Chapter 485
Mary finished her donut and left.
But the discussion caused by the news she brought did not end.
The lieutenant’s tone was still hard to hide his excitement, “I can’t believe that Sofia de la Rosa is still alive! It’s incredible.”
Jackson was curious, “Lieutenant, have you ever investigated Sofia De La Rosa’s kidnapping case?”
The vice squad nodded, “Yes, that was ten years ago, however, I was only assisting in the investigation back then.
This kidnapping case is still dominated by the FBI.”
Jenny was puzzled, “It’s been ten years, why are these two cases connected?”
“It’s not a coincidence, I guessed before that the two cases should be related in some way.” The vice squad recalled, “Ten years ago, Sofia was kidnapped while playing in a community park, her father was a diamond merchant and the kidnappers called to extort five million dollars worth of diamonds from her father.
Sofia’s father called the police and the FBI began investigating the case.
Afterward, the kidnapper said the time and place of the transaction, and the FBI and the police set up controls in advance.
That night, we caught the man who came to get the diamonds at the trading place, and the arrest went very smoothly.
That person also gave up an accomplice, but neither of them admitted to being the kidnapper, only saying that they were diamond traders who came here to pick up the goods as agreed by the client.
Afterward, the FBI investigated them, and the two men’s real identities were black marketeers.
And the kidnappers never called again, and we never found any more clues about the hostages.
We always assumed Sofia had been torn away.”
Jackson, listening intently, summarized, “Ten years ago, the Sofia kidnapping was a ransom for diamonds, and the kidnapping we’re investigating now is a ransom for gold.
The kidnappers in both kidnapping cases shifted the most risky aspect of ransom delivery to black market traders.
Although these two kidnapping cases are separated by ten years, the modus operandi is almost the same.”
The Vice Squad nodded, “That’s right, and that’s why I suspect the two cases are related.
Originally, I just thought that the kidnapper had returned, but I didn’t realize that the victim who was kidnapped ten years ago was still alive, which was a surprise.”
Jenny said, “It is indeed unbelievable, normally, the kidnapper may tear the ticket when he gets the ransom, the kidnapper doesn’t get the ransom, and the hostage has almost no chance of surviving.
Sofia, on the other hand, survived and was involved in another kidnapping ten years later, how it sounds is a bit unbelievable.”
Jackson speculated, “Is it possible that the kidnapping back then was something else, like the hostages directed themselves so they weren’t ripped off.”
The vice squad pondered for a moment, “This is highly unlikely, Sophia was only ten years old back then. Even if it was self-directed, it’s impossible for it to be gone for ten years.”
Jenny frowned slightly, “Could it be that she was abused by her family back then and was trying to leave her family in this kidnapped way.”
The vice squad did not immediately make a judgment and said, “Back then, this kidnapping case was an FBI-led investigation, the LAPD only assisted in investigating the case, and I’m not sure about many of the specifics.”
Speaking of this, the vice squad’s gaze swept around, “Where’s Luke? Why hasn’t he been seen.”
Jackson said, “I think he’s in the captain’s office.”
The lieutenant shrugged, “Then why hasn’t he come out? Or did he go out and you just didn’t see him.”
“Cluck ……”
The office door opened and Luke stepped out with a file, “I’m here.”
The lieutenant reminded, “There’s been a development in the kidnapping case.”
“I know, I heard everything in there.”
“Then why didn’t you come out?”
“Because I was reading it.” Luke handed over the file he was holding.
The lieutenant opened it and was surprised, “The file on the Sofia kidnapping.
And it’s a detailed file from the FBI, how did you get it?”
Luke was unimpressed, “I was originally a criminal investigation consultant for the FBI, it’s not that hard to transfer a file.”
“COOL!” said Jackson with an admiring look.
“I have to say, you did do a pretty good job on this one.” The lieutenant sat down at the table and couldn’t wait to start looking through the file.
It had been ten years and he had forgotten many of the details of the case.
Luke smiled, a rare occasion, the old mouthpiece had his moments of weakness.
Twenty minutes later, the vice squad went through the file on the Sofia kidnapping case in detail and said, ”This file is indeed recorded in more detail than the police.
And three years after the kidnapping, the FBI has continued to track the investigation.
It also includes some information about the hostage’s family.
According to the records of the file, the hostage’s father died of illness in the third year of the kidnapping.
Perhaps also because of the hostage’s father’s passing, the FBI gave up tracking the case.”
Jackson subconsciously inquired, “What about the mother of the hostage, Sofia De La Rosa?”
The lieutenant replied, “Sofia’s own mother, passed away when she was very young.
When Sofia was eight years old, her father remarried her stepmother.
Back then, I even met Sofia’s stepmother once, a very elegant woman.
