Chapter 5: Maybe, Maybe, Maybe

“Hasn’t been seen in two days?” Frank said.  “What happened?”

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” the voice on the other end said.  “Who are you, first of all?”

Frank quickly introduced himself, and the speaker on the other end did the same.  It was Officer Porter of the Blackwell Police Department—he’d been by the McPherson home to update them on the case.  So far, the Blackwell Police hadn’t made much progress either.

“No trace of the girl, no ransom calls, nothing,” Porter said.  “Seems like she just disappeared into thin air.”

“What does she look like?” Frank asked.

“Oh, well, she was seventeen.  Shoulder-length brown hair, freckled face—”

“That’s the one!” Frank exclaimed.

“Come again?”

Frank quickly explained to the officer about the letter that Stephanie had received the other day, and about the license plate at the card shop.  Porter listened intently, very interested in the information.  As Frank finished his story, the cop asked—

“What time was that?”

“Time?”  Frank thought a moment.  “You know, I don’t think the guy said.  It was Johnny’s Sports Cards and Collectibles in Oklahoma City, though.  You can check with the owner.  He might remember.”

“We’ll do that,” Porter said.  “Brittany was last seen in Blackwell that day around one o’clock, by a customer at the gas station she worked at.  Two hours later, another customer came by.  He said the building was locked, and her car—hold on a second.”

Frank heard muffled voices on the other end—one Porter’s, the other too far from the phone to make out.  Then—

“Yes, her car wasn’t in the parking lot.  If the girl at the card shop was there about two hours later, it probably was her.”

“I’ll bet it was,” said Frank, “but what might have prompted her to come to Oklahoma City?”

“That’s what we’re wondering,” Porter said.  “She didn’t even have her regular car with her that day.  The one she normally drove was stolen a couple weeks before—”

“Stolen?” Frank said.

“Yeah, we’ve been having a slew of auto robberies around here lately.  The one she usually drives is a light blue Toyota Camry—don’t remember the year, but it’s from the days when they had those flat, narrow headlights.  That one was stolen.  The one she was driving when she disappeared was a brown Chrysler Three Hundred.  Both cars had Oklahoma plates—781 JQX for the Camry and 482 DDO for the Chrysler.”

“Hm,” said Frank.  “What about the car belonging to Ernest Wright?”

“That one was stolen two days ago—”

“Yes, I know that,” said Frank.  “What did it look like, though?”

“Oh, that?” Porter asked.  “White Chevrolet Impala.  Five years old.  Body had a lot of scratches, and the car was well overdue for a wash.”

“Do you think whoever stole that one was responsible for stealing Brittany’s car?” Frank asked.  “The Toyota, I mean.”

“It’s possible,” said Officer Porter.  “So far, we’re checking any lead that comes our way.”

 “I see,” said Frank.  Translation, he thought to himself.  They haven’t made any progress yet.  “Interesting.  Well, I hope the card shop clue helps you all out.  If I find out anything more about her disappearance, I’ll be sure to let you know.”  He quickly gave Porter his contact information.  Goodbyes were exchanged, and then both parties hung up.

Stifling a yawn, Porter wandered across the McPherson’s living room, in the direction of the front door.  His shift was almost over, and he was looking forward to a nap.  Suddenly, he straightened as a thought struck him.

I should have told that kid about the other missing girl! he thought to himself.  Oh, well.  It’s not like he’s a detective or anything.

If only Porter had heard of the Andersons…Frank might have picked up a valuable clue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nothing eventful happened the rest of the day, as far as the case went.  The excitement of the morning melted into a boring afternoon for the Andersons—Frank included, even though he didn’t stop working on the case.  He spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about all that the Andersons had learned, but by the time evening rolled around, he felt no closer to the case than Rhode Island is to Mexico.  After dinner, Frank was totally happy to head downstairs and watch a baseball game with his sister, Nancy.  The Cubs had the day off, so the two had the Rangers-Twins game on.  Both teams were facing off at Globe Life Park, home of the Rangers.

“Here’s the 3-2 pitch to Beltre,” the announcer said.  “Fouled back, high out of play.”

