Angela✓

Chapter 13 : Interrogated

"I have already told you. He told me to do this...",James explained in the interrogating room as Martin watched him through the screen from outside.

"He called me and told me to do this. Why don't you believe me?",he said as he was seated inside the interrogation room with Sandra who stared at him in confusion.

"Actually I haven't slept properly since the last few days..",she said as she sat infront of James.

"So it's hard to put everything together in my head. Will you repeat that again, please?",she said.

"You're making me repeat that again and again so that I make a mistake and you nail me but that won't happen, ma'am because I'm telling the truth. It won't change no matter how many times I say it"

Sandra left a breath when she leaned closer and she said with a slight smile:

"You seemed to be very familiar with interrogation methods. How?"

James nodded in disappointment.

"By the way, you don't need to worry, Mr James. This time, I'm going to write it down. Rahul! get me a pen and a paper please..",she called out for the assistant. The latter came and gave her what she needed.

"So, you received a call from him?"

"Yes"

"And then?"

"He told me to drive at an isolated road where there will be an empty warehouse. I was left confused when he disconnected the call. That was when I heard Ronnie screaming for my help. I looked around my surrounding until I found out that he was inside the warehouse. I swiftly entered the dark room but I couldn't see Ronnie. I could hear his voice when I saw a little boy sitting at a corner in a yellow shirt. I thought I finally found Ronnie but it was actually a speaking doll. I angrily thrown it back on the ground and I felt so helpless when I heard Ronnie's voice again. He was around me but I couldn't see him. Do you even know how I felt?",he explained when he took a deep breath and continued.

" I searched for him everywhere in the room when I find a recorder attached to a speaker where the voices of Ronnie could be heard. That was when I realise it was all a prank. Frustration ran down my spine, I thrown the recorder on the floor and I started sobbing. Suddenly, the door of the warehouse closed by itself. I screamed and call out for Ronnie but I was trapped inside the room. I kept yelling for help but no one came. I don't know how long I was locked up in there. There was no way to escape. I kept looking in the dark for a while until I fell asleep. When I woke up, the door of the warehouse was opened. I trudged and looked outside. I don't know who opened it for me. I was confused. I was about to get in my car when I noticed a letter on the seat. The paper had an information for me and it read :

"You got thirty minutes! Wear the uniform and go to the place programmed in the GPS. A minute late and the child dies!" in computerized font.

Sandra stared when she gave him a small bowl of cigarette.

"Am I allowed to smoke here?",he asked in confusion.

"No. But there's no one to complain either",she scoffed.

James took out a pack of cigarette from his pocket when he searched for a lighter. Sandra was drinking a glass of water when she came towards him and sat on the table where she lightened up the cigarette from his mouth.

"Thank you.."he said.

Sandra returned him a sharp look when James defended:

"Please believe me. He still has Ronnie with him. You are wasting your time. You still can save him, please.."

"Where's your car?",asked Sandra clearly not paying attention to his words.

"Don't know...I left it outside the railway station"

"And your mobile?"

"When I was crossing the hooghly bridge, he called again. He told me to throw away my phone. I asked him where Ronnie was and he said there was a bag in the boot of the car which I must exchange at the railway platform. Later, I must run at the end of the station and throw it across the wall on the other side. I was about to throw the bag when you caught me"

"He also said that...if I succeed in throwing the bag....I will find Ronnie on the other side of the wall...",he stared down sadly and smoked.

"And you believed him?",Sandra said as she leaned forward to him.

"But..Did I had a choice??",he replied back when he smoked and started wiping his eyes of tears.

"You can cry later. First finish your cigarette. My officers will be here soon and they are not as generous as me"

To this, he smoked one last time and rubbed the cigarette butt on the bowl. Sandra rapidly took it away when she came out from the interrogation room where she faced Martin:

"Seem like the same brand",she said but she catched Martin not paying attention to her. The guy was still staring at James, totally lost in his thoughts.

"You should be happy, Father Martin. We finally found your kidnapper",she interrupted.

Martin shook his head in disbelief when he said:

"I'm quite happy. I'm happy of the way you handled it but I feel something is wrong"

Sandra glared at him when she frowned and abruptly left without replying. Martin stared at her as she walked away.

•••

He sat while drinking a cup of tea at the eatery when he studied every name in his notebook. After he was done, he decided to look for each and every person whose name was in the paper. He went on walking and he went on his search the whole afternoon. He sat in the bus when he crossed out all the unwanted names in his diary. He felt tired for such a long journey. But he ought to himself to not give up. It became tough for him to learn about all the information about each and every person from the list. He had to intruded in unknown places, dealed with people who denied to help him, bribed others just to get a glimpse of information he could get but at the end of the afternoon, John was grateful that he have at least made a move rather than sitting back and not doing anything. Day by day, he felt like he was getting closer to the kidnapper.