I thought it would be a good idea to make contact, if she’s still alive.”
Luke instructed, “Matthew, look up Sofia’s stepmother’s current contact information and address.”
“YES, Sir.”
“Lieutenant, get ready, when Matthew finds out the address, we’ll pay her a visit.”
The vice squad fell silent, a somewhat torn look on their faces, “I won’t go, you take the others.
I was involved in this kidnapping case back then, but the case was not solved.
I don’t want to influence your thinking because of my old ideas.
You take the others and come back and we’ll discuss the case.”
“OK, Jackson, you’re coming with me.”
“YES, Sir.”
The Haldor neighborhood.
Half an hour later, Jackson drove up to the new address of Sofia’s stepmother’s house.
Luke stepped out of the car and looked around out of habit.
Jackson came over and asked, “Captain, why didn’t the lieutenant want to come? Do his so-called preconceived notions really affect other people’s thinking and casework?
Why haven’t we heard him mention it before?”
Luke laughed, “Don’t be silly, he’s just embarrassed to face the victim’s family.”
Jackson “……”
After Luke’s mention, he figured it out too.
Ten years have passed since Sofia was kidnapped, the case has never been solved, as the police officer who participated in the investigation back then, the identity of the vice squad is indeed a bit embarrassing.
This is an upscale neighborhood, and Sofia’s stepmother’s family villa compound covers a large area.
Jackson walked to the door of the courtyard and pressed the doorbell.
After a while, the visual doorbell opened, and a white man in his thirties appeared in the video, “This is Kelly Lax’s house, who are you looking for?”
Jackson flashed his badge, “LAPD, we’re here to see Kelly Larks.”
“What can I do for you guys?”
Jackson asked rhetorically, “What is your relationship to Kelly Larks?”
“I’m her boyfriend, Mike Caromone.”
“Is Kelly Larks home? We need to talk to her in person.”
“OK, you guys hold on a second.”
It didn’t take long for the yard door to open.
Luke and Jackson entered the yard one after the other.
The courtyard was paved with stone bricks, and on both sides, many flowers were planted, which were well-grown, colorful, and very beautiful, and the faint fragrance of the flowers could be smelled vaguely.
Luke carefully surveyed some, the yard layout is very beautiful, should be specially invited to design, he thought of his own villa is being built, when the house is built, also want to the yard to arrange a good time.
At this time, the door of the room also opened, Mike Calomone stood at the door and made a gesture of invitation, “Kelly is waiting for you in the living room, follow me.”
Luke walked into the villa hall, because of the floor-to-ceiling windows, the living room is very bright, the furniture is also very exquisite, the overall decoration style is biased towards the classical style.
The second floor of the villa walked down a forty-year-old white woman, wearing a long white dress, elegant temperament, generous: “Two police officers, looking for me what is the matter?”
Jackson sized up the other party, “Are you Ms. Kelly Lax?”
“That’s me.”
“I’m Detective Jackson from the Robbery-Murder Division, this is our Captain Lee, we’d like to speak with you alone.” Jackson glanced at Mike Calomone with intent.
Kelly Lax said lightly, “He’s my boyfriend, I have nothing to hide from him, so you guys can just get right to it.”
Luke got right to the point, “We want to talk about the Sofia De La Rosa case.”
Kelly Larks blushed slightly, took a deep breath, and turned her head to look at Mike Calomone, “Honey. The desk in my second floor study is broken, can you fix it for me?”
“Okay, call me if there’s something.” Mike Calomone looked at Kelly Lax and glanced at both of Luke before turning to go upstairs.
“Have a seat.” Kelly Lax sat down on the couch and looked across at Luke, wondering, “Captain Lee, it’s been ten years since that case.
I’ve been trying to make myself forget, so why are you guys bringing it up again?”
Luke stared at her expression, “We found Sofia De La Rosa.”
Kelly Lax gave a shocked look, “Jesus Christ, you guys found her body?”
Luke corrected, “Sofia De La Rosa is not dead, at least not when we found her.”
“What? Sofia’s not dead!” Kelly Lax’s mouth dropped open, even more incredulous, “Are you guys telling the truth?”
“Yes, we found her DNA while investigating another case, and she’s most likely still alive.”
“Jesus Christ, how is this possible!
It’s been ten years since the kidnapping, if she’s still alive, she should be twenty years old.
Then why didn’t she go home? Why didn’t she call the police?”
“That’s what we want to know, we came over here today to find out some things about her and the kidnapping back then.”
Kelly Lax sighed, “It’s been so many years since the kidnapping that I can’t remember much of the circumstances.
My husband also died of a broken heart because of this incident ……
I can’t believe that Sofia is still alive ……”
Luke said, “Ms. De La Rosa, can you describe to us what happened in the kidnapping case back then?”
