Quinn returned to the hospital but Betsy and I remained at Howie's side in the pitch dark room. It was difficult for all of us to maintain attention as Howie watched the child sleep. At least he could move around, in his dream state, while we were obligated to remain silent and unmoving. Just before Howie was ready to give up, he was startled by a figure he'd not heard enter the house! The stocky man was hooded, wore a mask and was already in the room!
The assailant pushed a rag against the sleeping girl's nose and mouth and quietly, but with surprising speed, was down the stairs and out the front door in the matter of seconds.
"I never did know how he got in the house he moved so silently," Howie told us later. "The guy ran across the side yard and into a wooded area. It was a bitch to follow him. He carried the child over his shoulder like a Santa sack. I had trouble keeping up with him. It takes time for me to establish motion and I got a late start."
A car was parked on the far side of the woods, about a hundred yards from the house. The license plate was from Missouri and Howie managed to recite the numbers to us together with a detailed description of the car, an older Buick. The man pulled up his mask enough for Howie to see a mustache and glasses but little else. The girl remained unconscious as the man drove away.
"I would have tried to stay with him, but I'd taken so long up until then, I couldn't do it." None the less, we were elated at the detail he'd gathered. Betsy immediately passed on the information via a tip.
This abductor was a high level serial killer and of paramount interest to the special FBI task force. I called Daniel Brennan the next day and related the story to him. He too was excited with Howie's success and promised to keep us informed. There was additional news.
"I have more on Rupert Youngblood. His body was discovered in some bushes near the ocean, up the coast. Someone took a lot of time and did a real number on him with a knife. The local police think it's tied into the kidnapping he 'solved'."
"You don't agree?" I asked. I waved Betsy over next to me. She snuggled close, her ear close enough to hear.
"They have good reason to be incredulous. When they questioned the mother of kidnap victim, she was fine, until she learned Youngblood was murdered. She broke down and called a lawyer. It seems the whole kidnapping was a sham. When they finally interrogated the boy he let enough kitties out of the sack for the detectives put it all together."