Nick Stephenson - Panic

“Go on.”

“I went into the room next door and put my ear against the wall, which was pretty thin. I heard the senator getting really agitated about something to do with raising money, and I heard one of the others tell him that they couldn’t help him without a show of good faith, or something like that. They pretty much stopped talking after that, so I slipped back to my table before anyone noticed I’d been gone too long.”

“Then what?” said Leopold.

“Nothing more happened at the dinner, but when I got home I looked up some of the details of the organization running the fundraiser. Turns out the company is a subsidiary of a corporation owned by a private equity firm that invests on the behalf of a trust fund. And you can guess who the beneficiary to the fund is.”

“Senator Logan,” said Leopold.

“Damn right! Seems a bit of a coincidence that a charity event set up to help starving children or whatever was managed by a company that one of the major donors actually owns. Smells pretty rotten to me. So I did some digging and found about a dozen other cases where a company owned or part-owned by the senator was involved in some kind of baloney charity deal,” said Locke.

“What do you mean, ‘baloney’?” asked Mary.

“Keep up, honey. For every fundraiser his company organizes, the senator makes a large cash donation in his own name. The charity’s sponsors match the donation into one of the company’s holding accounts,” said Locke. “Next, the company pipes the money through enough fake accounts to make sure nobody can trace it, and then skims a huge amount off the top. The charity ends up receiving about 25% of the total money raised. The whole thing is a massive front.”

“How did you find all this out?”

“I’m a professor in Columbia University’s computer science department, one of the leading centers for research in the world. I know a few people who can do useful things with computers,” said Locke, sarcastically.

“Okay, so why was the senator so agitated at the dinner, if he’s getting so much money?”

“Who knows? Could be that whatever he’s into requires a hell of a lot more than he can raise. That’s my theory.”

“So why email Christina?” asked Mary.

“I figured I could email Christina and really freak her out. After she realizes what dear old dad has done, she tells her father about the emails and then I propose a meeting. That way I can put Daddy’s little angel in her place, and expose the senator for the fraud that he is.”

“Unless the senator happens to change your mind somehow,” said Leopold, raising his eyebrows.

“You mean blackmail?” replied Locke, in mock horror. “I prefer the term financial persuasion . Besides, how is it different from accepting campaign donations from companies wanting to affect government policy? I say it’s about time politicians started listening to taxpayers like me!”

“We’re not here to discuss politics. Why did you go to so much trouble to hide your tracks?” said Leopold.

“Are you kidding? The whole point was to harass Christina enough so that I’d eventually get through to her father, who’s not exactly going to be overjoyed at the whole thing. Senator Logan could find a guy like me in a matter of minutes if he wanted to. So, unless I hide what I’m doing, I’m dead meat.”

“You might still be,” said Mary.

“Huh? What do you mean?” said the professor.

“Christina was kidnapped by the same person who murdered three senators in cold blood. Chances are he already knows who you are, and he’ll be wanting to know what you know. There’s someone out there, someone dangerous, who isn’t going to want any loose ends. Catch my drift?”

All the color drained out of Locke’s face, and his jaw fell open. He didn’t make a noise for a moment and then suddenly began to hyperventilate.

“Calm down, Professor Locke,” said Mary, rolling her eyes. “If you cooperate with us, I can offer you police protection.”

“W – what do you want me to do?” asked the flustered professor, panting.

“We have a special job in mind for you,” said Leopold. “But first, I need some time to think. You need to stay here in case any of your students show up for office hours and people start wondering where you are. In the mean time, where’s the nearest room we can use?”

“Erm… j – just round the corner. G – go left out of here and through the double doors. It sh – should be empty,” said Locke, trying to control his breathing.

“Good. We’ll be back soon. Don’t move.”

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 relatively straightforward for him to pay somebody to stage a kidnapping of his daughter, hand over the cash, and then receive the settlement from the insurance company. He then gets the cash back from his accomplice and he’s effectively doubling his money.”