#Wattys2015 The Ghost of James Fitzpatrick

Chapter 34

Linda Netherby held the phone to her ear in the kitchen. It rang on the other end until a female voice said "South Street Precinct, Officer Nichols speaking."

"Hi my name is Linda Netherby, my daughter and I met with a detective on Tuesday, his name is Sandberg. Is he available?"

"Let me put you on hold for a moment," said the voice on the other end.

Mrs. Netherby continued washing dishes with the phone cradled under her chin. The female's voice was back again.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Netherby, Detective Sandberg is not in the office at the moment. May I take a message for him?"

"Yes, please," replied Linda. "Let him know I phoned again. The last name is Netherby. I want to know if he has discovered anything new about my daughter's case."

"Ok, Mrs. Netherby. I will leave the message on his desk."

"Thank you," sighed Linda.

Linda stood quietly for a moment at the phone. She was deep in thought, obviously over the strange situation in which she and her daughter found themselves. She was fully aware that Detective Sandberg thought she and Sarah were a couple of nuts, which was not an easy thing for the ever practical Linda Netherby to digest.

Frank and Linda Netherby were about as 'no nonsense' as a couple could be; they were both hard workers and possessed a tremendous amount of integrity and character - qualities they had instilled in their children. She couldn't categorize her daughter's situation, but it sufficed to say, she was convinced of the authenticity of her daughter's dilemma. She simply believed her.

"James Fitzpatrick," she said, "what have you done to my daughter?"

B8R.