Midnight Rambler_ A Novel of Suspense - James Swain [69]
“Jack, how did you know that?”
My blood boiled. At the mirror I stared into the next room. Bonnie was slumped dejectedly in her chair, gazing at the floor. Her mascara had run from crying, giving her hideous raccoon eyes. In a stage whisper, Cecil was trying to coach her. I'd always been good at making snap decisions, and I made one right now. Cecil was the ringleader, Bonnie the pawn.
“Earth to Jack,” Sally said.
“You sound just like my daughter.”
“What in God's name is going on? How did you know his lawyer's name?”
I took a deep breath and continued looking through the glass. “Leonard Snook represents Simon Skell, the Midnight Rambler.” “What?”
“Our friends in the next room are part of an organized group that's making people disappear. Think back to when you were a cop. How many WATs did we deal with each year?”
WATs, a police acronym for Without a Trace, stood for people who vanished without any significant clues being left behind.
“About four or five,” Sally said.
“Ever think the cases might be connected?”
“It crossed my mind, sure.”
“But because there weren't any solid leads, the police couldn't act on those suspicions, could we?”
“That's right.”
I jabbed my finger at Bonnie and Cecil. “Well, now you can. I'll bet you everything I own that they've been snatching kids here, and from other theme parks in Florida as well. I'll also bet you that these abductions are linked to the eight women the Midnight Rambler made disappear.”
“Jack, look at me,” Sally said.
I turned from the glass. Putting her hands on my shoulders, Sally gave me a no-nonsense stare. Her grip was as strong as any man's.
“Where's your proof?”
“The victims are proof.”
“How so?”
“The part of the Midnight Rambler case that's so baffling is how did Skell identify his victims? How did he know which women were easy prey and wouldn't be missed when they disappeared?”
“Soft targets,” Sally said.
“Exactly. Well, we have the same thing here. How did Bonnie and Cecil know that Shannon Dockery was a soft target?”
“Maybe they got lucky.”
“Luck is the residue of design. Tram Dockery had a six-pack of beer for breakfast. He admitted it to me earlier. He's also very young and not very smart. He was the perfect parent to snatch a kid from. Bonnie and Cecil knew that, and they followed the Dockerys around the Magic Kingdom. When the opportunity presented itself, they grabbed Shannon and disguised her to look like one of their own. Remember the little girl that disappeared at the theme park in Fort Lauderdale a few years ago? The parents were just like the Dockerys.”
Sally dropped her hands and thought about it.
“You're right, they were,” she said.
Again I pointed into the next room. Bonnie had sunk farther into her chair, and was sadly shaking her head.
“Separate them, and let me have a crack at her,” I said.
“What exactly are you going to do?”
“I'm going to put the fear of God into her and make her talk.”
“Promise me you won't use any rough stuff.”
“I already did.”
“Promise again.”
My face grew hot, and so did my emotions.
“What do you think I am, some kind of crazy vigilante?”
“No, just a man on a mission,” she said, looking me straight in the eye.
I held her gaze. “All right. No rough stuff. That's a promise.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you have something I can record my interrogation with?”
“The room's already wired,” Sally said.
Bonnie and Cecil were separated.
Before I went in to speak with Bonnie, I decided I needed to look like a Disney employee if my words were going to carry any weight. Sally tried to find a Disney shirt for me to wear, but nothing close to my size was available. I settled for a hastily constructed laminated badge with my name printed on it. To add to the picture, Sally gave me a copy of the internal newsletter that Disney's forty thousand employees received each week.
“Good luck,” she said.
I entered the interrogation room with the newsletter tucked under my arm. Bonnie lifted her head but did not speak. I removed a pack of gum I'd bought from a hallway vending machine and offered