Call Of The Witch by Dana Donovan Read Free Book Online Page A

doing this his way, we’d be
doing it no way at all.”
    I answered simply with a frustrated sigh.
“Dominic, continue. Please.”
    “ Even though a family
member is responsible for the crime the majority of the time, we
may not have to look far to find our man, or woman as the case may
be.”
    “ How’s that?”
    “ Because typically the
perpetrator is female, and more times than not, it’s the
mother.”
    “ I knew it!” said Carlos.
“See?” he pointed at me again. “I told you she was a
skank.”
    “ Carlos.”
    “ I’m telling you, Tony,
when we were upstairs looking through Kelly’s stuff; she didn’t so
much as lift a finger to help me. She just stood in the doorway to
the bedroom, smoking her cigarette and watching me do all the
work.”
    “ That doesn’t prove
anything.”
    “ It doesn’t not prove
anything.”
    “ That’s poor grammar,
Carlos.”
    “ Yeah? Well she’s a poor
mother. I say we bring her in and polygraph her ass.”
    Dominic said, “We need to bring them both in.
At the very least then to get written statements.”
    I agreed, suggesting we should call them
after our meeting and see if they would come in voluntarily,
adding, “They’ll probably want to consult with their respective
lawyers before submitting to polygraphs.”
    “ Then we’ll have to remind
them that the sooner we can rule them out as suspects, the sooner
we can focus on other potentials.”
    “ I don’t think we’ll have
to,” Carlos remarked. “She did it. I’ll just bet.”
    “ Don’t bet the farm,” said
Dominic. “Before we break out the pitchforks and machetes, let me
add that even though the mother is responsible for the lion’s share
of child abductions, in such cases ransom is seldom involved.
Usually it’s a matter of last resort for the mother. Typically, the
child is at the center of a custody battle where the mother’s at a
financial disadvantage. Fearing losing the child to the father, she
absconds with the kid and goes into hiding.”
    “ We know that didn’t
happen,” said Carlos. “We saw the mother.”
    “ Yes,” I said. “And there
is a ransom demand, although we still don’t know how much it is
yet.”
    Dominic cautioned, “That still doesn’t clear
her. You said the mother showed up at the house eight hours late to
pick Kelly up?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Then she had plenty of
time to have gone to the house as scheduled, pick Kelly up and take
her to wherever she’s being held now.”
    “ What about the ransom
demand?”
    “ What of it? You said Mr.
and Mrs. Brewbaker are in the middle of divorce
proceedings.”
    “ That’s right.”
    “ So what better way to get
money from her husband now?”
    “ Maybe.” I rocked back in
my chair, crossed my arms and kicked my feet up on the table. “If
that’s the case, then she most definitely has an accomplice. We
know she didn’t make those phone calls because she was there with
us when they came in.”
    “ Agreed,” said Spinelli.
“Amanda Brewbaker may have had motive and means, but without an
accomplice, she couldn’t pull it off entirely. So if she’s guilty,
the question is…. who’s helping her?”
    “ Someone from her theater
company,” Carlos suggested. “Probably a lover.”
    “ We’ll need names.” I
looked to Spinelli. “When we’re done here, will you call Detective
Olson and ask her to talk to Lionel Brewbaker? We’ll need him to
tell us the name of the club where Amanda’s theater company
performs, but I don’t want Amanda knowing we’re asking. We don’t
want her making calls, tipping anyone off.”
    “ Got it.”
    I pointed to Spinelli’s flip chart. “What
else you got?”
    “ Acquaintances and
strangers. These are two kidnapper profiles we need to worry about
most.”
    “ Why’s that?”
    “ Because, statistically
speaking, those two inflict the highest percentages of injuries on
their victims, and in cases where the victim is female, the highest
percentages of sexual