“It’s always a foul on 3-2,” groaned Nancy.  “Why doesn’t he just take a walk?”

“I wouldn’t mess with Beltre’s style,” Frank defended the hitter.  “It’s gotten him 3,000 hits so far.  I just wish I could see what was going on as well as he sees the ball.”

“See what’s going on?” Nancy was confused by Frank’s not-so-clear analogy.  “Going on with what?”

“The case,” said Frank.  “We made so much progress today, and yet, we’re still so far away.  The way I see it, there are four different possibilities, though I may be missing some.”

“The 3-2 pitch to Beltre.  Low, ball four, for a leadoff walk.”

“Possibility number one.  Brittany and Stephanie disappeared independently of each other.  There is absolutely no connection between the disappearances.”

“I doubt that,” Nancy said.  “Why would those men have held us up when we went in the card store that day?”

“Could be it was because they knew a package had been left for Stephanie,” Frank said.  “They knew if anyone other than her tried to pick it up, someone else would be working on the case.”

“Jonathan Lucroy steps up.  He’s batting .253 this year, but his power numbers are down…”

“Uh-uh,” Nancy wasn’t convinced.  “Brittany was worried about something in that letter we got today.  It wasn’t even finished—it was obviously written right after she dropped off the plate.  While it’s technically possible that the disappearances were unrelated, it seems like too much of a coincidence.  I think we’d be wasting our time pursuing that lead.”

“Lucroy swings and misses.  Strike two.  [Kyle] Gibson working quickly for the Twins.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” said Frank.  “Then, the disappearances were probably related.  That leaves us three possibilities.  Brittany disappeared around Oklahoma City, and Stephanie—goodness, we don’t have any idea where she disappeared!”

“We don’t even know that Brittany did disappear in Oklahoma City,” Nancy said.  “We just know that was where she was last seen.”

“Swung on and missed, Lucroy goes down on strikes.”

“Right,” said Frank, “but they were both last seen fairly close to each other.  Norman, Oklahoma City—easily close enough for them to be related.”

“Napoli now the hitter.  He leans in for the pitch—Gibson digs in.  He throws—ooh, that caught Napoli square on the shoulder!  He’s tossed the bat away and is jogging for first base—doesn’t seem to be in any pain…”

“So, it looks like it comes down to what happened to Brittany,” Frank went on.  “Maybe she saw the car get stolen in Blackwell, followed it, took the plate, ran from the thieves, and went all the way to Oklahoma City to hide it.”

“Gibson makes a throw over to first base—Napoli back standing.  I don’t know why he’s worried about the runner—Napoli runs like a hamstrung steer.”

“Why would she go so far, though?” Nancy wondered.

“To make sure it was safe?” Frank said.  “In that case, she might be hiding out with someone she knows in Oklahoma City.  She can’t show herself for fear that she’ll be caught, and Stephanie was kidnapped because the crooks thought she could give them a lead—or, she was intercepted when she was going to meet Brittany.”

“Drew Robinson’s at the plate.  Robinson’s scuffled lately—going to need to work to get that batting average up…”

“Why was the letter cut off, though?” Nancy said.

“Because she was being chased,” Frank said.  “She may have outwitted her pursuers—”

“Or, she might not have,” Nancy said.  “Either way, Stephanie didn’t know where to go.”

“She knew to go somewhere, though,” Frank said.  “She was driving somewhere when she disappeared.  If only we knew where it was.”

“Then we’d have the case solved,” said Nancy.  “I’d say it’s more likely, though, that Brittany followed the car to Oklahoma City.  It’s a bit more central of a location than Blackwell.”

“Why would the thieves bring it here, though?” Frank asked.

“3-0 to Robinson—let’s see if he has the green light here.  Gibson sets, then pitches—called for a strike.  He wasn’t swinging.”

“Maybe they’re connected with the ones in Oklahoma City—you know, the case Dad’s been working on.  Blackwell’s two hours away, but that’s not terribly far.  It could be the same gang.”

“Pretty big one, if it is,” Frank said.

