can tell you he wouldn’t be sending his folks this!” Bo exclaimed, signaling Vi to hand him the third clue. “This was also left in the Van Gorden’s mailbox.” Bo placed an 8½ x 11 sheet of paper shielded in a plastic bag in front of Jane and Weyler. On it, was the full-color figure of an eight- or nine-year-old boy that had been cut out of from a magazine. Based upon the clothing and the vintage red baseball cap on the kid’s head, Jane thought it looked like it came from an from an old magazine advertisement from the 1950s or 1960s. The figure was glued on the page to give the impression that the boy was being dragged
by his arm. The other arm had been artificially extended and highly exaggerated with a pen drawing that gave the impression that the flat of the boy’s palm was pressed against a surface. Below this, were letters cut out from various magazines that spelled the sentence: THOU SHALT NOT STEAL INNOCENCE ! Bo laid the large envelope, also protected in plastic, next to the page. The only writing on it was the cryptic BAWY in the same unsteady hand. In the upper right corner was a lone, uncancelled, twenty-five-cent stamp with an old Packard on it.
“It was hand delivered to the Van Gordens, right?” Jane asked. Bo nodded. “So, why put a stamp on it?”
“Why did Jeffrey Dahmer pick up only certain boys to eat?” Bo cracked. “The criminal mind is complex!”
Jane thought back to the sinister voicemail message. “’He pounds on the window and you do nothing.’” Jane repeated as she pointed to the exaggerated extension of the palm on the third clue. “Doesn’t this look like a palm pressed against glass?” Jane held her hand up in the air to mimic the drawing.
“Maybe when he grabbed Jake,” Weyler interjected, “he threw him in a car and Jake was screaming or pounding on the glass trying to be heard.”
“What car?” Jane asked.
“The one on the bridge that left a stain of antifreeze. The peckerwood must have a leak in his radiator. We got tire tracks, which proved we can rule out smaller cars. We figure we’re lookin’ for a truck, van or SUV. That narrows our search from 1,000,000 to 500,000.”
“How do you know the car that was sitting there has any connection to Jake?”
“We have to make an ass out of you and me, and assume it does. This is an old bridge that’s hardly used. You don’t see cars just sitting there…waitin’…”
“What do you mean by waiting ?”
Bo let out a tired puff of air. “One witness came forth. A woman walkin’ her dog. She said she saw a black vehicle sittin’
on the bridge. Couldn’t see the driver and, no, she didn’t get a license plate.”
“Black vehicle? Black what?”
“She’s a woman ,” Bo stressed, as if Jane wouldn’t understand. “I asked her what the make was and she looked at me like a pig looks at a wristwatch. I was lucky to get the color of the vehicle out of her and even then, she said it could have been dark blue.”
Jane realized her next question was absurd, but she had to ask it. “There wouldn’t possibly be any security cameras on that road or outside town hall or the Van Gorden’s subdivision so we could see who’s dropping off these clues or identify the vehicle?”
“These yahoos are settin’ up cameras all over the damn town. But that’s on the QT. 10-4? There’s none in the subdivision yet. They put one outside the door here but it works about as good as the front buzzer. As for the road, we got a couple speed photo cameras out there by the bridge but it only takes a photo if someone happens to be speedin’. There was one photo on March 22 nd but there was no vehicle on the bridge and no sign of Jake in the photo.”
“You have more clues?” Weyler asked.
“Oh, yeah. The hits just keep on comin’.” He turned to Vi. “Wanna play ’em numero dos ?” Vi punched in the codes on Bo’s phone and then depressed the SPEAKER button. “This one came in after-hours on the same day
by his arm. The other arm had been artificially extended and highly exaggerated with a pen drawing that gave the impression that the flat of the boy’s palm was pressed against a surface. Below this, were letters cut out from various magazines that spelled the sentence: THOU SHALT NOT STEAL INNOCENCE ! Bo laid the large envelope, also protected in plastic, next to the page. The only writing on it was the cryptic BAWY in the same unsteady hand. In the upper right corner was a lone, uncancelled, twenty-five-cent stamp with an old Packard on it.
“It was hand delivered to the Van Gordens, right?” Jane asked. Bo nodded. “So, why put a stamp on it?”
“Why did Jeffrey Dahmer pick up only certain boys to eat?” Bo cracked. “The criminal mind is complex!”
Jane thought back to the sinister voicemail message. “’He pounds on the window and you do nothing.’” Jane repeated as she pointed to the exaggerated extension of the palm on the third clue. “Doesn’t this look like a palm pressed against glass?” Jane held her hand up in the air to mimic the drawing.
“Maybe when he grabbed Jake,” Weyler interjected, “he threw him in a car and Jake was screaming or pounding on the glass trying to be heard.”
“What car?” Jane asked.
“The one on the bridge that left a stain of antifreeze. The peckerwood must have a leak in his radiator. We got tire tracks, which proved we can rule out smaller cars. We figure we’re lookin’ for a truck, van or SUV. That narrows our search from 1,000,000 to 500,000.”
“How do you know the car that was sitting there has any connection to Jake?”
“We have to make an ass out of you and me, and assume it does. This is an old bridge that’s hardly used. You don’t see cars just sitting there…waitin’…”
“What do you mean by waiting ?”
Bo let out a tired puff of air. “One witness came forth. A woman walkin’ her dog. She said she saw a black vehicle sittin’
on the bridge. Couldn’t see the driver and, no, she didn’t get a license plate.”
“Black vehicle? Black what?”
“She’s a woman ,” Bo stressed, as if Jane wouldn’t understand. “I asked her what the make was and she looked at me like a pig looks at a wristwatch. I was lucky to get the color of the vehicle out of her and even then, she said it could have been dark blue.”
Jane realized her next question was absurd, but she had to ask it. “There wouldn’t possibly be any security cameras on that road or outside town hall or the Van Gorden’s subdivision so we could see who’s dropping off these clues or identify the vehicle?”
“These yahoos are settin’ up cameras all over the damn town. But that’s on the QT. 10-4? There’s none in the subdivision yet. They put one outside the door here but it works about as good as the front buzzer. As for the road, we got a couple speed photo cameras out there by the bridge but it only takes a photo if someone happens to be speedin’. There was one photo on March 22 nd but there was no vehicle on the bridge and no sign of Jake in the photo.”
“You have more clues?” Weyler asked.
“Oh, yeah. The hits just keep on comin’.” He turned to Vi. “Wanna play ’em numero dos ?” Vi punched in the codes on Bo’s phone and then depressed the SPEAKER button. “This one came in after-hours on the same day
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