The Promise (21 page)

Chapter Thirty
-one--one step Forward, two steps Back.

             
“I honestly don’t know if we are making progress, Chief. I’m a homicide detective and most of my cases are cut and dried.

This is a nightmare of loose ends that don’t connect to anything,” sighed Michael Gallagher, “Even Mick is confused!”

Gallagher, Chief Parker and Elie were sitting in the conference room discussing the developments of the Allison Taylor case from day one.

Several folders and charts were laid out in front of them on the table. But, none of them seemed to be related to each other.

“Okay, let’s review what we have thus far and break it down by category,” suggested the Chief. “Let’s begin with The Promise first. I think it is our strongest lead…

Gallagher chimed in, “Well, here’s what we have on that, boss. We have the fact that Allison Taylor belonged to that secret society. We know that Raven does, too.

We also know that on the day before Allison disappeared, she got into an argument with Raven allegedly over comments Raven made about Archer Taylor. We also suspect that Dr. Morgan is somehow involved in The Promise, that he owns a ring with a raven on it and we believe that Verna Oden, or whatever the hell her name really is, is a pathological liar and is probably a member of the Promise, too.

And, we found a piece of jewelry in the shape of a raven near where Allison disappeared. We should get the analysis on the strand of black hair back today or tomorrow.

That’s it. The Promise is not all that promising at this point. Maybe we should start calling it, The Demise.”

Parker laughed, “What else do we have?”

Gallagher continued, “We have a dead assistant headmaster who is probably not related to the case, we have a guilt-ridden Justin Shaw who insists Allison disappeared voluntarily because he hurt her feelings, which is probably also not related to the case.

We have a professor in England who died mysteriously, who is probably not related to the case, we have an angry, out of control father of Allison Taylor, who I hope is not related to Allison’s disappearance.

e

We have a rogue note someone wrote to Justin pretending they were Allison Taylor along with a random phrase from some literary piece that no one seems to know the origin of, as well.

We seem to be making progress, but, in reality we are going in circles.”

              Elie offered a suggestion, “Maybe simpler is better here. Maybe we are trying too hard.”

              Gallagher stared at her, “Define, simpler.”

              “Maybe Allison just took off to start a new life and left clues to make it look like she was kidnapped.

Maybe she was tired of her dad, felt too much pressure as she started college and said, ‘to hell with it!’ and split.”

              For several seconds neither of the men spoke. Elie, being a girl about the same age as Allison, may have hit on the solution without even working up a sweat.

To the intense Gallagher, this was tantamount to investigative blasphemy. But, he conceded she may be right.

He was not ready to admit that possibility, however, “Elie, that is so simplistic it is beyond elementary, no way.”

              Chief Parker mused aloud, “Maybe that’s why we are having so much trouble here, Mike. We are trying to build a scenario that doesn’t exist.

Adult girls, and she was of age, are allowed to take off and start a new life. There is nothing illegal there.

We may be duping ourselves into believing a crime has been committed based upon what Archer Taylor and her friends say about her tendencies.

But, Elie may be right. Allison is at an age where she may want to be independent and test her wings. What better way to do it than to sail away.”

              Gallagher was not convinced. “Remember what Deep Throat kept telling Woodward and Bernstein?”

              Elie piped up, “No.”

              The detective frowned at her, “Of course, you wouldn’t know, you weren’t even born yet.

He said, ‘Follow the money
.’

Meaning, if you trace the donations made by the Republican donors, you will be able to build a case for a conspiracy which could lead back to the break-in and eventually the cover-up by the President.

He was absolutely right, too.”

              Elie dripping with sarcasm, “So, you want me to start investigating Republican donors?”

              Gallagher laughed, “To the moon, Alice.

Not quite, but, if Allison did run away, she would have to do it with money. You can’t live your life without a means to support it. We need to check her bank accounts, her ATM card, phone credit card and anything that would enable her to live on her own.

That, at the very least would eliminate Elie’s theory that Allison voluntarily disappeared to start a new life. I have a feeling in my brain that her cards were not used and neither were her bank accounts and, most importantly, Mick happens to agree with me.

Don’t you, buddy!”

              Elie rolled her eyes. “Her cards have not been used. Neither have her bank accounts. I checked that during the first week.”

              Gallagher stood his ground, “Good work, Larsen but, I think that proves my point that her disappearance was involuntary.”

