Where Is Rebecca? (The Chosen One)

Chapter 2: FBI’s Investigation

    Immediately, Mr. Dickson called Thompson Williams, he swung into action. He set up a team to investigate Rebecca’s disappearance. Joe White was appointed to head the investigating team.

    Joe detailed some members of the investigating team to Mr. Dickson's house to interrogate those, who were present, when Rebecca disappeared. He also instructed them to retrieve the CCTV footage. 

    The officers interrogated the occupants of Mr. Dickson's house one by one. When they asked Mrs. Dickson if there was anyone else left to be interrogated, she said no. The officers requested for the CCTV footage and returned to their office. When they got to their office, they watched the footage over and over again to see if they could find any clue that would connect them to Rebecca. 

    A woman in the footage caught Joe's attention. " Pause the video. Rewind it. Who's that woman in the red dress?" The officers unanimously answered, "We, don't know her. She wasn't one of those we interrogated." Joe placed a call to Mrs. Dickson to inquire who the woman was. "Hello madam." Hi Joe. How are you doing. Have you heard anything about my daughter?" "Madam, that's why I called you. I have watched the CCTV footage retrieved from your house. I want to confirm if you have an idea about the woman in red, I saw in the footage." "Yes, I know her. She's my sister." "Interesting! Where is she now?" " She is not around. She has left for a conference in China." "When did she leave the United States for China?" At that point Mrs. Dickson was confused why Joe would ask her so many questions about her sister. "Joe, I don't know why you asked such questions. But be assured that my sister had nothing to do with the kidnapping. She's my sister for cry out sake! She can't harm a hair on Rebecca's head." 

    "Madam, your sister needs to be interrogated." Mrs. Dickson defended her sister more and promised that she had nothing to do with the kidnapping. More also, that she had left the United States that morning before the kidnapping occurred. Joe insisted that she should be called back for interrogation. When Mr. Dickson wanted to continue to defend her sister, Joe requested that she allowed them do their job, if they must unravel the mystery behind Rebecca's disappearance. Joe was almost certain that Mrs. Dickson's sister was responsible for Rebecca's disappearance.

    Mrs. Dickson called her sister to inform her about what was going on. She claimed to be innocent. She asked Mrs. Dickson if she doubted her innocence. Mrs. Dickson assured her that she trusted her more that herself, but she needed to return to the United States to clear her name. She promised to return as soon as she was done with the conference.

    On the day, Mrs. Dickson’s sister returned to the United States, the FBI’s officers picked her up at the airport. She was surprised! " What's going on? Why are you embarrassing me? I'm not a criminal." "Miss, you need to come with us." "But to where? To avoid creating a scene, she went with them to their office.

    On getting to the FBI’s office, Joe starred at Mrs. Dickson’s sister like a hard to crack criminal! He instructed his team mates to leave the interrogation room. He was left with Mrs. Dickson's sister alone. He could not waste time, before he started the interrogation. "Take a seat." "Officer, why did you bring me here?" "What's your name?" She reluctantly answered. “I’m Judith Abbey. I don’t know why you brought me here or why you suspected me to be the kidnapper of my niece. Whatever the case, I’m innocent. Why would I kidnap my own blood? That is just unimaginable! If I were guilty, did you think, I would return to the States?” Joe interrupted, “I have not asked you anything about the kidnapping. So, why are you going on and on about it? So, relax.”

    "Judith,who was the girl in veil, you were with at the airport on the day, you traveled to China? "I don’t know her. I met the girl and her mum at the airport. Her mum asked me to assist her to take care of the girl, while she went to the restroom. She came back and went away with the girl.” "How old is she?"  “I don’t know. She looked Seven years old.” "Judith , did you know that Rebecca is of that age?" “Yes, of course. Rebecca is Seven years old.”

    Joe was so sure that the interrogation would yield a good result. He fixed his eyes on Judith and tried to study her body reactions, while he continued with his questions. "On the day, Rebecca disappeared from her house, were you at Mr. Dickson's house?" "Yes, I was there. Obviously, I live with my sister and her family in that house." "Judith, did you see Rebecca that day before you left the United States for China?" "Yes, of course. I saw her playing with Mark in the garden before I left. She even asked me to bring her gifts from China."

    Judith started crying. Joe was sympathetic with her. "Why are you crying?"  "The news of Rebecca’s disappearance did not only come to me as a shock, but it broke me into pieces." Joe consoled Judith to take heart.

    Judith was released, but was told to remain in the United States, while investigation was still going on. She appreciated the investigating team before she left the FBI’s office.

    Joe reported to Thompson that he had no concrete evidence to pin down Judith as the one who was responsible for Rebecca’s disappearance. Thompson advised that Joe and his team must look for other ways to crack the case. He also advised that whatever measure, the investigating team decided to adopt, it must be done very fast.

    Before Thompson could end his conversation with Joe, Mr. Dickson placed a call to him to know how far he had gone with the investigation. He assured him that the case was his priority. He promised that he would do everything to crack the case and return Rebecca back to him safe and sound. On that note, Mr. Dickson wished him success in his investigation.

    Joe had to go back to his drawing board. There was no single clue to help him cracked the case. He was worried about what could become of his career if he failed to crack the case. He was so tensed because time was not on his side; he had just a week left to find Rebecca. He thought of the only possibility left for him, “Desperate time needs desperate action.”