Hello, Claire Voiance Speaking - 2. Local Attention Broadens

I read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph

The Beatles - 1967

4

Later that day, Mrs. Drummond was flummoxed because she couldn't find Elisa's phone number or address anywhere. She tried the detective, who once again refused to share the information, not wanting to invade Lis' privacy.

She thought, 'If the cops won't help, the paper might.'

Sunday morning, Lis looked at the headline in the online version of the local newspaper.

'Psychic Locates Missing Boy'

"Oh, shit!"

"What's the matter, Lis?"

"Apparently, the Drummonds phoned the paper. There's a story about me telling the cops where he was, dad."

"But that's good."

"It won't be when the whole town wants me to find their missing things."

"Not anonymous?"

"No. How does this sound?"

'Elisa Davis, of Morristown, phoned the local police yesterday stating she knew where the missing boy was. He was subsequently found in the R. Jack Fishman Library, which had been closed since Thursday at 6 PM, shortly before he was noticed missing. Ms. Davis could not be reached for comment.'

"An unlisted phone number is sometimes a good thing."

"That won't last very long. The papers have resources that can find out just about anything."

It seemed that Lis could also predict the future. Five minutes later, the doorbell rang.

"I'm not here if it's anyone looking for me."

Madeline nodded to her daughter and answered.

"Good morning, Mrs. Davis?"

"Yes."

"I'm Marlon MacKenzie, from the Citizen Tribune. Is Elisa here?"

"No, she isn't."

"Her car is here, and there are three vehicles, so I think she is."

"She went somewhere with her brother. And how do you know which car is hers?"

MacKenzie lied, "Public records. Can you have her call me?" MacKenzie handed Madeline his business card.

"I'll tell her you're looking for her, but don't expect a call. She doesn't want to be made out to be a freak."

"I have no intent to make her out to be a freak. But this is a great human-interest story. Please, have her call me. My cell number is on there as well."

"I'll pass on the message."

"Thanks. Have a good day."

Madeline closed the door and Marlon appeared to leave. But he didn't go far, parking seven houses up the block.

"Is he gone?"

Madeline looked out the window, "Yes. He's driving away."

"Thankfully, we only have the one newspaper in town."

MacKenzie wasn't giving up easily. Although he waited almost four hours, hoping Lis would either leave or return home, neither occurred. He knew she was a student at the university. He would return the next morning, to wait for her to head to school. He wouldn't be alone in looking for Lis. Local 3 News picked up the story as well, courtesy of one Marlon MacKenzie.

They were watching the six o'clock news together when Lis' worst nightmare came true.

"Damn it!"

'And now, a human-interest story. Yesterday, a missing boy, Andre Drummond, nine, was located at the local library in Morristown. Police were directed there by a young woman, Elisa Davis. Ms. Davis claimed she knew where the boy was. The boy indicated he walked to the library by himself and was later locked in. News outlets have been unable to locate Ms. Davis, as she apparently has been hiding in her home, according to Marlon MacKenzie of the Citizen Tribune.'

A clip of MacKenzie followed.

'I waited outside her home this afternoon for as long as I could. She neither left nor returned. I suspect she's hiding from the press.'

'We'll have more as this story develops.'

"You're just going to have to face it, Lis. They'll catch up with you sooner or later."

"Well, I get at least one more day of peace. I don't have any classes tomorrow. I can stay in again."

5

MacKenzie showed up outside Lis' house at 7:00 the next morning. Her car was there, so he felt confident she was still home, and would be leaving for classes soon. Seven hours later, he finally gave up. She wasn't as lucky on Tuesday.

Lis pulled into the University's parking lot at 8:05, thinking she'd have time to get a coffee and doughnut from the cafeteria before her 8:30 class.

MacKenzie was nothing if not single-minded. "Ms. Davis. Can I have a word?"

"Yes. One word. No."

"I'm Mar..."

"I can guess who you are, and I don't wish to speak with you."

"But..."

"Would you like me to cry rape, Mr. MacKenzie? Because if you don't leave me alone, I will."

Needless to say, MacKenzie wasn't about to risk testing if Lis was serious, "Okay. You win this round. But you can't dodge me forever."

"We'll see about that."

Lis was pre-law, with a number of professors who had legal contacts, judges among them. MacKenzie soon found out how wrong he was when he was hit with a restraining order later that day. It extended to anyone associated with his newspaper.

One problem was solved, but others quickly arose. Apparently, people with missing items were willing to spend the thirty dollars or so a month to subscribe to one of the many services that could tell you anything and everything about anyone. She usually kept her cell phone on silent during classes, but the next day, she needed to turn it off completely. She answered a few calls from people looking for things. She gave up, and after that, it stayed off until she got home. There, she was able to get a new number and give it to only those who needed it - family and close friends. The school had the landline number at her parents’ house.

