say that I do.”
“In my book he’s the best crisis negotiator the NYPD has. He has a hundred percent record of resolving hostage situations without the loss of a single life.”
“That sounds like something they’d love to hear. Of course, it means getting to the point of having a hostage situation to negotiate.”
“You’re right in that regard. We have our investigative work cut out for us. There’s no time to waste.”
Up in Laurie’s office the three men found her sitting at her desk, looking blank and pale, as the enormity of her situation had fully set in. She was holding the threatening letter, which she wordlessly passed on to Lou. Having reread it herself, she was even more embarrassed that she’d not taken it seriously. Lou read it quickly, shaking his head.
Warren stepped up to Laurie as she stood. They hugged for a moment, and then Warren apologized for his aunt’s behavior. Laurie managed to thank him and said she understood.
“I’m going to hang on to this letter,” Lou explained. “And now let’s head on to your house. I’ll explain what’s happening on the way.”
35
MARCH 26, 2010
FRIDAY, 7:20 p.m.
When Laurie, Jack, Warren, and Lou pulled up in front of Laurie and Jack’s town house they were surprised by the throng waiting for them. Cops were everywhere, standing on the stoop and the sidewalk, or waiting in their vehicles. Vans, police cars, and FBI vehicles filled the street.
Laurie braced herself for what was ahead. Since leaving OCME, her emotions had careened from one extreme to the other. One minute she’d felt victimized and despondent, and in the next she felt a kind of fierce anger. She was not going to allow kidnappers to take her child away.
As Laurie and the others climbed out of Lou’s car, Laurie forced herself to center on the fighting stance. Although feeling overwhelmed and powerless earlier, she was now eager to meet the case agent, whom Lou had described to her as he’d filled her in on the situation during the drive.
The initial introductions were carried out on the stoop. Mark Bennett had been first, a bear of a man who had come forward with his hand extended as Laurie came up the front steps. “I’m Detective Mark Bennett,” he said, shaking Laurie’s hand vigorously. “I’m a detective from the Major Case Squad, and I’m here to get your child back as soon as possible.” He then went on to introduce a number of other people, including crisis negotiator Henry Fulsome and a host of other people, other detectives, crime scene specialists, technicians, and even a special agent of the FBI. Laurie found herself impressed with the detective, who seemed to her a walking, talking crime deterrent who spoke of the perpetrators as cowards who needed to be rounded up and thrown into prison for the rest of their lives.
“I’m sorry we have to invade your home for a few days, ma’am,” Mark continued as they all entered the brownstone. “But we have to get to work to get your boy back, and time is of the essence. I’m particularly interested in getting our technicians to work on your phone line to wire it up and make both tracking incoming calls and listening in easy. We’re also going to put in our own entirely new additional phone line.”
“Please,” Laurie said, gesturing that the house was theirs. “We appreciate all of you being here. Do whatever is necessary.” She and Jack began taking coats and hanging them up in the closet when the phone suddenly rang. Instantly, all conversation stopped. Everyone turned to stare at the phone perched on its little mahogany console table.
“Mrs. Stapleton,” Mark said. “Answer it!”
With some hesitation, Laurie approached the phone. She grabbed onto it and looked at the detective for encouragement. Mark nodded and motioned for her to pick it up. When she did, she said a faltering hello.
“Is this Laurie Montgomery-Stapleton?” Brennan questioned. He tried to sound angry and impatient, as Louie had ordered. To his chagrin, his voice quavered. He was nervous.
“Yes,” Laurie said, requiring her to clear her throat. She was suddenly terrified and needed to reach out and lean against the wall to maintain her balance. She instinctively knew it was JJ’s abductor.
“We have your kid.”
“Who is this?” Laurie asked, struggling to sound authoritative but failing miserably.
“It doesn’t matter who it is,” Brennan said. He was now more successful in modulating his tone. “What’s important is that we have your kid. Would you like to talk with him?”
Laurie tried to respond but couldn’t, not with the force of tears that had suddenly threatened to burst forth.
“Are you still there, Mrs. Stapleton? I need you to speak. I cannot be on the line for more than a moment.”
