Murder Inside the Beltway - Margaret Truman [74]
Neither Jackson nor Hall gave a response. Everyone’s thoughts were the same. A pervert. A child molester. A deranged monster to whom the life of a child meant little, if anything.
The silence was broken by a ringing phone.
Rollins moved toward the kitchen.
“Extension?” Jackson asked.
“Here,” Sue said, leading him to a small cordless one on a table in the living room. Jackson rested his hand on it and looked through to the kitchen, where Rollins was about to pick up. Jackson nodded. Both phones were raised simultaneously.
“Jerry? It’s Bob. What the hell is this I’m hearing? Samantha kidnapped?”
Jackson recognized the distinctive gravelly voice of the presidential candidate.
“I’ll come over,” Colgate said. “I can’t believe this. I—”
“Sir,” Jackson said into the phone. “Governor Colgate. This is Detective Matthew Jackson, MPD, sir.” He glanced at Mary, whose open mouth said it all. “Sir, I would advise that no one come here, that no action be taken until our special units are in place and a plan has been put into motion.”
“What’s he saying?” Colgate asked Rollins.
“He’s a detective, Bob. I think we should do what he suggests.”
“Jesus! How’s Sue?”
“Upset, of course. No. Frantic.”
A knock on the door caused Rollins to say, “I have to go, Bob. I’ll be in touch as soon as it’s the right time.”
Mary Hall opened the door to allow Kloss and other detectives to enter. She looked across the street, where a MPD van had parked. Two men exited the vehicle and came to the house carrying black cases of the sort used by airline pilots to carry aeronautical charts. They removed digital tape recorders; a central tap to trace calls had been installed through C&P Telephone.
Sue Rollins busied herself in the kitchen filling a coffeepot, and pulling an assortment of cookies from a cupboard. The younger detective’s suggestion that there be coffee made sense to her, gave her a purpose, and helped distract her from the terrible thoughts that flooded her mind. Mary’s offer to help was accepted, and she joined Sue in the kitchen.
Kloss and his next in command, a middle-aged Hispanic detective, sat with Jerry Rollins at the dining room table. Jackson was invited to join them. “All right,” Kloss said, “let’s start from the beginning, from the moment you got up this morning. Who knew you planned to spend the day at the Mall?”
The question left a blank expression on Rollins’s face. “I don’t know,” he eventually said. “I might have told friends we had these plans. I canceled an appointment today so we could do it.”
“An appointment with who?”
“Ah… with, ah, Governor Colgate. I work with him on his campaign.”
“He called before you got here,” Jackson said.
“He knew?” Kloss said.
“Yes,” Rollins said.
“Quick.”
“Not surprising,” Rollins said.
“What did he have to say?”
“Nothing. He was shocked, that’s all. He asked how my wife was. Your detective here—”
“Matthew Jackson, sir,” Jackson helped.
“Yes. Detective Jackson here was on the extension when I spoke with the governor. He was going to come but Detective Jackson dissuaded him until you’d arrived.”
Kloss nodded at Jackson.
“What is the plan?” Rollins asked as Sue and Mary delivered the coffee and cookies.
“I’d like you to join us, Mrs. Rollins,” Kloss said. “I was asking your husband who knew that you intended to go to the Mall today.”
She looked at Jerry. “I told a few people, I’m sure. Friends. I was happy that we could find family time.”
“Did your daughter know of your plans?” Kloss asked.
“Of course,” Sue replied. “She was tickled pink. I’m sure she told her friends at school about it.”
Kloss made notes in a pad before saying, “Okay, let’s talk about your daughter’s friends. She have run-ins with any of them lately?”
“Not that we know of,” Sue said.
“How about you, Mr. Rollins? You’re a pretty familiar face around Washington—lawyer, clients who maybe felt they got the short end of the stick in a case you handled for them.”
“That’s always possible, but…”
And on it went for the next hour, their conversations interrupted by an increasing number