The Congressman's Daughter
By norma
- 349 reads
John Slaughter Private Eye Chronicles
The Congressman's Daughter
John Slaughter sat reading today's paper, on the cover was a story
about the disappearance of Congressman Steele's oldest child and only
daughter, Amy. She was seventeen. This did not interest him. As far as
he was concerned the society people could take care of their own. He
had enough to do in his private eye business with the cheating husbands
and bail jumpers to keep him in cheap whiskey and pay that two bit
secretary of his, if she ever bothered to come in. This all changed the
day he received a phone call from Congressman Steele.
Congressman Steele wanted to meet some place so they agreed to meet in
the caf? across from his office. John met all his potential clients
there. It gave him the opportunity to see them coming and going and If
he had a chance, he would have a friend down at the station run their
plates to see if they were on the up and up. One thing John couldn't
stand was being lied to. People get used to it in this business but he
just couldn't seem to.
John also knew these society people. He was pretty sure that whatever
Congressman Steele had to say would be a half truth at best but that
okay, he was good at reading people.
He waited by his window and watched until Congressman Steele drove up,
then he proceeded across the street to the caf?. Congressman Steele had
already gotten them a table and ordered himself a cup of coffee. John
sat down and asked the waitress to bring him an iced tea.
The Congressman took out of his briefcase a file and slid it across the
table to John. The offer was $10,000 for the safe return of his
daughter. John explained that he doesn't normally work on comission in
this sort of case. What if his daughter was already dead? The
Congressman then agreed that if that were the case, he would be paid
when the body was found. John told the Congressman he would review the
file and have an answer for him in the morning.
The Congressman got up and left. John remained at the table a few
moments longer until he was sure the Congressman was gone. Then he paid
the waitress, picked up the file and proceeded across the street to his
office. Once he was back at his office he got out his bottle of whiskey
and poured himself a long drink, then he got on the phone to his
secretary and told her to get her butt into work.
He sat back in his chair and pondered to himself as he read her file.
The Congressman's daughter was a cheerleader and did volunteer work at
the homeless shelter. She seemed too perfect. The file also contained
photos of her and information on the car she drove, a blue Honda.
Against his better judgement he agreed to take the case, with one
provision, that the Congressman pay all his expenses. The Congressman
gladly agreed.
The next morning John and his secretary Frankie devised a game plan,
then
John got on the phone to Congressman Steele's office. He told him that
he would need to see his daughter's room and talk to the family. The
Congressman said that his wife was home all day so he could come by any
time.
He arrived at the Steele's home and found Mrs. Steele to be quite
charming. He learned from her that besides her daughter Amy, she has
two boys, ages seven and nine. John then asked to see Amy's room and
was led upstairs; there he was left alone to look for clues. Her room
had a double bed and was clean and organized. He found some books on a
chair and looked though them. He found nothing. After that he turned
his attention to her vanity and found some photos and an address book
both of which he put in his jacket pocket. He looked in the bathroom to
see if any personal items were missing but her toothbrush and hairbrush
was still there. It did not appear like she had run away. He was about
to turn and go downstairs when something on the floor under her bed
caught his eye. He found a tape. It could be nothing but he took it
anyway.
When he arrived downstairs Congressman Steele was home. They all
proceeded to the living room and John started asking questions. He
found out that she was last seen at her cheerleading practice and that
nobody has seen or heard from her since then. She has been missing over
24 hours so the police are now involved. John wrote a note to himself
to interview the other cheerleaders; maybe he could get some insight
into her state of mind right before her disappearance.
John got home, poured himself a glass of whiskey and put the tape in
his VCR. The tape was of cheerleading practice and did not contain any
clues as to her disappearance so he ejected the tape and proceeded to
look at the photos he found at her house. The photos weren't much help
either. He was about to look though her address book when an idea came
to him to call his friend at the Police Station. His friend at the
Police Station said there was still no word on her car but he'd give
him a call if things changed.
John was asleep at 5a.m. When he received a call from Congressman
Steele. The congressman told him that he had just gotten off the phone
with Harvard Tow Service and they were holding Amy's car. John called
the towing service to find out where they were located. It turned out
it was an hour drive to the garage where her car was being held. He
decided to call Frankie. He liked having her along for company on long
rides.
