Unforgivable Crime

Chapter 9

Flak and Messer reached the station half and hour later. Both did not know what to expect. Why would Mr James want to stop by the police station? Did he want to lodge a compliant against them? No, if he wanted that he would have just filed a case against them. He had enough money to do what he pleased. No, if he was here it was something serious and whatever it was it concerned Messer and Flak and whatever it was, they would both work to figure it out. As they entered the station and made their way to the captain's office, they sort of drew looks from fellow officers. They both noticed it, but they didn't pay any attention to it. Perhaps they were in trouble. Flak looked at Messer as they stood by the door. "Well here goes nothing. Time to find out why we were summoned by Alfred." They both nodded and Flak opened the door.

Everyone greeted each other like they were part of the Secret Service. Just nods and hellos, all very formal. After a few minutes of silence and coughing Messer had had enough of the awkward silence and spoke out "Alright Mr James, why did you come all the way down to our humble police station?" Flak stood against the wall, it wasn't a small office but it was by no means big. Just an office big enough for ordinary folk to realise that it was for someone who had a higher rank then those outside the office. It looked more like it was constructed really quickly. The four walls were like those houses that are built for on site construction managers but a little more studier. Before Mr James could talk, the captain motioned Flak to close the blinds in the office. Messer joined in hoping it would speed up the process and they could finally get somewhere. After they were done Mr James sat down on the chair in front of the captain's desk and held his head in his hands before he spoke. "Look, you people are the last people I would come to with anything. So far no one else I have spoken to or even hired can provide me with any answers." His voice broke as he spoke and for the first time Messer saw a man who was hurting and in pain. For the first time something had happened to Alfred to make him vulnerable and weak. What could do that to a man of his strength and caliber? "It is about my son, Logan." He spoke again slowly letting out his words before rubbing his eyes and waking up, making his way to the wall. It was almost as if he was trying to push the wall down, tears streamed down his face. Messer didn't know whether to comfort him or just stand in shock. What could have possibly happened? "What about him Alfred, what happened to Logan?" Messer asked him breaking the silence. "He has been kidnapped"

Flak and Messer looked at each other. "I know you guys had a, well, less then stellar meeting last time around but Mr James these tow detectives are one of the finest men I have on my force and if anyone can find your son it is them." The captain spoke out looking over at Messer. "The captain is right. Look we had our differences at our last meeting but if he is in trouble, I am ready to help you." Mr James looked at him and smiled a little. "Maybe you not as bad as I made you out to be Messer" He sat back down and began telling his story "A couple of days ago Logan was supposed to be back from his secluded vacation.." "Secluded vacation? What does that mean?" Messer asked. "Well Logan has been less then stellar with his behaviour recently. It all started a few months back. He was dealing with his issues in a positive manner and then, all of a sudden, he decided to use violence and lashing out as a way of expressing his feelings. The kid is a good boy but this time he just went overboard. His therapist and I agreed that maybe it would be good for him to take a break from life, for him to get away from the city life for a while. Maybe head out into the country and see what else life has to offer. So, I sent him to a farm I own out in the country, far away from here. A piece of land that nobody knows I own." "How could nobody know what you own..... Unless you bought it off and never changed the title deed" Messer and Mr James smiled as he said this. "You are smart Messer and yes I know it goes against the laws of this beloved country but you have to understand, when you are in the publics eye all the time it helps to have a place where you can just go and relax. Where you can go and rejuvenate yourself. This place was a such a place for both Logan and me." His voice got softer as he mentioned Logan, his eyes began to fill with tears. He lowered his head into his arm and wiped the already forming tears away.

"How long ago was Logan expected to be back home?" Flak asked as he handed Mr James a tissue. "He was supposed to be back almost a week ago....but when he didn't pitch up at home I thought he was taking an extra day or two off." "He has been gone for almost a week and now you come to us.  This doesn't sound like a kidnapping rather a missing persons case. Sounds like he ran off and frankly if he has then this should be passed on to a different department. We don't have time to look into missing person cases" Messer spoke out loud looking at the captain and Mr James. "Look he isn't missing because I received a call three days ago from a man saying that I need to pay to get my boy back. He told me where to drop the money off and everything. I followed the instructions, I followed everything that he told me to do and still nothing has happened. My boy wasn't given back to me." There was a sense of dread around the room. When something like this happens, after the money is payed and the hostage isn't returned, well, you might as well start preparing a funeral for them because they are not going be returned. Messer knew this all too well, but he was not going to give up on Logan so easily. "How long ago did you pay the ransom Mr James and where did they make you drop it off?" "Yesterday at a bus stop on Kelvin Street." Mr James was overcome with grief, although he didn't want to show it, his face told the whole story. "Smart guy he is. Kelvin street is empty most of the time and there aren't any cameras around the place. No one to see you going or coming but still, we will send a few officers to check the place out. Maybe someone living in the area saw something suspicious. Until then Mr James we are going to set up some surveillance equipment at your house in case the kidnapper calls again. If he does, we need you to keep him on the line for 40 seconds so we can trace the call. The longer the better." Messer motioned Flak and nodded at the captain who was already reaching for his telephone to make the calls to the surveillance team. "Thank you, Detective Messer." Mr James finally said softly as he looked at him. Messer placed his hand on his shoulder "We will get your boy back." Just as he moved his hand from his shoulder a phone started to ring. It was Mr James's phone ringing, taking it out he looked at the caller ID, his face showed an expression of horror and fright. "It is him, it's the kidnapper Messer"