              But, Elie was not convinced, “She could have built up a sizeable nest egg of cash before she disappeared, Mike. If she planned this, she had time to do that surreptitiously.

Also, not to burst your bubble or anything, she was a very smart girl and she could have taken just enough money to disappear and gone to a god-forsaken place in the middle of nowhere, gotten a job and lived happily, and invisibly, ever after.”

              Gallagher smiled, “Elie, I’m a stubborn guy! There may be other financial records you haven’t checked out, yet!” Pressing the intercom buzzer, “Yeah, records? Get me financial files on Allison Lynne Taylor, case number 6593003-3.

Get back to me, thanks!”

              Elie glared at him.

              The detective shrugged his shoulders, “We could both be right. Chill out, lacrosse girl.”

              Chief Parker asked the question of the day, “So, the two of you are at odds as to what really happened to the Taylor girl at this point in the investigation?

Gallagher averred, “If you want my hunch, I’m going with The Promise and a kidnapping for revenge.”

              Elie responded, “I’m sticking to my running away theory. I think she’s a whack job!”

              Gallagher paused and looked at his lucky leprechaun, “Mick believes Allison was taken out, that she did not disappear voluntarily.

We are leaning towards the fact that she’s already dead. We are guessing it was done by someone who knew her and was either angry enough to kill her or needed her out of the way for their own purposes. We are hoping we are wrong

Right, little buddy?”

              Elie stood up, “Gee, I wish I had an insightful stuffed animal to talk to.”

              Chief Parker laughed, “Well, we are all going to have an insightful animal to talk to, but he won’t be stuffed. The FBI profiler, Mel Grady, is coming to see us. His insights may be invaluable in this case…”

              Elie laughed, “He is a she, Melinda Grady. She’s one of the best. You’ll like her Gallagher. She is a trivia nut, too.”

              Gallagher was not smiling. “Chief, I don’t think we need all this.”

              Parker disagreed, “Put aside your ego, Mike. We need all the help we can get here. Grady sounds good to me.”

              Elie laughed, “Evidently, Gallagher can’t handle two smart women, just a stuffed mini-me of himself.”

              The detective just shook his head.

              With that, the meeting ended.

Chapter Thirty-
two--the media heats Up

              As Gallagher made his way to the stairs, he was confronted by a face he had seen on television many times before. The man he was looking at was not a local personality, but an international media star known for his bulldog tenacity and sensational story lines.

He was not always right with the facts, but, there was no denying his ability to garner attention wherever he went.

He was a police investigation’s worst nightmare.

              “Are you Michael Gallagher, the detective in charge of the Allison Taylor disappearance?”

              Gallagher looked away for a moment. He could feel his temperature rising. “That’s right.”

              “I’m Dax Rambo. INN.

I have a couple of questions for you, detective.”

He motioned to his cameraman to join him for the interview. Gallagher was in no mood to put up with this level of egomaniacal media at the moment.

“It’s nice to meet you, Rambo. Gotta run, following up a lead.”

              Rambo walked alongside him, “A lead? Does it have anything to do with the suicide of the headmaster at the Colony?”

              The detective corrected him, “Assistant headmaster. Have a nice day…”

              The reporter was relentless, “Is Malcolm Oden’s death related in any way to Allison Taylor’s disappearance, Mr. Gallagher?”

              “No comment.”

              Another question, “Is there any truth to the rumor that Allison Taylor and Oden were lovers?”

              Gallagher stopped and glared at him. “What a disgusting comment. Turn that damn camera off!”

              Rambo pressed further, “We have it on background that Allison Taylor and Malcolm Oden took a weekend trip together, just the two of them.

Any comment on that?’

              “Yeah, I don’t believe it.”

              “Detective, if it is true that they went to Hilton Head together last April, would that information be helpful to you in your case?”

              “Any factual information about Allison Taylor is helpful.”

Rambo pressed him, “Could her relationship with Dr. Oden be the reason she ran away?”

              Gallagher stopped and turned to face the reporter, “We are not treating this case as a runaway. We are considering this a criminal investigation. Allison Taylor has a good reputation. I am not going to besmirch her name on rumors and innuendo. Now, leave me alone, Mr. Rambo.”

              The reporter was undeterred, “One more question, detective. Is there a possibility that Allison Taylor is alive on Oden’s houseboat at St. Simon’s Island? She had stayed there on more than one occasion and we have seen someone coming and going in and out of that boat for the past two weeks, a young female.”