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“We’re not searching the place, Mr. Downing. We’re investigating your stepdaughter’s kidnapping and murder, and if you have nothing to hide, you’ll speak with us.”
Downing was at a loss for words. He backtracked immediately when he realized why the men had come. “It was a tragic loss. My poor Julie. I was fond of her. She was like her late mother, gentle and kind, except for that unpredictable temper!” He shook his head. “I thought we had the ransom taken care of. Well, maybe I shouldn’t have stopped by the country club after I delivered it,” he added with a grimace. “I had some sizeable investments with a friend who was only going to be in town for a night. I was only there for ten minutes.” He averted his eyes from the two agents’ faces with a rough sigh. “Too late now to regret it. The kidnappers apparently just left her to die.” His eyes met Tom’s again “She was blue all over and cold as ice when I got to her,” he added shortly. “Now I’m no medic, but I don’t think that could happen in the few minutes between the phone call I got and the time I arrived at the destination to pay the money.”
“Wait,” Tom said. “You paid the money before you went to the country club?”
“Of course I did,” the older man said belligerently. “I may be hard to get along with, but I’m not cruel. I wouldn’t let so much as a stray dog die if I could save it with money!”
Tom was frowning and taking notes. “What time did you pay the ransom?”
“Let me see, it was seven o’clock that evening,” he murmured, thinking back. After I left the money, I went to the country club and stayed for maybe ten minutes. Then, when I got the message where to find Julie, I went straight to the area the kidnappers said she was being held.”
“You spoke with them?”
“Sort of,” he said. “It was a robot voice, telling me where to take the money. When I got there, in an abandoned office, the door was unlocked, there was a note on the table that said to leave the money and get out and I’d get instructions.”
“Did you?” Tom continued.
Downing nodded. “I got a text on my cell phone.”
“May I see the message?”
Downing was reluctant and hesitated.
“I can get a warrant, if you need one,” Tom said quietly.
Downing sighed. “No. I want to see the kidnappers caught.” He pulled up the message and handed the phone to Tom.
Tom read the message. It was in stilted English and very brief. It gave a location and instructions, nothing more. Tom pulled up the number the call had come from, copied it, and handed the phone back. “Don’t erase that,” Tom told him. “If we catch the kidnappers, it will become evidence.”
“All right.”
Tom looked up the number and let out a muffled curse. “It’s a fake number,” he said curtly. “One used by scammers. There’s a list of them online.”
“I get those damned calls all the time,” Downing said with some irritation. “The last one was from Russia!”
“I guess times are hard all over,” Tom replied, “even there.”
“What else do you need, Agent Jones?” Downing asked.
“Nothing more right now. There were no people at the place where you paid the ransom,” he continued, “and you saw no vehicles nearby?”
“No to both questions. Julie’s mother would be heartbroken if she was still alive. Julie had good days and bad, but she was kindness itself to her mother.” Downing hesitated for a few seconds and averted his eyes. “If she died by the time I got to her, why was her body already cold and stiff?” he added after a minute. “Rigor doesn’t set in that quickly, does it, even in cold weather?”
“I’ll get back to you on that when we have the report from the crime lab,” Tom replied. He glanced at May, next to Downing, who was fidgeting in her chair. The young maid, Alice, was hovering. She glanced at her boss and winced.
“I’ll need to interview your household employees sometime in the next few days. I’ll call first,” Tom said, backing down a little from his initial confrontational stance now that Downing was cooperating. The man’s new attitude had surprised him.
Downing just nodded. “That will be all right.” He drew in a long breath. “We haven’t even planned the funeral,” he said after a minute. “No sense in that until we have her . . . her back,” he said, refusing to say the word “body.”
Tom noticed that. He got up, along with Doug. “Thank you for your time,” he said formally.
“If you find out anything, will you let me know?” Downing asked. “I won’t ask you to tell me any details that might hinder the case. I’d just like to know how it’s going.”
“I can do that,” Tom assured him.
“Alice will see you out,” Downing said, motioning to the hovering woman. He reached for his coffee cup. “I don’t understand why she was so cold . . .”
The two men walked behind the maid to the front door, out of earshot of Downing and his female companion, who’d looked very relieved when they got up to leave.
