The Evening News (44 page)

Both assumed with some certainty-acknowledged by the White Plains police
chief-that the Sloane kidnapping had been a foreign terrorist act
.”
So who the hell are they
?
”

Partridge pounded a fist into his palm
.”
That's
what we must concentrate on. Who
?
”

It was clear to Rita that Harry had put behind him the notion of abdicating
the leadership of CBA's task force. She answered, "It's natural to think
first of the Mideast-Iran, Lebanon, Libya . . . the religious lineup:
Hezbollah, Amal, Shiites, Islamic Jihad, FARL, PLO, you name it
.”

Partridge acknowledged, "I've been thinking that way too. Then I ask
myself, "y would they? Why would they bother extending their reach so far
,
taking the risks of operating here, with so many easier targets close to
home
?
”

"To make an impression, perhaps. To convince the 'great Satan' there's no
safety anywhere
.”

Partridge nodded slowly
.”
You might be right
.”

He looked at Cooper
.”
Teddy
,
should we consider the IRA as possibles
?
”

The researcher snapped out of his reverie
.”
I don't think so. The IRA are
scum who'll do anything, though not in America because there are still
idiot Irish-Americans who feed them money. If they went active here, they'd
cut that payola off
.”

"Any other thoughts
?
”

"I agree with what you say, Harry, about the Mideast mob. Maybe you should
be looking south
.”

"Latin America
,”
Rita said
.”
It makes sense. Nicaragua's the most likely
,
Honduras or Mexico possibilities, even Colombia
.”

They continued to theorize but had reached no conclusion when Partridge
said to Teddy, "I know something's at work in that convoluted mind of
yours. Are you ready to share it with us
?
”

"I guess so
.”

Cooper considered, then began, "I reckon they've left this
country
.”

"The kidnappers
?
”

The researcher nodded
.”
And taken Mr. S's family. What happened back
there this morning"-he inclined his head toward White Plains-"was like
a signature. To let us know the kind of people they are, how rough they
play. It's a reminder for later on, for anyone who has to deal with
them
.”

"Let's be sure I read you
,”
Partridge said
.”
You believe they estimated
how long it would take for the van to be discovered and blow up, and
planned to have it happen after they had gone
?
”

"That's the size of it
.”

Partridge objected, "You're simply guessing. You could be wrong
.”

Cooper shook his head
.”
Better than guessing-say an intelligent
assessment. Which is probably dead right
.”

Rita asked, "Supposing you are right, where does that leave us
?
”

"It leaves us
,”
Cooper said, "having to decide if we want to make a big
expensive effort to find their hideaway, even though it's empty when we
get there
.”

"Why would we care about that if, as you assume, the birds have flown
?
”

"Because of what Harry said yesterday: Everybody leaves traces. No matter
how careful they've been, these blokes will have too
.”

Their network car was nearing Manhattan. They were on the Major Deegan
Expressway, the Third Avenue Bridge ahead, and the driver slowed in
increased traffic. Partridge looked out, confirmed his bearings, then
returned his attention to the other two
.”
Last night
,”
he reminded Cooper, "you told us you'd try
for an idea to locate the gang's headquarters. Is that 'big expensive effort' part of it
?
”

"It would be. It would also be a long shot
.”

Rita said, "Let's hear about that
.”

Cooper consulted a notebook and began, "What I figured on first was the
kind of a place this mob would need to do all those things we discussed
last night-park at least five vehicles, most likely out of sight, set up
a workshop big enough to spray those motors, then have enough living
,
sleeping and eating quarters for four people and probably a couple more
for good measure. They'd want space for storage, then somewhere safe to
lock up the three Sloanes after they'd snatched 'em, and-for that size
of operation-an office of some kind. So it wouldn't be anything small
,
especially not some ordinary house with nosey parker neighbors around
.”

"Okay
,”
Partridge agreed, "I'll buy that for starters
.”

"So what kind of place would it be
?
”

Cooper continued
.”
Well, the way I
see it, it would most likely be one of three things---either a small
disused factory, or an empty warehouse, or a big house with outbuildings
.
But whichever, it would need to be somewhere with not much going on
around-isolated, lonely-and as we've already agreed, it shouldn't be more
than twenty-five miles from Larchmont
.”

"You've already agreed
,”
Rita pointed out
.”
The rest of us have gone
along because we couldn't think of anything better
.”

"The trouble is
,”
Partridge objected, "even in that twenty
-
five-mile
radius there could be twenty thousand places answering that description
.”