He was going to give the Steele's a quick call then thought better of
it. He didn't want to tell them what he thought. The odds of finding
her alive didn't look good. She has been missing for some time now
without a ransom note. He'd find her he vowed that to himself. He owed
them that if nothing else but he hoped for their sake that she was
still alive. John didn't mind giving people bad news. He did it all the
time in his business. He told people about their cheating spouses and
dishonest employees but This time it was different.
The garage owner showed them the car, and then he gave John the car
keys that the truck driver had found on the floorboard of the car. John
asked the garage owner a few questions from which he was able to learn
that the car had been found abandoned and the local authorities asked
that it be towed away. After he was done speaking to the owner, they
took the car to a nearby parking lot and searched the car for clues,
finding none he and Frankie drove back and returned the car to Amy's
parents.
The next day John spent interviewing everybody he could think of that
knew her. He interviewed her fellow cheerleaders, her classmates and
her friends. He called everybody in her address book. He was determined
to leave no stone unturned until he found out what happened to her.
This turned out to be a failed effort so he decided to go to where her
car had been found and search the area.
John first searched the immediate area her car had been found in for
clues. He didn't have much luck so he decided to show her picture to
gas station attendants and store clerks. He had been gone all day and
nobody remembered seeing her. He found it hard to believe that she
didn't stop once for gas or a candy bar but it was late so he decided
to head back. He made one last stop to fill up his gas tank and showed
the pictures to the attendant. The gas attendant remembered seeing
three girls in cheerleading uniforms that looked a lot like the
uniforms in the picture. They got gas maybe a week ago, he couldn't be
sure.
The next day John called all the hospitals in the area to see if they
had any patients matching her description. Three of the local hospitals
had a possible match based on the age and physical description he gave
them. The first hospital he visited was the First Memorial Hospital. He
was shown three girls that were brought in without any identification.
They were each around her age but none of them were Amy. He left the
hospital and proceeded to St. Mary's, the next hospital on his list.
They only had one unidentified girl around Amy's age. It was not Amy
either.
John decided to take a break for lunch and call the Congressman to give
him an update. The congressman expressed his concern for his daughter
and was very anxious for John to continue his search. After lunch John
went to the last hospital on his list.
St. Luke's was a large hospital and it was very hard to get any
cooperation from the staff. John got himself a cup of coffee in the
cafeteria and waited for things to calm down at the hospital. He tried
again to view the unidentified girls. The staff was very busy and did
not seem to want to assist him. He was directed to the hospital
administrator's office. He was told that the Hospital Administrator had
left for the day and he would need to come back in the morning.
John decided to get a room and try to view the patients at St. Luke's
Hospital in the morning. He ordered his dinner from room service and
called Congressman Steele to inform him of the day's results. The
Congressman was very disappointed that his daughter was still missing.
John could tell by the sound of his voice that he was beginning to lose
hope. He wanted to say something to him but could think of nothing that
would bring the man hope so he said goodbye.
The next morning he spoke to the Hospital Administrator who apologized
for the treatment he received. John walked with the Administrator on
rounds and he took him to see the girls down in the morgue first. John
was relieved that none of the girls there were Amy. He did not want the
job of telling the Congressman his daughter was dead.
Next they went to see some girls that were in recovery. None of the
girls he viewed were Amy. John thanked the Administrator and turn to
go. The Administrator touched his sleeve and his words pulled him back.
He told him that he had a girl in the Intensive Care Unit that matched
Amy's description. John was excited! Perhaps this was Amy. Just then he
came back to reality to hear the Administrator tell him that only
family members and hospital staff were allowed in the Intensive Care
Unit.
John was perplexed. He didn't want to bring the Steele family all the
way down here to identify her but what could he do. Just then he got an
idea. He asked the Administrator if he would take the pictures in and
see if it were Amy. The Administrator agreed he would do it and if she
reasonably resembled the pictures John could contact the family and
have them come and identify the girl. The Administrator came back with
a positive response. John gave the Hospital Administrator the Steele's
Phone number and address, then left to call the Congressman to give him
the news.
John got enough money to keep him in cheap whiskey and to pay his
secretary. As for Amy it would be another six weeks before she would
wake up and tell her story.
-
- Log in to post comments