Panic (A Leopold Blake Thriller) by Stephenson Nick

Author:Stephenson, Nick [Stephenson, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2013-02-25T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Leopold found the empty classroom, a narrow and windowless space, and shut the door behind him. The others each took a seat at the table as Leopold picked up a pen and scribbled bullet points on the whiteboard. Jerome shuffled uncomfortably in the small chair, which creaked under the strain.

“What are we doing in here?” asked Mary. “We should be following up on Professor Locke’s statement.”

“We have no reason to assume he’s not telling the truth,” said Leopold. “His statement hardly paints him as the virtuous type. He could go to prison just for sending the emails, let alone hacking into private bank accounts and blackmailing a state senator. If that story was devised to clear his name, I’d say he failed miserably.”

“Point taken. What are you writing?”

“I have a theory.”

“Okay, shoot.”

Leopold finished writing on the whiteboard and stood to the side, pointing at each line as he spoke. “First, we take the kidnapping case in isolation and ignore the murders. The majority of kidnappings are committed for financial gain, with some carried out to further a political agenda, for revenge, or sometimes just for sick thrills. As the kidnapper demanded a ransom, we can rule out the second reason.”

The others all nodded in agreement, and he moved on to the second point. “However, when the exchange was supposed to happen, the kidnapper and Christina disappeared. Why leave all that money behind? The only explanation is that the motive for the kidnapping was no longer financial.”

“Why would a kidnapper change his motive halfway through?” asked Mary.

“He wouldn’t. Someone who has gone to this much trouble is hardly going to alter his tactics at the most crucial moment unless the kidnapper himself were no longer in the picture. What if there were actually two kidnappers, acting independently? Each of them with their own agenda. The second kidnapper could have somehow managed to get Christina away from the first. There’s going to be at least one dead body in this scenario.”

“Hank,” said Mary.

“Exactly. Kidnapper number one. Problem is, it’s very difficult to question a corpse. Fortunately, the bank details we found at his house should be enough to eventually trace where that money came from.”

“Hang on, this doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone pay a kidnapper in advance?”

“You get an ‘A’, Ms. Jordan! It makes no sense to pay ransom to a kidnapper in advance. However, something Locke said put the last piece of the puzzle into place.”

“And that was?”

“Consider the facts. Senator Logan is desperate to find Christina’s kidnapper, and he only brings us in once he loses control of the situation, which I found a little irregular. Add to that his secretive demeanor during our first meeting, and my suspicions were aroused immediately. Locke’s story regarding the senator’s desperate need for a large amount of cash only confirmed my suspicions were correct.”

“Okay, so how does it all fit together?” asked Mary.

“Remember the senator talked about the insurance policy he had in place to cover kidnappings? It would be

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