Kathy came back in the room with tonight's dinner, Italian pasta with chicken. As we ate, I told Kathy about Anne and her missing sister.
“A strange man came to Sarah and Bill Salas's apartment building two days ago, forced them both into a car, and took them away,” I explained. “Today, the man let Bill go and told him to get a half a million dollars, or he would kill Sarah.” “And how did you get mixed up in all this?” Kathy asked. “Sarah's sister Anne is my student at USC. She asked me to lend her a hand, and I said ‘yes'.” “So who do you think the kidnappers could be?” she asked. “Well, Bill and Anne gave me the names of two ex-employees of Pardo Computers. I am going to see one of them tonight.” “Where does this person work?” Kathy asked. “He now works at a strip club near the airport.” “He's not the person who took Sarah,” Kathy said confidently. “Why do you say that? I haven't even talked to him yet,” I said, surprised. “Trust me. The man you want is smart, very smart. Smart men don't work at strip clubs.” Kathy was probably right. I thanked her for the wonderful dinner, and told her I would call her tomorrow if I found out anything. Even though I trust Kathy's judgment, I decided to go visit this former employee anyway, just to be sure he wasn't the one who took Sarah. I drove my car down La Brea. Suddenly I heard an emergency announcement on the police scanner in my car. The radio picks up all of the police communication in the city. I had it put into my car so I could hear any important police action related to my cases. I immediately pulled over and cranked up the volume.
There was an accident on the freeway involving a black Mercedes. The woman in the car was hurt. I listened closely to the name as the radio operator gave the details: young Latina female, age 22, name--Anne Pardo.
