Arthur Hailey - Evening News

In the end they agreed to invite the camera crews and reporters into the hallway of the house for an impromptu press conference which Sloane would handle. As the journalists trooped in they looked around the luxurious home with curiosity, some with unconcealed envy. The questions and answers that followed were mostly repetitive of those the preceding day, the only new information being that there had been no communication from the kidnappers during the night.

”I can't tell you any more,” Sloane said finally.”There simply isn't anything. I wish there were.”

Havelock, while present and watchful, declined to participate in the exchanges and eventually the reporters, some of whom seemed resentful at the lack of news, left as they had come.

”Now, Mr. Sloane,” Havelock said, "I want us to leave here in the way I described—with you in the back of the car, down low and out of sight.” Reluctantly, Sloane agreed.

But in the execution of the plan, an unforeseen misfortune happened.

Crawford Sloane entered the FBI car so quickly that it was observed by only a few people in the crowd outside. However, those few promptly passed the word to others so that the message spread like fire—'Sloane's in the second car.” Within the same car Havelock and another FBI agent were in the backseat, with Sloane uncomfortably on his hands and knees between them. A third FBI agent was at the wheel.

Two more FBI men were in the first car and both cars began moving immediately.

With the crowd now apprised of Sloane's departure, some at the rear pushed forward, impelling those at the front off the sidewalk and onto the road. At that point several things occurred in swift succession.

The lead car emerged from the Sloanes' driveway, waved out by a policeman. It was traveling fast, with the second car close behind. Then suddenly, as spectators opposite the driveway were pushed even farther onto the road, the first car's previously clear path was blocked. Its driver, shocked to see a hue of people facing him, jammed on his brakes.

In other circumstances the lead car might have stopped in time. As it was, on a wet road surface slick from recent rain, it skidded sideways. To the sound of screeching tires followed by a series of horrifying thuds and human screams, the car plowed a path through the front ranks of spectators.

The occupants of the second car—excepting Sloane, who could not see—gasped in horror and braced for a similar collision. But as people scrambled hastily to the opposite side of the road, the crowd parted and Havelock, his face set grimly, ordered the driver, "Don't stop— Keep going!”Afterward, Havelock would defend his apparently callous action by explaining, "It all happened so fast, I wasn't sure of anything and figured it could be an ambush.”

Crawford Sloane, aware only that something unexpected was in progress, raised his head to peer out. At that precise moment, a TV camera already focused on the car caught Sloane's face in closeup, then stayed with the car as it sped from the accident scene. Viewers who later saw the videotape on air had no means of knowing that Sloane was pleading to go back, but Havelock insisted, "There are police right there. They'll do whatever's needed.”

The Larchmont police did control the situation and several ambulances were rushed to the scene. When the toll was reckoned, eight people had been injured—six with minor lacerations and bruises, two seriously. Of the seriously hurt, one man sustained a broken arm and crushed ribs while a young woman had a leg so badly mangled that it required amputation.

The accident, though tragic, in other circumstances would not have gained wide attention. Because of the association with the Sloane family kidnap, it received national coverage and some of the blame appeared, by implication, to attach to Crawford Sloane.

* * *

The researcher from CBA's London bureau, Teddy Cooper, had been flown in, as promised, on that morning's Concorde. He came directly to the task force offices, arriving shortly before 10 A.M., and reported first to Harry Partridge, then to Rita. The three went to the conference room where the group meeting was assembling.

On the way in, Cooper met Crawford Sloane who also had arrived a few minutes earlier, still shaken from his experience at Larchmont.

Cooper, a wiry slip of a man, radiated energy and confidence. His brown lank hair, worn longer than was now fashionable, framed a pale face that bore signs of adolescent acne. The effect was to make him seem even younger than his twenty-five years. Though a born-and-bred Londoner, he had been in the U.S. several times before and was familiar with New York.

To Crawford Sloane, he declared, "Sorry to hear about your missus and family, Mister S, but cheer up! I'm here now! I'll have those buggers before you know it. It's what I'm good at!”

Sloane, glancing at Partridge, raised his eyebrows inquiringly, as if to ask, Are you sure we want this bird?

Partridge said dryly, "Modesty has never been Teddy's problem. We'll give him some rope and see what happens.” The exchange seemed not to bother Cooper in the least.

To Partridge, Cooper said, "First thing, Harry, is to check out the reports. Then I'll suss out the scene of the crime. I want a word with the geezers who saw it happen—and I mean everyone. There's no point pissin' about. If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right.”

"You do it your way.” Partridge remembered previous occasions when he had witnessed Cooper at work.”You'll be in charge of research here, with two assistants.”

The assistant researchers, a young man and woman who had been borrowed from another CBA project, were already in the conference room. While waiting for the meeting to begin, Partridge introduced them.

Cooper shook hands and said, "Working with me will be a great experience for you, kids. Don't be nervous, though—I'm very informal. Just call me 'your excellency,' and you need only salute first thing each morning.”

The researchers seemed amused by Cooper and the trio began discussing a "Sequence of Events” board, already in place in the conference room and occupying an entire wall. A standard procedure in task force reporting, it would record every known detail about the Sloane kidnapping, in proper sequence. On another wall was a second large board, headed "Miscellaneous.” This would contain incidental intelligence, some of it speculation or rumor, whose sequence was irrelevant or not known. From time to time, as "miscellaneous” items developed, they would be transferred to the other board—all of it a research responsibility.

The boards' purpose was twofold: first, to apprise everyone in the task force inner circle of all available information and new developments; second, to provide a focus for progress reviews and brainstorming sessions which could, and often did, provoke new ideas.

* * *

Punctually at ten o'clock, Rita Abrams raised her voice, cutting across the general buzz of conversation.”All right, everyone! Let's get to work.”

She was seated at the head of a long table, Harry Partridge beside her. Leslie Chippingham arrived and took his place at the table too. As he caught Rita's eye, they exchanged discreet smiles.

Crawford Sloane seated himself at the far end. He did not expect to contribute to the discussion at this point and had confided to Partridge, "I feel helpless right now, like a loose nut.”

Also at the table were the three producers Rita had recruited. Norman Jaeger, oldest of the three, was a CBA veteran who had worked in every phase of news. Soft-spoken, imaginative and scholarly, he was a producer for the network's highly acclaimed magazine program, "Behind the Headlines.” His abrupt temporary reassignment today pointed up the exceptional resources of the task force.