TLDR: A missing child and what happened after.
Little Natley left her home and boarded the school bus at around 7.20 AM on Monday, June 7th. It was what she had always done. Today was no different, but some events that happened after made the day a memorable one.
Natley Jones was the only daughter of billionaire Jones Harris of Middleton's wealthy family. It took the parents Janeth Jones and Morgan Jones ten years of marriage, till the miracle known as Natley Jones was born. To say the parents spoilt Natley would be as saying the sky is blue. The little Natley was one of the most behaved kid according to the school's headmistress Mrs. Jenkins Brown
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Mrs. Jenkins Brown
The school headmistress of Little Park School was the second to hear that Little Natley was missing. The class teacher, Miss Michelle reported her absent. Mrs. Jenkins deemed this behavior highly unlikely as Natley never misses a day of school. She was an intelligent girl who loves school and studying. She thought about it for a while, she could be down with the flu. After debating for several minutes, there was this dark thought lurking behind her thoughts that something is not quite right. Finally, after much debate, she picked up the phone and put a call to the Jone Harris residence.
The phone rang once and nobody picked it. She redialled it and it rang for so luck and no one picked, she was about to drop the phone when a click indicated someone had picked it. It was the nanny.
"This is Harris residence, I am the nanny. May I know who is calling please." Her voice oozing tranquility. The voice that was used to speaking to the rich and famous.
"Hi, sorry to trouble you Ma'am, I am just calling in regard to Natley, it is 10 AM and she is not in class, I am wondering if she is sick or something." Mrs. Brown said.
There was a long pause, Mrs. Brown was thinking the call had dropped. Then another voice could be heard in the background asking who is on the line. A short pause then another voice said,
"Hi, this is Mrs. Jones, what is it I'm hearing about my daughter skipping class?" The metallic voice of her was tinged with both anger and worry could be heard through the line.
"Sorry to bother you, Ma'am, I called to ask if she is sick as her class teacher told me now that she is not in her class. I just wondered if she is at home." The headmistress is choosing her words now carefully as she senses something may be wrong.
"I do not get it, Natley left here by 7.20AM as she usually does every day, I do not get why it took you almost two hours to discover that one of your students is not in class. May I remind you we are paying so much because your school comes highly recommended. How do you explain an almost three hours time lapse between noticing my daughter is not in school and notifying the police?" She asked. Now there is no doubt she is angry.
The Headmistress started off," We have not notified the police yet, we are wondering if... "
" You have not done what?" Mrs. Jones screamed.
"I am so sorry Mrs. Jones, I just heard of her not being in class as I got the report twenty minutes ago. I wanted to verify she is not at home before notifying the appropriate authorities."
There was not a reply from Mrs. Jones.
"Mrs. Jones are you.."
"Of course I am on the line! This is an unexpected behavior from you, I expected more from you guys. Can you please drop this call and notify the appropriate authorities?"
"Of course I would do that, I just wanted to..." The School Headmistress found out the call had been disconnected from the other end.
The School Bus Driver
The police had been called and the first to be questioned was the bus driver, Mr. Gunther Moore, a man known for his precise timing and near perfect memory of events. Detective Sergeant Wormley was asking the preliminary question for the investigation.
"Hello Mr. Moore, I would first read you your right."
Moore nodded
"You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to an attorney, anything you say here could be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand these terms and is willing to give us your testimony?"
Moore nodded again. "Am I under arrest, officer?"
"No, you are not, we summoned you here and you came out of your free will, but any evidence you give here may be used in a court of law."
"Ok, sounds reasonable," Moore said.
"Today, you picked up Natley Jones by 7.20 AM in the.." The detective started.
" No Sir, I picked her 7.27 AM, I checked the time as she climbed the steps to the bus," Moore said.
Detective Wormley hates being interrupted but looking at him you would not notice that. The ability to keep a straight face was one he learned in years of gambling before becoming a police. Today, like other days working as a detective it helped. So he waited for him to finish before continuing.
"All good, you picked up Miss Natley Jones by 7.27 AM, what happened after you picked her?" Sergeant asked, his expressionless eyes looked at Moore. It freaked Moore out a little for it reminded him of a dead fish eyes.
