Taken?

His next stop was at the Duluth Police Station. He intended to see Detective Maki, and he felt the best way to do that was to catch him early. As he walked into the main office on the third floor he could see that Detective Maki was seated at his desk, so he walked straight over to him and said, "Detective Maki, I need to speak with you."

Detective Maki looked up in surprise. "Mr. Walsh, I'm surprised to see you here so early. What can I do for you?"

Rob sat in the empty chair beside Detective Maki's desk. "I wanted to find out first hand what you found out about that phone call on my answering machine. They probably haven't had time to look at it yet, but have you had any report on the usage of my daughter's cell phone? I imagine you just need to get that from the phone company."

"Well, we don't have a report from the phone company yet. It's been requested and they're going to fax it over as soon as they can generate the report of your daughter's cell phone usage. The tape went over to the technicians this morning. They probably won't be done with it before noon."

"What about my car, and when can I get it back?" Rob was anxious to get on with the tasks he had set up for himself as quickly as possible. He would need a car today, and if his wasn't going to be available he would have to go and rent one.

Detective Maki picked up his phone and made a call. When it was answered he asked, "How are you making out on the Walsh automobiles?" He waited a few moments and said, "When would he be able to take one of them? After another minute Detective Maki said, "Okay then, I'll send him down in half an hour to pick up the one you're finished with."

The Detective turned to Rob and said, "I guess you heard that. One of the vehicles will be yours in about a half an hour. The other one should be done around noon."

"I'm sure they haven't found anything in their inspection of the vehicles, so if there is anything that is requiring an explanation, please let me know. I don't want to be taking any time away from your search for my wife and daughter. I'm going to be traveling all around the area putting up posters with their pictures and information, so I'm going to give you my cell phone number in case you need to get hold of me," Rob explained.

"One thing I'd like you to do before you leave, Mr. Walsh, is supply our lab with your DNA, and I'd like to get your fingerprints for comparison purposes. The technicians lifted some fingerprints from your home and they would like to eliminate yours from the ones that they found. Also, we would like you to bring in something that would have your wife's and your daughter's DNA on them. Something like a toothbrush or hairbrush would be excellent."

"Neither of them took their toothbrushes with them when they were taken away from our house, so I will bring you the two of them this afternoon. Just tell me where I should go to give you my fingerprints and DNA." Rob stood and was directed to go down to the first floor and look for the door marked Laboratory.

Maki accompanied Rob down to the lab for his DNA sample and then took him to another office where he was fingerprinted. When both of these requests had been filled Rob was directed to the main floor where he was able to get his car. He was told they would bring Erin's car back to his home sometime after lunch. As he drove away Rob noticed that Maki was standing by the building, apparently deep in thought.

From the police station Rob headed home. He had a few tasks to take care of there, and he was anxious to get at them. Once he was inside his house he immediately headed to his computer to complete the design of the posters he intended to put up all around the area. It took him about an hour to scan in the photos and create the descriptive text for the posters. Besides physical descriptions he included contact information for the Duluth Police, the Minnesota State Police and his own phone numbers. When he was finished the design he printed out a couple of copies to take to the printing shop.

After Rob completed the poster work he took out Officer Aikman's card and called the number he had written on the back. He intended to speak to Aikman's sister-in-law, Dr. Gloria Baker, at the earliest possible time. When he got through to her he discovered that the psychologist worked from her home, where she had her office. He was able to make an appointment to see her first thing in the morning.

When he completed that call he called Aikman's own personal number from her card, and left her a message to give him a call on his cell phone. He was going to find out if her offer of assistance was genuine or not.

Once he had these calls completed he realized he still had time to take the poster to the printers, so he left for the print shop. His order for a thousand copies would be ready the next day since he agreed to pay extra for rush service. It was noon by the time he was able to head back to his house so he picked up a burger and fries from the takeout window at the neighborhood Burger King restaurant.

He had just finished his lunch when Officer Aikman returned his call. Once she had identified herself he said, "Hello Officer Aikman. I wanted to ask what you have heard about the case of my missing daughter. I'm wondering what is happening with it, as according to Detective Maki this morning nothing had been discovered yet."

