Perfect Murder, Perfect Town - Lawrence Schiller [5]
Walker was an experienced FBI profiler. He knew this was not the time to decide whether or not the ransom note was genuine. Certainly, the amount demanded was strange—not the usual round numbers. The reference to “a small foreign faction” was another red flag. How many ways would a group—foreign or not—divide up $118,000?
Then there was the length. At two and a half pages, it was the War and Peace of ransom notes. To Walker this suggested that the author might be trying to leave a false trail. Walker knew a ransom note required only a few sentences. We have your kid. It’s going to cost you x millions. We will be in touch. Period.
At the house, John Ramsey gave the police a roll of undeveloped film taken at their Christmas party on December 23. He said it might contain an image of Linda Hoffmann-Pugh. A few minutes later, it was taken to Mike’s Camera on Pearl Street for processing. The photos would be ready at noon.
Right before 10:00 A.M., alone, John Ramsey went downstairs to the basement, where Officer French had searched for his daughter. In the room where his son Burke’s train set was kept, Ramsey found a broken open window. He closed it before going back upstairs.
When 10:00 A.M. came and went without a call from the kidnappers, Arndt thought it strange that nobody in the house commented. It wasn’t long before John Ramsey became more distraught. He sat by himself nervously tapping his foot, leaning his face on one hand as if he was trying to figure something out. Patsy Ramsey kept repeating, “Why did they do this?”
At the detectives’ request, John Ramsey provided a handwriting sample as well as shopping lists and writing pads that contained his and his wife’s handwriting. One of the pads contained ruled white paper similar to the ransom note paper.
Just before 10:30 A.M., Detective Patterson ordered JonBenét’s bedroom to be sealed. Then he and Detective Arndt decided to clear the house of nonessential persons. The six other police officers would leave. Patterson himself would return to headquarters to brief Commander Eller. Arndt, the Ramseys, the Whites, the Fernies, Rev. Hoverstock, and the two victim advocates would stay. They were all to remain on the first floor, in the rear study—behind the kitchen, breakfast, and dining room area. Before Patterson left, he declared the rest of the house off-limits to everyone.
Very soon after Patterson’s departure, Arndt began to have trouble keeping everybody confined to the designated area. John Ramsey wandered out of sight. Arndt had to find him and lead him back into the study, leaving the others unsupervised. Meanwhile, Priscilla White was trying to keep her friend Patsy from fainting. She seemed to be in shock; she was vomiting and hyperventilating. Arndt was supposed to keep her eye on everyone and at the same time monitor the phone for a possible call from the kidnapper.
Half an hour after Larry Mason arrived at police headquarters, he was paged by Detective Arndt. She said she needed detective backup—urgently. She was now the only police officer in a fifteen-room, three-story house with nine civilians, all of whom were in emotional distress.
During this period of time Fleet White left the house to obtain a roll of film he’d taken at the Ramseys’ Christmas party, returning 30 minutes later. At the same time John Ramsey began to open his mail in the kitchen. A short time later Arndt asked Ramsey and his friends to review the contents of the ransom note with her. Ramsey said little. One person said the amount of $118,000 was odd. John Fernie told Arndt the amount was relatively insignificant compared to John Ramsey’s wealth. The ransom could have easily been $10,000,000, and that amount could be obtained, he added. Someone said the author of the note had to be educated, since the note contained words like “hence” and “attache.” To another, the reference to John Ramsey being from the South indicated the writer didn’t know John since he was originally from Michigan. Nobody could