Friday, she only had classes in the morning. Afterward, she went to Morristown City Center and changed her name legally. She took her maternal grandmother's name, Melinda Markins. She canceled her cell service and restarted it under the new name. As soon as her brother heard, he tagged her with the nickname, Lindy. From that point forward, she only used her ability to find things with her family and close friends who were sworn to secrecy.

That was until the next year, soon after she started law school at Georgetown University.

6

On her first day of law school, she met a man that, if she didn't know any better, she felt was stalking her. Avery Noonan was a few years older than Lindy, almost five to be exact. But he was in four of the six courses she was taking. Out of constitutional law, criminal law, contracts, property, legal research and writing, and torts, he was only missing from property and torts. Both constitutional law and criminal law used study groups. Later in the semester, mock trials would be held and teams of three or four students would comprise mock law firms. Avery and two other students were in both those classes with her, so it was logical that they all decided to work together in both.

At first their relationship was limited to classwork. Over time, they were spending more and more time together out of class, with their two other study partners. Five weeks into the semester, a local crisis arose. A senator's daughter was kidnapped. Lindy was torn. She knew roughly where the girl was being held, but didn't want to go through the hassles she had a year earlier. She decided to confide in Avery.

"Avery, can we go get a coffee after classes today? There's something I need to talk to someone about and I feel like I can trust you not to say anything to anybody."

"Sure. If you want me to keep your confidence, I will."

They met at Georgetown Gourmet, a local coffee shop, later that afternoon.

"So, what is it you need to talk about?"

"Alina Sheehan. The senator's daughter."

Avery was confused but curious, "Um, okay."

"Please don't stop me in the middle. I need to get some of this out all in one shot." Avery nodded. "Last year, a boy from my town went missing. I knew where he was and phoned the police and told them. It turned into a clusterf-, circus, between the local newspaper, TV news, and everyone who was missing something wanting me to find it for them. It got so bad I had to change my phone number and my name. I vowed to never use that skill in such a public forum again. Then this kidnap happened."

"You know where she is." It wasn't a question, Avery had his own special talent, so he didn't question Lindy's ability.

"Yes. You believe me? Just like that?"

"I do."

It wasn't the last time Avery would ever utter those words in her presence.

"I don't know what to do. If I say something, I'll be inundated with requests again, maybe even brought in for questioning, thinking I had something to do with the kidnapping."

"You can call D.C. police anonymously."

"Nothing's really anonymous these days."

"I'll buy you a burner phone from a backwards convenience store without cameras, pay cash, and you can use that to call."

"Would you make the call? If they hear a woman's voice, someone may remember the incident from Tennessee and put two and two together."

"That's probably a stretch, but I can understand your trepidation. Sure, I will make the call for you."

"Do you know a store like you described?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. And it's nearby. Will you wait here?"

"Yes. Of course."

Avery left, and returned a few minutes later with a brand new, basic cell phone.

"We need to go somewhere else Lindy, without cameras around, to make the call. They may be able to quickly trace the location and with cameras almost everywhere, narrow down who made the call."

"Where can we go? There are cameras everywhere these days."

"I'm thinking Theodore Roosevelt Island. There's a pedestrian bridge, so no license plate captures, and plenty of isolated places. At this time of day, there will be enough people there to get lost in the crowd without being in a crowd. Care to take a walk?"

"I'd love to."

They left the coffee shop and walked to the island. It took around twenty minutes to get there. Lindy believed it was time well spent.

"There's a dead end of sorts over on the east side. I think it will be an ideal place to make the call."

"Okay. You apparently know the place pretty well."

"I completed my undergraduate work at UMD. It's less than ten miles from here, as the crow flies. I spent a lot of time in DC. Cleared my head many times here."

Fifteen minutes later, they stopped at the last intersection entering the dead end, sat on a bench, and Lindy told Avery where the girl was being held.

"I don't know what it's called, but there's an abandoned warehouse in Baltimore near a TV station. There's an elevated road that goes right past it. If I knew the area, I could be more specific."

"Let's see if Google can help us."

Avery pulled up Google Maps on his phone and searched for abandoned warehouses in Baltimore.

"Looks like Union Warehouse is the place. Elevated road, TV station..."

"It does look promising. But describe the place too, just in case it's not right."

"Will do."

They walked the hundred or so feet to the end of the path and Avery made the call. Describing the place just as Lindy did.

"I think it might be Union Warehouse, at 1668-1748 Union Ave."

"What is your name, sir?"

"Just check it out. Goodbye."

Avery disconnected and threw the cell phone into the brook.

Lindy was nervous about the whole situation. She and Avery walked back to the school, and he took her out to dinner. Afterward, they went to his apartment, which happened to be in College Park, Maryland, close to where he lived when he went to college there. They watched CNN until late that night. The girl was rescued. One kidnapper was killed in a shootout, another who was just a babysitter, was taken into custody and spilled his guts to avoid a long prison sentence. The news discussed an anonymous call made from somewhere in Washington D.C. The police assumed it was someone associated with the kidnapping that had a guilty conscience but were unable to identify him.

A quote from a very old movie described the resulting situation between Avery and Lindy well. "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."