Sophia calmed down when she heard Kevin's voice.
She knew that if she couldn't calm down, she couldn't think of a way to save Kevin. She had previously speculated where Kevin might have gone, and being kidnapped was one of her guesses.
A good boy like Kevin would not have disappeared for no apparent reason if his freedom had not been restricted.
The mechanical voice came from the phone again, "Do you hear that? Go to his house, find the bank card, and take out all the money. You can't call the police. You understand?"
Sophia immediately said, "Don't worry. I will never call the police. I swear."
She was just in the police station, yes, she didn't call the police.
She was surrounded by police officers, several of whom had surrounded her since she answered the call. Sophia didn't play the voice for fear that the kidnapper would hear the abnormal.
But the technicians had crept over and plugged a data line into her phone, where all the information she received was sent to a nearby computer. Several technicians put on headphones and listened carefully. There were also professionals trying to find the location of the call through the telecommunications service provider.
"Good. I'll tell you where to put the money when you get it out."
Sophia hurriedly said, "Wait, you have to tell me where he put his card. And I don't know what the password is. I am just one of Kevin's classmates. How do I know so much about him? Besides, I don't have a key to Kevin's house. How do you want me to go in and get it?"
The kidnapper was silent for a moment. Soon, Kevin's voice came from the phone, "Sis, the key is on me. The credit card is in the left drawer of the study, and the password is my birthday."
Before Sophia had time to say anything to him, it was the kidnapper's voice again, "Did you hear that? The password is his birthday. As for the key… You have to figure it out yourself. There is a lockpicking company, right? Pay them dozens of dollars, and they will unlock the door for you."
"I don't think that will work. I'm not the owner of the house. The lockpicking company is crazy to help me unlock casually. If I can't get the key, it's impossible for me to go in. If I break the lock, someone would definitely call the police. By then, the police will know it even if I don't call the police."
The kidnapper hesitated for a moment and said, "Fine. Later, I will put the key somewhere and give you a call to tell you where it is."
As he spoke, he hung up.
Soon, the technician found out the location of the phone call. It was in a shopping mall downtown.
"Should we search for the mall? They might hide Kevin there." Said a police officer.
"I think… something is wrong with it." The captain frowned slightly.
Sophia closed her eyes and thought it over. She had the same thought as the captain. Something was wrong.
The captain, Freddy, was a middle-aged man of more than forty years old with rich experience in handling cases. He pondered for a moment, and said, "There are so many people in the mall. How can he hide a kid there without being found? If it's me, I'll hide him in a safe and secret place. And... doesn't this guy know that this number can be traced?"
He said to Sophia, "Dial this number."
Sophia nodded, picked up her phone, and dialed the number, but she couldn't get it through.
"Did he..." Sophia understood at once, "After making the call, he must throw away the phone card and ran away. The reason why he chose the mall was that… there are so many people in the mall that it's not easy to find him."
"Something was wrong with that voice," Albert suddenly said, "there was some noise. It wasn't someone talking directly to the phone. The sound we hear should be transmitted from another phone or intercom or other equipment. Kevin is definitely not at the mall. Even if we go there now, the kidnappers must have run away."
Freddy nodded, "I think so, too. Now that they have the hostage, we can't act rashly, lest he found that out and endangered the hostage. Miss. Green, do you have any clues to the identity of the kidnappers?"
"I suspect a person. But I have no evidence. If he calls again, I'd like to sound him out again."
She suspected that it might have something to do with Linda. Linda, though rude, was too timid to do such a thing. But Sophia saw her new man last time, and maybe he was the one who encouraged her to do so.
Of course, he could be a real kidnapper. The man, who was clever enough not to leave any surveillance information or enable others to trace his whereabouts over the phone, did not appear to be simple-minded. He must have done enough preparation, will not easily reveal the flaw.
"The kidnapper called Miss Green to ask her to withdraw the money and must be afraid to expose his identity. But he will finally show up when we give him the money. At least that's an opportunity." said Freddy.
Sophia shook her head. "We can give him money. That won't be a problem. But we can't take a risk. I'm afraid he won't let go of Kevin after taking the money."
There were three thousand dollars in the card left by her. She didn't care if all the money was gone. But if Kevin was in danger, she would never accept it.
After an hour, the kidnapper called. It was a new number. "I have put the key in the third bin down the Blue Sky Alley, you can find it there."
"How much do you want? How about one hundred thousand dollars? He told me he had about one hundred thousand dollars in his possession."
The kidnapper sneered, "Stop talking about this nonsense. He told me he had two hundred thousand dollars. Give me two hundred thousand dollars, non-serial bills. You go and withdraw the money right now, and I'll call you back in three hours and tell you how to do it."
Then, he hung up.
"I get it. Linda is the kidnapper." Sophia said at once.
Freddy was confused, "How do you know that?"
He heard the talk clearly. The kidnapper only gave a number.
"Linda used to sue for the legacy. So, she applied to investigate the inheritance of Kevin's sister, which happened to be two hundred thousand dollars. If the man is a professional kidnapper, he won't be so clear about the money. He said Kevin told him about it, but from what I know of Kevin, he wouldn't be stupid enough to tell the kidnapper the exact number. After all, the card is not on him, and there is no way for the kidnapper to check his account." Said Sophia.
When Albert heard "Kevin's sister", his eyes darkened. He turned his head away so that Sophia would not notice the change of his expression.
Sophia continued, "Linda can't do this alone. She must have an accomplice. I suspect a man… I saw this man once and felt he was a little familiar at the time… It seems that…"
She felt this way when she met the man who was with Linda but didn't think much about it because it had nothing to do with her.
But now, this man's identity was crucial.
Her eyes suddenly lit up. "I remember. I have seen this man with Mrs. Lee. He seems to be Mrs. Lee's husband."
At that time, she just accidentally glanced and did not have a deep impression.. If she hadn't had a good memory, she couldn't have recalled it.