“3-1 to Robinson—swung on and missed that time, strike two. Gibson will be in pretty big trouble here, if he walks Drew.”

“Supposing it was, though,” Nancy said.  “They took the car here, Brittany followed it, and she dropped the license plate off in Oklahoma City because she didn’t get a hold of it until Oklahoma City.  It doesn’t seem likely that she’d drive two hours south, just to hide a license plate belonging to someone she barely knew.”

“Gibson sets—the pitch.  Outside, ball four, and they’re loaded!  Robinson showed good patience that at bat—had to lay off some tough pitches.”

“Yeah, that seems more likely,” Frank said.  “Or, there’s another one.  They disappeared because the thieves wanted to steal their cars.  Brittany may have stumbled across the crooks, but Stephanie might have gone missing because her car was hijacked.  If multiple people were involved, they could have overpowered her and stolen the car that way.”

“And we’ll see if Gallo can put some muscle on one,” the announcer said.  “It’s all or nothing for Joey, who has more home runs than singles this year.”

“Maybe,” said Nancy.  “Only…only, it looks like Stephanie was working on the case.  Remember, we think there was a letter missing from Brittany’s stack.  Presumably, Stephanie had it with her when she went missing.”

“First pitch to Gallo—outside, ball one.  No place to put him, with the bases loaded.”

“That’s right,” said Frank.  “Or, Brittany could have eluded her pursuers and escaped capture, but Stephanie could have been caught looking for her.  Or, Stephanie could have deliberately dropped out of sight, and they might both be free.  Or, both girls could—oh, I don’t know.  It’s too confusing.”

“The pitch by Gibson—ball two to Gallo, and Gibson looks confused.  Those last two pitches were nowhere near the strike zone.  If Joey Gallo’s not swinging at them, then you know they’re bad!”

“I think they were both kidnapped,” Nancy said.  “Brittany went missing, Stephanie went looking for her—came too close—went missing herself.  Both were on to the Blackwell car thefts somehow.  Whether those tie in to the ones Dad investigated or not, we know there’s an Oklahoma City connection.”

“Pitch thrown by Gibson—swung on and missed by Gallo!  He threw a curveball on a hitter’s count, and it fooled Joey completely.  If he can repeat that pitch, he can get out of this inning unscathed.

“There’s not much proof,” Frank said.

“We don’t need to prove anything yet,” Nancy reminded her brother.  “We just need to know which leads to follow up.  Once we find Brittany or Stephanie, we’ll have all the proof we need.”

“Gallo takes ball three.  Full count now.”

“You’re right,” said Frank.  “I don’t know what the next step is, but hopefully, we’ll come up with something.  Maybe there’ll be another break in the case.”

“The 3-2 on the way—fouled out of play, left side.”

“I remember seeing Gallo in Oklahoma City,” commented Nancy, focusing now on the game.  “He’s got more power than Stanton, practically!  Boy, I wish I could go to another 89er game.”

“Dad and I are going tomorrow,” Frank said.

“You are?” Nancy said.  “I thought he was working late?”

“Hit foul again, right side this time.”

“He is—at the game,” Frank grinned.  “Mom’ll drop me off—I’ll say hi to him, then watch the game.  Afterwards, we’re going out to eat.”

“Lucky,” Nancy said.  “I wish I could come too.”

“Kurt Suzuki’s out to talk to Gibson.  Suzuki and Gibson work great together.  They’re always hanging out in between innings, discussing strategy.  I can’t think of a better pitcher-catcher tandem on the Twins than those two.”

Frank pulled a ticket out of his pocket.  “That was the general idea,” he said, passing it to his sister.

She looked at him in surprise. “You mean—”

“We’ve been planning to bring you all week,” Frank said.  “Dad just said to wait until tonight to tell you.  He wanted it to be a surprise!”

“Awesome!” Nancy exclaimed.  “I’ll go find my glove after this half inning.”

“The payoff pitch from Gibson—swung on, hit in the air, deep to left—there’s no doubt about this one folks!  That ball is gone!  Touch ‘em all, Joey Gallo!  He clears the bases with a grand slam, and the Rangers now lead, 7-4!”