The Child Thief

CHAPTER 2 : The Voice Messages

Next day at the police station was no different. There were reporters, parents of the kidnapped children and a lot more people again gathered around the police station to force the officers to speed up their investigation. The head officer, Robert Smith was working in his cabin and was very frustrated with the chaos caused by them but he did not wish to silent them this time. It wasn't the mistake of the reporters or the poor parents. What else could they do in this critical situation? Their only hopes lay on the police officers. And still, there was no concrete clue found on which the investigation would focus. The abductor behind all the recent kidnapping cases where the paper, like one given by Mr. Robinson to the police officer was found, was probably the same person. One thing regarding the case was sure, that the abductor was too intelligent. Kidnapping 10-13 year old kids isn't easy. First of all, the child could scream for help in any problematic situation. Second, they can use force to get free from the clutches of the culprit, though they might not be so strong to always do so, but then too, there should have been some voices heard or items dislodged while struggling with the culprit. But in this case, there wasn't anything like this seen at the place where the child disappeared. It was pretty strange. Another question was that how could the kidnapper get inside the house with doors and windows locked. The Robinson's mansion even had tight security. There were no signs of broken windows nor any footprints of the kidnapper or the child. Also, it can be believed that the kidnapper might have used chloroform for making the children unconscious so that the abductor would be able to carry them in his arms without leaving any footprints behind. Otherwise, why would any child go with the abductor by his or her own wish and put himself, perhaps unknowingly, in grave danger or how come there was no noise made during this entire incident. While Robert was thinking about it, there was a knock on the door of his cabin and his junior, Jack Davis came in. He was a well-built man in his thirties, always enthusiastically carrying out his duties and loyal to his seniors. Robert, was in his forties, muscular, good looking and bold. Jack was looking worried. "What's the matter? Why are you looking so anxious?", Robert asked him. "Sir, I have an appalling news regarding the kidnapping case. There have been calls from those childrens' parents few minutes ago. They were all extremely disturbed. They informed that they have received a voice message from an unknown number. And the voices were of none other than their own children crying and begging for help." On hearing this shocking news, Robert got up from his chair. "When did this happen?", he asked. "Just a few minutes ago, sir. I was checking the CCTV footages once again for some clue when I received a call from Mr. Robinson. He was crying hard while speaking and he told me about this whole thing. I asked him to send me the number from which the message had arrived. I will be soon checking the number and will try to find information about the person who sent the messages or atleast trace the phone's location. "Good, and what about the paper we had given for forensic, did they find ant fingerprints?" "No sir, there are no fingerprints on the paper except that of the children's parents. No other fingerprints match those on all the chits." "Just as I thought" said Robert scratching his beard. "And sir, while I was talking to him, other phones rang and the parents on the call informed about the same thing happening with them. And it's the same number which Mr. Robinson gave me." "This is weird. The question arises that why would the culprit do this. Why would he kidnap so many children first of all. There has also been no demand for money by the abductor. What might be his intension behind all this?" "It indeed is weird, sir. And also I noticed one thing while checking the footages and it seemed suspicious to me." He showed him the footage. "This man here, wearing a red cap, has been spotted in the footages near the Robinsons mansion area. And he looks in quite a hurry in the footage. I don't know why but his body language seems suspicious to me." "Then what are we waiting for? Get hold of this person and find more details about him. He can be a prime suspect or even the abductor!" "Ok sir." "And inform me immediately about the phone number if you find its owner. Meanwhile, I'll be going at Mr. Robinson's mansion to solve few of my queries which might give us an important lead in this case." The officer then headed to the mansion in car while his junior, Jack went to trace the phone number and get details about the man seen in cctv footage. But they need not take much efforts to find him for they met him soon enough. The officers were startled after knowing about him and their suspicion grew more stronger. Was he in any way related to this kidnapping or was there a more terrific truth hidden behind the walls of the mansion?