Forgive the Godfather

15: Luke Dew interrogates Mr. and Mrs. Labo

"I'm going to ask you a few questions," Luke said, eyeing Labo who sat across from him at the dining table.

Labo's ball-shaped head bobbed several times. "I'm with you," he said, his globy eyes staring at Luke.

Luke picked up the pen that Labo had provided and pulled the piece of paper towards him. "What is your daughter's name?"

"Linda, that's her name," Labo said.

"How old is she?"

"Twenty-four. She celebrated her birthday only last week."

Luke's eyes showed interest. "Where did the celebration take place?"

"Queen's Garden, downtown," Labo said.

"Kidnappers are always acting on information. What can you tell me about your daughter? Her friends, where she hangs out, a boyfriend, or anything that could give us a lead as to who might be responsible for the kidnapping, or passing information to the kidnappers?"

Labo remained thoughtful for a few seconds. Then he let out a deep breath. "I must confess that I know little about her friends and her movements. I didn't know, think that she has a boyfriend. Perhaps my wife would know more about her in that regard. You know, being a woman, there are certain things that she won't discuss with me."

Luke didn't bother explaining to Labo that he had once ran into a man whose daughter confided all her secrets to her dad, while completely shutting out her mother. It was neither here nor there.

"I'm sure she has a cell phone," Luke said. "What is her number?"

"Who hasn't these days?" Labo said. "It was her phone that the man used to call me with."

As he was about to call out Linda's phone number, Labo hesitated. "You don't mean to call her, do you? I - I don't want that guy to suspect that I have gone to the police or anything like that. He threatened to harm her if I did."

"Kidnappers always say things like that," Luke said. "Criminals are perpetually afraid of the law. Of course I am not that dumb as to call her, all I'm doing is gathering all the information that I can lay my hands on."

Labo called out Linda's cell phone number while Luke noted it on the piece of paper. "Do you have a picture of her that you can share with me?"

Labo flipped through his phone's picture gallery. Then he looked up. "I think I found something. Take a look."

Luke glanced briefly at the picture. "Please forward it to my WhatsApp."

Luke waited while Labo tapped a few buttons on his phone and seconds later, Luke picked up Linda's picture on his phone.

He found himself gazing upon the picture of a dark, tall, comely young woman with long braids that reached her waist. She was posing in front of a silver colored Toyota mini truck, its plate number clearly visible.

'Does she own a car?" Luke asked.

"Yes she does," Labo said. "That's the car in the picture."

"Does Linda keep a routine?" Luke pried further, "Going to the movies, going to the hairdressers', hanging out, stuff like that."

Labo shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know details, but I know for a fact that she makes her hair every week or so. My wife will know the specific days and probably the specific hairdresser, if she has one."

Debra was walking down the stairs, she said, "I know that she goes to touch up her hair every week. I don't know about movies."

"Can you tell me the name of the hairdresser's, and where it is located?"