The Stolen - Jason Pinter [30]
been installed, forming a U around the walls. What was
inside the office had to be kept a secret until her story was
ready. And then the bombshell would drop.
Only two people had a key: Paulina and Ted Allen himself.
The key was removed from the rings of the entire janitorial
staff, and Paulina only entered when she was positive there
were no looming eyes peeking over her shoulder.
Tonight, she had a tremendous urge to look inside. She
needed to be reminded of what all her hard work was preparing for.
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Checking once more to make sure she was alone,
Paulina twisted the key in the lock, opened the door and
flicked on the overhead light.
What she saw inside made her glow with delight. The
way the room glittered, the light reflecting on everything
she'd painstakingly gathered over the past few months.
And her treasure trove was growing by the day. It was only
a matter of time before the contents of this room, these
seemingly innocuous items, changed the face of New York
journalism.
Satisfied, Paulina turned off the light, closed the door
and got out her umbrella, preparing for her journey into the
rain.
9
"Right here," I said to Wallace. He was holding a copy
of the transcript of my interview with Daniel Linwood. I'd
asked him to read it in its entirety before we spoke. So far
he'd only read what was printed in the Gazette. There
were many quotes that were cut for space, details that
didn't make it into the final piece. I wanted to see if
Wallace noticed what I had just minutes ago.
I hadn't noticed it upon my first few listenings. It was
so subtle, yet because I was already skeptical of the whole
situation, it stood out in neon lights.
"I'm not following, Henry," Wallace said. He turned off
the tape recorder. "Please, placate an old man whose
hearing is going. Enlighten me as to what the hell you're
talking about."
"First off," I said, "Daniel mentions he heard sirens
when he woke up. Yet there's no record of any complaints
or investigations by the Hobbs County PD in that vicinity.
And when I spoke to the detective assigned to the case, he
was only slightly more helpful than your average retail
clerk. And then I heard this."
I rewound to the spot in question. Then I pressed Play.
When Daniel spoke that word, I stopped the tape.
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"Brothers," I said. "Daniel Linwood talks about seeing
his family for the first time when he got back home that
day. He refers to his sister, Tasha, but then he uses the word
brothers. As in plural. Daniel Linwood has one brother,
James. There's no record of Shelly and Randall having any
other sons. And then he uses the word several more times.
As though he can't help it. Once is a slip of the tongue.
Twice is a heck of a coincidence. Three times, like Danny
says on the tape, that means something's wrong."
Wallace looked at the transcript, found what I was referring to, stared at it so intently I expected a hole to be
seared through it.
"I think Daniel was referring to brothers because there
was another brother in his life."
"But you just said he only has one brother, this James.
I don't follow."
"I think the other brother, the plural brother, was with
Danny during the years he was missing. I think whoever
kidnapped Daniel Linwood had another young boy. I think
even though he can't force himself to remember details of
the past five years, Danny subconsciously is referring to
it. I think whoever took him had another child, and Daniel
was made to believe they were brothers. And even though
James is his only biological brother, his memory still
retains a stamp of some sort. A footprint of the lost years."
"Is that even medically possible?" Wallace asked
skeptically.
"In 1993," I said, "medical records showed that Sang
Min Lee, a thirteen-year-old Korean boy who'd been in a
coma for three years, suddenly woke up and claimed to
smell flowers. Sang's mother had brought fresh roses to
Sang's hospital room every day for the first year of his hospitalization, then