The Child Thief

CHAPTER 5 : The Stolen Phone!

This news left Robert utterly shocked. "What- what did you just say?", Robert asked again as if he couldn't believe his ears and that they were deceiving him. "Sir, I said that the number from which the parents got those voice messages-" "Yeah, I heard that part correctly, what did you say after that" Robert asked impatiently for confirmation. "Sir, that number is registered on Mrs. Robinson's name" Jack repeated finally. Robert's face now showed a mixture of emotions all at once. He couldn't conclude if he should be shocked or excited for getting a lead in this case. He stayed silent for a minute before finally speaking, "So is Mrs. Robinson somehow related to this? But why would Mrs. Robinson do such a thing with her own daughter? Do you think someone might have pressurised her to do this by threatening her?" Robert asked. He thought hard for a while and then suddenly jumped!

His face which previously showed disbelief and perplexity now illuminated with realisation; just like a student's when he recollects the exact answer in the exam hall. "Oh God, how can we even skip this crucial point? Do you remember hearing the voice notes clearly? If you heard those attentively, you would notice that all of them were in a soft but sharp voice..., resembling closely to that of Mrs. Robinson's." Jack thought hard to remember the voice and- "That surely didn't resemble with her voice, sir, because it was hers only! She does have that little bit of British accent while pronouncing the 'r's in some words like the one in those notes!" he said excitedly thinking that the case was detangling itself now and that all the scattered dots were now getting connected. But in a fraction of second, he showed no pinch of excitement all. "But what if-" Robert cut him off immediately, "What if what?" "What if her voice was extracted from her phone and is been used for creating those messages? This type of technique is quite common in high-profile cases." "But then why didn't the Robinsons tell us that the voice was similar to Mrs. Robinson? Or they were too scared to confront?" "Or maybe it was a threat or something else which will be answered by her only. Get the car ready Jack, we are going to their mansion." "Yes, sir!"

In just a few minutes they were standing at the entrance of the mansion which was guarded by tight security. Jack rang the bell but no one answered for long so he rang it twice again. Then they could hear hurried footsteps nearing the door and the turning of the knob and Richard's face peeped from the back of the door. "Sir, sorry I was busy in the kitchen. Please come in. Actually, Mrs. Robinson is not at home now. But, if you want I can call her and inform her about your arrival." "Yes, please do", Robert replied shortly. "Okay. Uh- anything serious, sir? Regarding the case?" , Richard asked eyeing both Robert and Jack carefully. "I would request you to wait till Mrs. Robinson's arrival." Why was Richard so eager to get the details when even his mistress was not present? He nodded and went towards the telephone in the far corner of the room to ring her up. Robert was quite restless now. This case had taken such an unexpectable turn that he quickly wanted all the answers to the questions arising in his mind which only Mrs. Robinson could answer. "Tell her it's urgent", he said. "Ok, sir", replied Richard dialing the number. After informing her, he went into the kitchen and got the officers water. As they drank it, Robert observed, that Richard was looking desperately at them. He thought that was because of their unexpected arrival.

Shortly after, a navy-blue Mercedes-Benz halted near the gate and Mrs. Robinson came scurrying inside. "Any news officer; about my daughter." "Nothing as such but we have got a piece of exceptionally fascinating information related to this case. We have come to know that the number from which the parents of the lost children and even your husband were getting those voice messages is very surprisingly, registered on your name, Ma'am." On hearing this and after processing this sentence again in her mind, she at last spoke loudly, "How can this be even possible? Are you accusing me?" Then cooling down she continued, "I guess there might have been some blunder-" "This information is entirely reliable. Now please tell us why did you do this or else we would have to, unfortunately, take you to the police station for strict enquiry", Robert replied sternly. It seemed Mrs. Robinson was thinking rapidly, her eyes moving real fast from Robert to Jake and then back to Robert. Finally, when she spoke, her voice was kind. "Can you show me that number for once, please?", she asked. Jack showed her the phone number and her reaction after that was instantaneous, as if she was being truthful. "Sir, this is my old number which I no longer use. What happened is that a few days back, my phone had been stolen, and I don't know how. Now, this is the number which I use. This phone has been given to me by my husband. He was the one who discovered first that my previous phone had been stolen.", she told him showing them a number from her phone. " And you and your husband didn't recognise the number. Quite surprising, isn't it?" Mrs. Robinson faked a weak smile, " We were so scared that we might have not noticed it. It's our daughter who's gone missing after all." "Tell me that exactly when did this incident of the phone happen?" "Before Anna got kidnapped", she replied hastily. "Okay, by the way, where is Mr.Robinson? Haven't seen him in a while. "Sir, these days he has made himself too busy to stop thinking about this whole lot. He's also seeing a doctor and having medication for anxiety. He returns very late at home."

******

"What do you think about Mrs. Robinson's statement, Jack?", Robert asked him. "I'm not so sure about it sir but if she's telling the truth, then the one who stole her phone and the kidnapper might be connected." "Yes, there is that possibility, but then too, it seems so filmy, doesn't it? Like very hard to believe that she lost her phone and didn't even notice it and these notes from her number." "But why didn't you ask her about the similarity between that voice note with hers?" "We ourselves don't have proof whether she has really spoken that. As of now, ask Mr.Robinson when he's free and can come here to meet." Saying so he settled into his rotating chair thinking just when an inspector came running in.