Hope by Julian Papadia

Hope by Julian Papadia

Author:Julian Papadia [Papadia, Julian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-11-16T00:00:00+00:00


15

Paris – France - 2010

Kledi Dervishi was not going to jail, not for now at least. The judge’s opinion was that, there evidence they gathered wasn’t strong enough to keep Kledi on remand. Everything connecting him to child trafficking and paedophilia was circumstantial. Kledi wasn’t the owner of the house. He was on the database as a drug addict, he was found at the house, drugged with two others. The little girl in the hidden space could not be linked to him, but to the house owner, who ran an offshore company based in Bermuda. The two girls we found naked on the bed were sent to the hospital, but they told the police they were there only to get high; they did not know Kledi.

“We were lucky to interrogate him before he sobered up completely, I guess,” Loraine told me.

“The poor guys of the DGSE will see him leaving without even questioning him. We can only keep him for 12 hours.”

“What?” My growing frustration and anger were back.

“Just minutes after we left him, he asked for his lawyer, one of the big names in town, and the game was over. At that point, with the Judge, DGSE decided not to charge him; if they did, they would have had to show him and his lawyer what they'd recorded under surveillance. Something that not only wouldn’t have been enough to jail him, as the judge advised them, but also would have alerted the big fishes. And so that bastard will be out with a fine and a note on his record for use and possession of drugs. Something he will probably show off as a medal to his friends.”

I hadn't expected this. I wanted the authorities to put him behind bars. Child trafficking was not a low-level crime. Plus, he was a paedophile, which made his case even more severe.

Thankfully, the girl we found was reported missing by her family, and her parents were at the hospital with her. She was fine, all things considered.

Loraine showed me the story on the TV screen. I broke into silent sobs, my shoulders shaking. The mother clung tightly to her little girl, the dad showering her head with kisses. They'd been separated for a year, Loraine told me. She put her hand on my shoulder. She knew what I was going through.

“We will find your daughter,” she spoke with confidence and sympathy.

“And what if we never find her? What if this monster did something horrible to her? What if she was sent to someplace else to another monster? What if all of this was too much for her to take?” My words were almost inaudible.

“I know it is a mess. But Helen, this whole investigation, this operation, every bit of it is all because of you and your strong will. None of us had enough leads, evidence, or witnesses before. Then you came in, and the picture became clearer. You dug deep and never stopped. We've gotten this far because of you.” My eyes were planted at the joy on the mother’s face, holding her daughter like a precious gemstone.



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