greaves case debrief

well it's been a damn difficult few weeks for me. i've not updated for some time because when you're in jail it's difficult to get to a computer, you know?

first of all, i'm pleased to say the little girl is in safe hands. not those of her parents, but those of a social worker. let me explain.

to cut a long story short, after my night at the warehouse where the girl was being kept, i eventually managed to get out-of-town police to investigate, suspecting that local cops were being paid to keep quiet. they went in and got her out. good for them. also good is that they caught mccarthy and greaves in there, too.

turns out greaves was in big trouble financially, but his daughter needed some new, expensive treatment in a field mccarthy was working in. they devised a plan where the kid was "kidnapped" by mccarthy's son, Jacob, so that they could demand a ransom for her. the idea was that greaves would then use an insurance he'd taken out 12 months earlier to pay for the ransom, which in fact was going to mccarthy via various offshore accounts to pay for his daughter's operation.

it's a shame they never got round to making the fake ransom demands in time. at least then the girl would have got her operation, even if pops was in jail.

the reason for my absence? well, since i'd been snooping around and got the cops in, greaves and mccarthy tried to take me down with them. i've since spent weeks in jail myself, waiting for my trial to be heard. no charges were upheld, but it was a close call as my fingerprints were found at the scene. once davidson (the chief who carried out the raid), gave his evidence i was let free.

i know all this seems a little too tidy, that's what my instinct is telling me, too. the main thing is that the little girl, and her brother are safe. if you got any questions, let me know and i'll try to fill you in.

so all is now back to normal. well, sort of. i've been seeing more ghost's recently. during the day, too, the sun's normally too powerful. anyone else getting the same?

greaves case update

i was right about the warehouse. the kid's definately there, but there's something very strange going on, and the father is involved. i know this because he turned up before i got there.

when i got in, i saw the kid in what looks like a locked room, but full of toys, games, etc. she looked like she was enjoying herself. while i was calculating the guards and the time i'd have to get in and out with the kid, greaves walks in with McCarthy and goes straight in. McCarthy looks the kid over, and they chat. i can't hear them, but it seems amicable - there was a lot of nodding of heads as if in agreement to something.

i found out today that the kid only has some condition which means she's not going to make her teenage years unless she gets a transplant of some kind. i don't understand the details. interesting thing is that McCarthy is a physician specialising in this area, developing some kind of new treatment still in the human testing stage. i guess that could account for his regular visits.

more - because the treatment is still at the testing stage, the GHB won't finance it out of government money - people have to pay in advance. it also turns out greaves can't afford to pay this fee. the "successful" businessman described to me by his wife, isn't all he seems. the family are bordering on bankruptcy, although greaves is soon due to come into some money from work, which will see them through and hopefully pay for rebecca's treatment.

still no ransom demands, still can't see a motive but i've found the kid. because greaves is involved and the kid seems for now to be safe enough i'm now feeding the whole family and the cops a cover story about my activities. everyone's acting real weird, and it doesn't help to find out from my pal in memphis that greaves is a good friend and regular golf-buddy of our local police chief.

yeah, my thoughts exactly...

greaves case update

more contact today from the little girl, plus we have a clue. the police have been tapping the greaves' phone, and in the background on the recording we've heard what sound like fog horns. the police are headed off to the docks now thinking it's ships coming in, but i think they're barking up the wrong tree.

see, while i was following McCarthy in his truck the other night, he stopped off at a warehouse. i know this sounds like a cliche and something you'd expect to see in one of those cop movies (assuming you saw one before they were outlawed), but stopping at a warehouse late at night ain't exactly how you'd expect an ace surgeon to spend his evenings. it's not disused, and while i was waiting across the street for him to come back to his van, a siren sounded for change of shift at the mill. i'm convinced this is the siren we heard on the recording, and i'm going back down to that warehouse this evening to check it out after blackout.

i'm not telling the greaves' as much as i was. mr greaves seems to get more agitated the closer i get to his daughter. anyone would think he didn't want her found. i asked the question about him being the biological father and i'm assured he is by the family. kid sure looks like her dad from the photographs - gotta feel sorry for her.

starting to feel really uncomfortable in my own skin lately. things haven't felt this weird since bush was assasinated, but back then everything was pretty much in order so i guess it makes sense. wish we could go back to those days now. what i'd give to sit and listen to a good old fashioned CD, or switch the tuner on and get something other than that cheap-shit Nichols preaching to the masses about the evils of fast food and alcoholic drink. the day mcdonalds closed it's doors in the U.S. was the saddest day of my life - to have to go to europe for a cheeseburger seems crazy and i don't wanna be reminded of that fact every time i drive my car.

anyway, i'm leaving now. i've got Sasha with me tonight, i'm not taking any chances and she's got a full clip plus two spares. will update again when i can.

greaves case update

ok so i've been away for a while. i'm taking this chance to update my notes while i can.

