Murder Inside the Beltway - Margaret Truman [112]
“Isn’t it enough that Samantha is now safe at home?” Rollins said.
“That’s certainly important,” said Kloss, “and we share your relief. But that doesn’t end it. A kidnapping has occurred, and we have an obligation to find and prosecute those behind it. It isn’t over for us.”
Rollins was having trouble disguising his annoyance at this line of questioning. To an extent, Jackson understood. The family nightmare was over. Time to get on with their lives, regardless of the police’s need to press forward with the investigation. But he was also very much in tune with Kloss’s responsibilities.
Rollins thought for a moment before responding. “Look,” he said, “I fully understand that you have a job to do, and I assure you that I’ll cooperate in any way I can. But I’m as baffled as you are why Samantha was taken, and why she was allowed to return home. As for this vague mention of some sort of ‘business,’ only the kidnappers know what they meant.”
“Hopefully,” Kloss said, “we’ll come up with an answer to that question. In the meantime—”
Kloss’s radio sounded. He listened, made a few notes, and ended the call. “I have to go,” he said. “We’ve got a hostage situation, an estranged father holding one of his kids.” He said to Jackson and Hall, “Why don’t you continue this debriefing of Mr. Rollins. I’ll be back in touch.”
Jackson walked outside with Kloss. “What about Hatcher?” Jackson asked.
“Yes, what about Hatcher?” the senior detective replied. “You and Hall finish up with Rollins and head on home. I have your numbers. I’ll call when this hostage situation is resolved and we’ll discuss it.”
Jackson rejoined Hall and Rollins. “I was just telling Detective Hall how much I resent this line of questioning,” Rollins said after Jackson had retaken his seat. “It sounds as though I’m being accused of being involved in some sort of nefarious deal with the kidnappers.”
“No one is accusing you of anything, Mr. Rollins,” Jackson said. “But you will admit that the circumstances surrounding the abduction and return of your daughter raise the sort of questions Detective Kloss was asking.”
“Sorry,” Rollins said, “but your professional obligations don’t give you the right to cast aspersions on me or my family. As far as Sue and I are concerned, the matter is over, closed, a nasty nightmare put behind us.”
Jackson and Hall said nothing. Rollins stood and stretched. “If you’ll excuse me,” he said.
“One other thing, sir,” Jackson said.
“Yes?”
“There have been these rumors about videotapes on which Governor Colgate might have been captured with the murdered call girl.”
His words stopped Rollins as he was on his way out of the room. He turned and glared at Jackson. “Are you suggesting that—?”
“I’m just asking, sir, that’s all. I realize it’s a rumor but—”
“A salacious, baseless one.”
“Even so, sir,” Hall said, realizing her partner, and lover, had stepped into a minefield, “it’s an avenue that we can’t ignore.”
Rollins’s small smile wasn’t convincing. “Somehow,” he said, “I didn’t think that rumors like that would be given credence by bright, young officers like you.”
Jackson wanted to further explain, using what he knew about Hatcher and the tapes to make his case. He thought Mary Hall might be about to go in that direction and headed her off with a look. He was also aware that Rollins’s demeanor had changed. A nerve had been struck. Rollins seemed to be caught in a vortex of conflicting messages, unsure of what to say, or do, next.
When Rollins said nothing, Jackson said, “The tapes might represent just a rumor, Mr. Rollins, but we have to follow up on them as a possible motive in your daughter’s kidnapping. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is.”
Rollins left the room and went upstairs, leaving Jackson and Hall to pack up. As they gathered their things, Mr. and Mrs. Rollins appeared. “I just want to thank you for everything