Cooper shook his head
.”
Not that many. After our dinner last night, I
talked with some of the others and what we reckoned, when you include the
lonely part, was maybe one to three thousand
.”

"Even then, how in hell would we find the one we want
?
”

"I already said it would be a long shot, but there might just be a way
.”

As Partridge and Rita listened, Cooper described his plan
.”
Start out by mulling this over: When those snatchers got here, wherever
they came from, they had to set up base close to
Larchmont, but not too close-just the way we said. So how would they most likely find one? First, pick a general area. After that, do what anyone else would, 'specially when they're short of time-look through the newspaper property ads, and the kind of place they'd need to lease or rent would be in the classifieds. Of course we can't be certain, but there's a good chance that's how they got the setup they used
.”

"Sure it's a possibility
,”
Partridge said
.”
It's also a possibility they
had local advance help, with the base set up before they got here
.”

Cooper sighed
.”
Too bloody true! But when all you have to work with is
possibles, you go for tho
se you can put your hands on.”
"So I'm being a devil's advocate, Teddy. Keep going
.”

"Okay, moving on . . . What we should do now is study the estate agents'
ads in every paper, regional and local, published over the last three
months inside that twenty-five-mile radius, with Larchmont as the center
.
Going through those papers, we'd look for ads of certain types-for the
kinds of buildings we just talked about--.especially any ad that ran for
a while, then suddenly stopped
.”

Rita gasped
.”
Have you any idea how many papers, dailies and weeklies
,
and how many people-
”
Partridge told her, "I'm thinking the same way, but let him finish
.”

Cooper shrugged
.”
Do I know the number of papers? No, not exactly, except
it's a bleedin' lot. But what we'd do is hire people-bright young kids-to
go around and look through them all. I'm told there's a book , .
.”

Cooper paused to check his notes
.”
Editor and Publisher International
Year Book, which lists every paper, big and small. We'd start with that
.
From there we'd go to libraries which have files of newspapers, some on
microfilm. For the others we'd go direct to the papers and ask to look
through their back numbers. It'll take a lot of bodies, and it has to be
done fast, before the trail gets cold
.”

Partridge said, "And you figure three months of advertising would cover
- .
.”

"Look, we know these people were snooping on the Sloanes
for about a month and, when it started, you can bet they had their pad set up. So three months is a sane spread
.”

"What happens when we find some advertising that fits the kind of place
we're searching for
?
”

"There should be a big number of 'possibles,'
“
Cooper said
.”
We'd sort
them into priorities, then have some of the same people we hired to check
the newspapers do the follow-up too. First, by contacting the advertisers
and asking the odd question. After that, according to the answers, we'd
decide which places we should take a look at
.”

Cooper shrugged
.”
Most of
the look-sees would be goose eggs, but some might not. I'd expect to do
some of the follow-up myself
.”

There was a silence as Partridge and Rita weighed what they had heard
.
Partridge announced his judgment first
.”
I salute you for an original idea
,
Teddy, but you said it was a long shot and it sure as hell is. A long, long
shot. Right at this moment, I just can't see it working
.”

"Frankly
,”
Rita said, "I think what you'd be trying to do is impossible
.
First, because of the number of papers involved
there's a multitude! Second
,
the amount of help you'd need would cost a fortune
.”

"Wouldn't it be worth it
,”
Cooper asked her, "to get Mr. S's family back
?
”

"Of course it would. But what you're suggesting wouldn't get them back. At
best it might produce some information and even that's unlikely
.”

"Either way
,”
Partridge ruled, "we're not making a decision here. Because
of the money, Les
Chippingham
will do that. When we meet with him later
today, Teddy, you can spell out your idea again
.”

The two-and-a-half-minute spot produced by Iris Everly for the Saturday
National Evening News was dramatic, shocking and-as the jargon
went-video-rich. At White Plains, Minh Van Canh had, as always, employed
his camera creatively. Iris, back at CBA News headquarters and working
again with the
t
ape editor, Bob Watson, had fashioned a small masterpiece of news theater
.
The process began with Iris and Partridge joining Watson in a tiny editing
room--one of a half dozen side by side and in constant use as air time
neared. There the three viewed all available videotapes while Iris made
rough logs of the contents of each cassette. A late tape certain to be used
showed the arrival of FBI agents at the White Plains explosion scene. Asked
if there had been any communication from the kidnappers, the senior FBI man
gestured around him and said, grimfaced, "Just this
.”