“I’m still here,” Laurie managed. “I want my child back. Why did you take my child?”
“I want you to start to mobilize some cash, and I want you to do it quickly. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
“Do you want to talk to your child? I’m trying to be patient.”
“Yes, I do.” Laurie wiped tears from her eyes.
“Okay, you little brat,” Brennan said off-line. “Say hello to your mommy.”
There was silence.
“Maybe you’d better say hello to him,” Brennan said, coming back on the line. “I’ll put him on again.”
“Hello, sweetheart,” Laurie said, assuming the phone was being pressed against his ear. She was desperately trying to avoid crying. “It’s Mommy here. Are you all right?”
“Well, he’s smiling,” Brennan reported. “Whatever you said, he’s smiling. Should I shake him up a bit and get him to cry?”
“I want my child back immediately,” Laurie demanded. “Don’t shake him!”
“Getting your child back isn’t going to happen immediately, Mrs. Stapleton, but it could happen soon. It will be up to you if you are to get him back at all. You have to mobilize cash. Am I clear on that? We’re not going to require cash, but you’ll need cash to get what we’ll be demanding. You’ll be needing a lot of cash.”
“Yes,” Laurie managed with a shiver.
“And another thing. We don’t want you to work with the police. We know they are there at your home right this minute. Get rid of them. We will know if you don’t listen to us, and it will be your son who’ll suffer. We’ll send him to you a piece at a time.”
There was a pause. “I hope you’re taking this all in,” Brennan said, not waiting for Laurie to respond, “because I’m going to have to hang up. But there’s one more demand. I’ll be calling you back tomorrow, so I want you to be available at any time, day or night. Until then, have a nice evening.”
There was a final click. For a moment Laurie continued to hold the phone to her ear as she tried to get herself under control. She was afraid if she did anything, even move, she would break out in tears.
Mark stepped over, took the phone from her hand, and placed it back on its base. “I’m sure you don’t feel it this minute, but hearing from the abductors is a very positive development. We are truly relieved. It confirms what we had hoped: that this case is about kidnapping for ransom and not something else. When the kidnapping is for ransom, it is in the kidnappers’ best interest that the victim stays alive and healthy.”
36
MARCH 26, 2010
FRIDAY, 10
:41 p.m.
As the hour closed in on eleven o’clock, Laurie and Jack accompanied Detective Mark Bennett down the stairs to say good-bye when the detective declared that everything they needed to do had been accomplished. The most important thing was the Stapleton phone. It was now being monitored twenty-four-seven, and incoming calls could be traced from a bank of equipment in a small makeshift office set up in a guest room on the first floor.
“I’ll be checking in by phone in the morning,” Mark said, pausing at the front door. Except for the officer manning the communications equipment, who was going to stay all night, Mark was the last person from the NYPD to leave.
“Thank you for all you’ve done,” Laurie said. Not only had he supervised everyone else’s work, he’d taken the time to explain to Laurie and Jack everything that had been done up to that point. It started with the 911 dispatch of the first responders from Central Park Precinct Twenty-two, and the Manhattan North Patrol Borough, who had secured the crime scene, interviewed the only witness, initiated the process of declaring the Amber Alert, prepared the BOLO (Be On the LOokout) for a white van with six adult men and one infant, and established a leads-management folder at the NYPD’s Real Time Crime Center.
Mark had gone on to explain that after the first responders’ work had been done, an initial supervisory officer had dispatched an evidence collection unit as well as a crime scene unit while also reviewing the sex offenders registry in the area of the kidnapping and entering the case into the National Crime Information Center’s Missing Person File.
“It had been then that I got involved,” Mark had explained. “After both the police commissioner and the mayor’s office were briefed, the case was referred by the chief of detectives to the Major Case Squad, as well as the FBI, and Team Adam. As I’m part of the Major Case Squad and was available, I was assigned to run it. What I’ve managed to do with my staff so far is to debrief the first responders and the only witness, and review all the information that’s currently in the leads-management system at the Real Time Crime Center at One Police Plaza.”