“I’ll try.”
Kelly Lax’s eyebrows furrowed once again as she fell into a memory, “It was the summer of 2013, Sophia had just celebrated her tenth birthday, her father gave her a new bike while I bought her a new outfit and shoes.
She loved that bike and often rode it around the neighborhood.
On June 16th, after she got off school, she said she had a date with a friend to play at the community park and rode her bike.
Neither her father nor I were home at the time, and we heard about it from the babysitter afterward.
Afterward, Sofia’s father received a blackmail call from the robbers demanding five million dollars in diamonds and no police, or they would tear up the ticket.
I can’t remember what time it was, just that it was a complete mess.
We didn’t fully believe it at first and tried to look for Sofia, but we never found her, and then her father, worried about Sofia’s safety, called the police anyway.
The police arrived first, then the FBI ……
We trusted them, unreservedly, but as it turned out …… they told us we had the wrong man.
Sophia was completely lost and they failed our trust.
My husband also died of depression due to excessive grief ……
This incident changed our entire family and the course of my life.”
“Did anything special happen or see anyone suspicious before or after the kidnapping?”
Kelly Lax was silent for a moment and shook her head, “It’s been too long for me to remember.”
“How long has the nanny been working at your house at the time?”
“A long time, the nanny has been taking care of Sophia’s father for as long as I’ve known them.”
“Did you and the nanny still have contact over the years?”
“No, the nanny left six months after the kidnapping.
There’s been no contact since then …… We’re both avoiding that incident, it was horrible.”
“Do you still have pictures of Sophia after hours?”
“No. I’ve tried to forget that horrible memory, I’ve lost a lot of things, gotten a new place to live, tried to start a new life …… but it hasn’t been that easy.”
“Does Sophia have any physical characteristics?”
Kelly Lax recalled for a while, “As I recall, she had a scratch on her right arm on her arm.”
“Anything else?” This piece of information Luke had also seen in the FBI case file.
Kelly Larks pondered for another moment and shook her head, “No, I can’t think of anything else.”
Luke asked, “Anything else to add?”
“No.”
“OK, we’ll talk about this for today.” Luke stood up and handed her a business card, “Call me if you think of any new leads.”
“I will.” Kelly Lax accepted the business card with both hands, her eyes reddened, and she solemnly said, “Captain Lee, please make sure to bring Sophia back. She has suffered too much over the years, she must be rescued.”
“We will do our best.” Luke finished speaking and got up to leave.
Kelly Larks walked the two to the door of the room and watched them leave in the police car.
Jackson glanced at the faraway mansion in the rearview mirror and said, “Captain, I always felt that there was something strange about her attitude?”
“How so?”
“It’s been ten years, and as a mother learning that her daughter might be alive, I would have expected her to be especially excited and thrilled, maybe even crying in pain.
But not at all, other than some initial surprise, she calmed down quickly.”
Luke said, “That only means that the bond between them wasn’t very strong.
She’s a stepmother, not a biological mother. It’s been ten years, so much has happened in that time, and Sophia’s father is dead, there’s no longer a deep bond between her and Sophia.”
Jackson continued, “Another thing that strikes me as suspicious is that earlier you told her that you found Sophia. She replied straight away, ‘Jesus Christ, you found her body?’
How did she conclude that Sophia must be dead, would that be too arbitrary or did she know something originally.”
Luke thought for a moment, “Actually, after all these years, in everyone’s subconscious mind, they all recognize that Sophia is dead, not only does she think so, but so does the vice squad.
I don’t think there’s any need to over-interpret it.” Luke finished and asked rhetorically, “You suspect that Kelly Larks had something to do with Sophia’s abduction?”
Jackson was a little hesitant, “I …… don’t know what to say.”
“It’s just a hypothesis of the case, just come right out and say what you surmise.”
Jackson nodded, “Sophia was kidnapped, Sophia’s father is dead, and Kelly Larks is living in a mansion with a handsome boyfriend younger than herself, I always thought ……
Isn’t there that saying.
Whoever is the biggest beneficiary is probably the murderer.”
Luke didn’t discourage him and said, “There’s some truth to the speculation, and it’s not completely ruled out, but you’ll have to find the evidence.”
Jackson was confident, “I’ve found the direction of the investigation.”
“Tell me about it.”
“The nanny.
Listening to Kelly Larks, the nanny would have been at Sophia’s house for years. Perhaps other than Sophia’s father, the nanny is the one who knows Sophia the best and can describe the case more objectively.
Captain, what do you think?”
Luke agreed, “I noticed the nanny too, but there’s no exact address for her in the FBI files and her cell phone number has changed.
You’ll have to find her first.”
Jackson smiled, “I will.”