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"Yes Sir, I picked her by 7.27 AM and followed the usual route, I only stopped to pick Miss. Jersey Owen, the time was 7.31 AM, the stop was less than a minute. She quickly entered and I drove straight to the school. I dropped them off at 7.41AM and I saw Miss. Natley Jones go down with the other students. I drove to get the taillight fixed, I arrived at the mechanic by 8.01AM and I got the call to come to the station by 10.28AM Sir. "
Detective Wormley was impressed, but his face did not give it away. People like Moore makes writing report so easy as they all have their timeline of events meticulously outlined.
The sergeant asks the driver one or more question and told him he would be calling on him if there is more need for the further question.
"At your service officer." Tipping his hat at the detective Mr. Moore walked out of the police station.
Ms. Michelle Grant
Natley's class teacher struggled to remain calm, she felt guilty for not noticing one of her best student's absence in time. But that Monday, her favorite cat, Flurry, died and her mind had not been as clear as it should.
Detective Wormley being a fair judge of character noticed her uneasiness and started by asking her some basic questions.
"Hello Miss Grant, I understood that Natley was one of your students?"
Michelle nodded.
"Did you notice any suspicious person within the vicinity of the class?"
She shook her head vehemently.
"What time did you notice that Natley was not in your class?"
Miss Michelle spoke for the first time, her voice was soft and clear. Her pronunciation of every word was flawless. He could understand that comes with the job of being a teacher.
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" I noticed Natley was missing when it was time to do some music exercise. She was my best Music student and always reads the passages for the day's class. I am not usually this sloppy as not to notice my best student's disappearance. But I suffered a loss and my mind was distracted. That is no excuse as I should have known better."
Sgt Wormley did not ask her what the loss was, he wanted to verify the timeline of the Natley's disappearance first. Though he made a note of that.
"Good, what time was that?" He asked.
"Oh, sorry. It was around 10.10 AM, the Music class starts at 10 AM but it was delayed a bit today due to an emergency staff meeting that lasted for 40 minutes after the first class."
"What time is the first class?" He asked again.
"First class starts by 8 AM and stops by 9.30AM, it was after it the headmistress called the staff for an emergency meeting which lasted till about 10.05 AM and delayed the starting of next class which was supposed to be by 10 AM by 10 minutes."
"Good. So, you did not notice she was not in class during the one hour thirty minutes earlier class?"
Miss Moore looked even sadder at this question.
"I feel dreadful at this turn of event, I did notice she was not in the class but I did not think it was that serious, not until her friend, Gerby asked me of her whereabouts in the second class as both rode together on the bus to school. That was when I immediately alerted the Headmistress."
"Ok, one more question, I notice there was no CCTV around the school. Do you have any idea what should be so? " He asked.
"Yes. Though I am not in a position to tell you, an incident involving the leaked videotape of a student whose parents are the major financier of the school made the school remove cameras. I am telling you this in confidence as I may not repeat this in a court of law." She added. Detective Wormley nodded in understanding.
"Thank you, Miss. Michelle, I may contact you further if the need arises. You have been most helpful." She gave him a wry smile stood up and picked her bag and was gone.
The Janitor and Something Strange
Detective Wormley starts analyzing the stories he had heard. As he sat in the office a call came in. It was from his colleague, Detective Macpherson Gunner, "You won't believe what I am looking at here. I got a call from a neighbor for a possible domestic problem. A neighbor complained of a foul odor emanating from the room opposite hers. It was the residence of the janitor at Little Park School." At the mention of the school where the missing Nutley schools, Detective Wormley sat more erect and attentive. "Go on Mac." He said.
"Yeah, after knocking for several minutes without a response, we reached the landlord who kindly gave us a spare key which we used to gain entrance. Behold we found the janitor dead."
"That is impossible!" Detective Wormley interrupted. He did not plan to say that but was just surprised by the news.
"Why do you say that? I am standing here looking at him dead. He has been positively identified by the same neighbor who called us.He appeared to have been dead for up to 48 hours."
"Well, it is just that one of the teachers mentioned seeing Natley stop to say hi to the Janitor as she was entering the school. I planned on having some questions with him." Wormley said a bit worried now.
"Well, unless he rose from the dead. He is as dead as I am sure as I am the one making this phone call" Macpherson could be heard laughing. He had always had a weird sense of humor.
A Little Break and Something Dark From The Past
A team of detectives have been scouring the school's premises and asking people around the vicinity if they saw a girl of five years on a red dress around. After scouring the area unsuccessfully, Detective Wormley went to a nearby fast food. As he was eating he asked the man making a selling hamburger in a small kiosk beside the cafe, if he saw a man in with a girl in a red dress. The man said no, that he had told the other police that came around the same thing.