GOOD NEWS! the family have had contact from the girl. a muffled voice called three days ago and put her on to speak to mrs greaves for a few seconds. she's sure it was her daughter. the police managed to trace the call to a local motel, but the room was empty when they arrived. they've had a forensic team in there but i can't get any info from anyone.

actually made a lot of progress this last week - when i wasn't in jail. i had some surveillance going on the greaves' house and mr greaves wasn't too happy about it. spent a night in the slammer before they decided they believed i was working for the greaves and let me go without charge. i've done worse time that that before now, just held the case up is all. got some interesting evidence from the house - greaves sure ain't that bother that his daughter's missing. he's not acting like the supportive father/husband (his wife and son aren't taking this too well), more like a snake in the grass that knows what's going to happen next.

the red pickup (ok lisa?) has been found and is registered to a surgeon (John McCarthy) at the city hospital. turns out this guy is a family friend/aquaintance of the greaves, who stops by regularly. could be why no-one thought anything out of the ordinary when the girl was kidnapped. at this point can only assume it's the same truck, the nice old lady has identified it as the one she passed on the street. it was McCarthy's truck, all right. i'm now speaking to a few of my buddies to keep an eye open. i'm going to spend the next couple of days following that truck in rental cars, see if i can find something out.

visited the school, turned up nothing. total waste of time. turns out the kid is totally normal, average in every way. everyone loves her, her parents are governers at the school, no motives there whatsoever. back to square one. also been round the neighbours i didn't get to interview before - they've given me nothing new, except one guy who reckons he saw the truck going up the road with his binoculars from his bedroom window. wouldn't be drawn on why he was looking out of his bedroom window with binoculars, but my guess is that it's that nice young girl over the street he was paying attention to. it takes all sorts, i guess.

turns out there's no immediate family. there's an uncle in reno, but there's no contact with him any more, and the family has no address for him.

i now have a burning intuition that the father has something to do with this. lisa - you suggested the mother, but she's got me convinced so far. it's like he knows something about it, and consequently ain't all that worried that anything will happen to her.

at least we've had some contact, will update more frequently, hopefully.

greaves case update

ok, so i pay a visit to an old pal in memphis who spent 20 years in the MPD. he owes me a favour and spent yesterday doing a little digging for me. turns out the local chief was given a small cash "reward" for keeping the search low on publicity. haven't found out why yet, will continue this line of enquiry over the next few days.

spent today in the greaves neighbourhood. spoke to a few neighbours, who say they didn't see anything until they heard the yelling out front. most didn't want to talk, but one little old lady (Penny Carmichael) across the street told me that she's seen a red pickup parked at the end of the street. she's passed it on more than one occasion when she goes to the local minimart to fetch her groceries. i described a well-built man, but she says it was a small thin guy with glasses sat in the drivers seat. can't be a coincidence so will follow this lead up.

spoke to mrs greaves again, today. discussed payment and she told me it was no trouble because her husband's some big-city banker. i'll get willie to see if i can't find something about this guy. considering his daughter's been kidnapped he doesn't seem too hung up about it and doesn't know about me yet. mrs greaves says he told her not to go to a p.i. and that the police would see to it. she's asked me to leave him alone for now until she tells him what's going on. what a strange relationship they must have.

so the kid's been missing for 6 days and nothing. i have a couple of leads, and i'm going to get some of the old surveillance equipment out on the street. maybe some in the greaves' house, too. you never know what goes on behind closed doors, and mr greaves is proving a difficult customer to get to know.

new facts:
- red pickup matching description seen at end of street prior to kidnapping with narrow-build caucasian male inside
- husband/father acting strange considering the circumstances
- police bribed to keep the search a low profile - why?

to-do:
- still to visit school/teachers/friends
- find out and visit other family - grandparents, aunts, uncles etc
- go back to neighbours who weren't answering their doors
- look into finding that pickup. someone may have security tapes

questions:
- WHO paid the chief to keep the search quiet?
- WHAT is the motive?
- WHERE is the red pickup?
- WHY is the father apparently not concerned for his daughter's safety?
- WHEN (don't have a when)
- HOW did a big guy in a distinctive red pickup steal a child in broad daylight in a busy neighbourhood?

greaves case introduction

a couple of weeks ago (5-24-05) a lady (Terri Greaves) comes into my office, distraught. she's lost her kid (Rebecca Greaves), she tells me. she's lost her kid and her husband (Robert Greaves) won't do anything about it.

note to self: make office more presentable and have store of clean shirts in locker. empty waste-paper basket.

her 7-year daughter went missing 5 days ago (6-3-05). she was out playing in the garden with 13-year old brother (Matthew Greaves), next thing lady hears screaming, runs outside to see brother yelling that kid has been swept away by big man in red ford pickup.

hurray for first-class witnesses.

mrs greaves went to police, who are looking, but nothing turned up yet.

facts:
- family is Robert, Terri, Matt, Rebecca (principal)
- rebecca went missing on 3-6-05
- red ford pickup, carrying male, involved

to-do:
- go to family home
- learn about father
- why was son left behind?
- go to school, interview teachers
- interview neighbours

why am i doing this?

i need to get all this stuff down, all this stuff in my head and my notebooks. maybe i can start to come to terms with some of it and get this damn Greaves case closed.

for anyone reading this, all the names are pseudonyms. only one other person knows the facts that make this thing stand up, so this is just a case record in case anything happens to me.

God help me.