He did not expect much from it. As he was about to leave, he tipped the man generously. The man smiled and said
"Wow, today is a good day, you the second man to do that today. The other man left a whole $95 tip. He seemed to be in a hurry because the daughter was calling him from the car."
Detective Wormley stopped in midstride and walked slowly back, "Sorry did you say he left you a $95 tip and a girl was calling him from the car?"
"Yes, he was sort of in a hurry." He said cheerfully.
"Why did you not mention it when I asked if you saw a man with a young girl?" Wormley is now all police business.
"Well, I did not see the girl with him or the color of the dress judging by the place he packed his vehicle." He pointed to somewhere opposite a bank. From the hamburger place to where he pointed is about 15 meters and was somehow obscured by another building.
Wormley thanked him and proceeded to the location. Luckily there was the bank's CCTV camera just in front of the bank. He now hoped the camera is working and the range is good enough to capture the car.
After speaking with the bank manager, he was allowed to check the security footage. That was a break, inside a yellow old Mercedez 190 car, a girl dressed in red could be seen sitting in front. A man who appeared to be wearing a janitor's dress could be seen getting into the car. As they were driving off, a partial plate number ATS 5678 AR** could be seen.
"Got ya!" Wormley shouted in excitement
More Revelation
The plate number revealed the car belonged to one George Lucas Jnr, a con artiste, and blackmailer, that was recently released from prison. His crime so far had been just cons, blackmail, running a prostitution racket ring. No major crime such as murder. But it looks like he just upgraded to murder.
Back in police head office, his picture was easily gotten. He is a very handsome man, the type women usually fall for. There was no recent address for him. |
Mr. and Mrs. Jones Harris
Detective Wormley decided it is the correct moment to pay the Harris a visit. He arrived the big gated home and had to wait for almost five minutes before he was buzzed in.
Inside the house looks gorgeous and Detective Wormley could understand why many are looking for means to commit a crime. They are probably thinking of living in such a beautiful house as this.
Moments later, Mr. Jones, the billionaire investor walked downed.He looked simple and tired.
"Hello detective, sorry to keep you waiting. I have been making calls of my own. Trying to know who took my daughter."
"Hello Sir, we are making progress, where is your wife for I would like to share this new piece of information with you both."
"She is coming down, she had been mighty worried too." As he spoke the wife could be seen coming downstairs.
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The detective observed she looked like someone who may know more than she would tell. But he just greeted her and continued.
"We believe we may be close to catching who took your daughter, but we are working on locating him." He brought out a big brown envelope and extracted the picture of George Lucas.
As he handed it he watched for a reaction.
Mrs. Jones gave a little start of surprise and quickly composed herself. Mr. Jones just looked at the pictures and appeared deep in thought. He finally shook his head.
"I do not know him," Mr. Jones said
"How about you madam?" Wormley asked her.
She simply shook her head.
"Though I think he resembled someone I once saw in a mall that helped you push your rack Janeth." He said to the wife.
"I do not think I remember such person." She replied curtly.
"Ok, I won't be taking much of your time. I would go to the station now. I would be communicating with you guys as soon as we were able to track him."
Detective Wormley is now sure there is something Mrs. Jones knows that he is not telling either him or the husband. He wants to find out what that was.
After an exhaustive two weeks of a manhunt, Lucas Jones was apprehended. Little Natley was also found to be alive. The news was agog with this discovery. Now the question was why did he kidnap little Natley? Who killed the janitor of Little Park's School?
The story that was told shook the community. He said he did not kidnap any person's daughter that Natley was his biological daughter. The janitor's death was a mistake, he paid someone to make sure the janitor did not come to school on Monday so he could claim to be him and use the opportunity to take his daughter back. It looks like the person overdid the beating and the janitor died.
When a DNA test arrived, it was found to be true. Natley indeed was his biological daughter. Mrs. Jones has a lot of question to answer. Lucas is now awaiting trial for kidnapping and second-degree murder. The mercenary he hired is still on the run. Mr. Jones had sought for a tempory separation from the wife pending when the lawsuit against Lucas and other things are finished.
Little Natley is back in school, another school and is now afraid of every janitor she sees.
The End