Officer Aikman replied, "Well, at this morning's meeting for the day shift, he gave everyone the details of your daughter's disappearance, as well as the information on your wife's case as well. He told everyone that while there is no evidence in the case at this point, he considered that you, as the husband and father, had to be considered a prime suspect in the disappearance. I'm sure you realize that's the case anyway, so I'm not really giving anything away by telling you that."

"No, I sort of had that much figured out on my own. I was in to speak to him this morning, and while he didn't come right out and say that he still suspected me, he did insist on getting my fingerprints and DNA. I'll be taking in my wife's and daughter's DNA samples this afternoon, at his request, as well."

"Also, I have to tell you that I made an appointment with your sister-in-law for tomorrow morning. I'm hoping that she can not only help me through this, but give me some insight into the mind of whoever it was that took my family away from me," said Rob.

"I'm sure she'll be able to help you. I know a few people who have seen her and they've all said that she had done them some good," Officer Aikman replied.

After Rob and the Officer said goodbye to each other, he picked up a couple of new plastic sandwich bags and went to the bathroom vanity. He placed Erin's and Katy's toothbrushes into separate bags, and then labeled the bags accordingly. Before he left to take them to the police station he phoned Henry Brown to see if a decision on his employment had been made. He was happy to find out that they would give him the leave of absence he wanted, but he would have to come in to sign the paperwork. Rob made arrangements to do that later in the afternoon.

As he drove back to the police station with the toothbrushes Rob was fairly happy with the way things had been going so far. The items on his list were being taken care of one by one, and so far nothing had created any problems for him. He hoped that everything would go this smoothly.

After he dropped the toothbrushes off at the police laboratory Rob went upstairs to see Detective Maki again. He wasn't sure that the man would be in, but as he entered the office he could see him on the phone at his desk. He noticed Rob walk in and waved him over to his desk.

When he got off the phone he said, "We got the report from your cell phone provider. It was your daughter's phone that made that brief call to your number last night. According to their records someone made the call from Grand Marais. Do you or your family know anybody that lives up there?"

"There is nobody that we know in Grand Marais that I can think of," said Rob. "Whoever took Katy must've taken her to Grand Marais. Have you called the police up there? Are they looking for her?" Rob was excited with the news that the detective had given him. This was the closest to finding her that they had come since she disappeared.

"We have notified the police up in that end of the state, and they will be keeping an eye out for her. We have very little to give them, other than her physical description. Are you certain that no one you know could've taken her phone up there and made that call? It wasn't some friend of yours doing you a favor, was it?" Detective Maki was staring directly at Rob, as though he were daring him to deny the implicit accusation.

Rob jumped to his feet with a look of extreme anger on his face. "How dare you keep suggesting that I had something to do with my daughter's disappearance? You have absolutely no reason to keep saying that sort of thing to me. If you had any evidence to support that kind of accusation you would have said so. I gave her phone to no one. I have not asked anyone to go to Grand Marais for me. It's time for you to believe me, to realize that I had nothing to do with my daughter's or my wife's disappearance!"

"Well, Mr. Walsh, it seems pretty convenient that you got a mystery phone call, one that really makes very little sense, and it turns out that it was her phone that made the call. My technicians tell me it's really impossible to tell if the call had two people involved or only one. There isn't enough of a sound wave for them to work with. They tell me the first word seems to be from a different person than the second word, but it could simply be one person disguising their voice a little bit."

"It seems obvious to me that you aren't giving this abduction any serious consideration at all. I think you just want to make things go away by pointing the finger at me. It would make your job a lot easier if you could convince everyone that I was the one who is guilty." Rob sat back down, but continued to glare at Detective Maki.

"You should try looking at it from my point of view Mr. Walsh. Your whole story makes very little sense, no matter what you think of it. I've consulted with the state police crime lab, and they are of the same mind as I am. Your story about your wife, and then your daughter, both disappearing from your house with packed bags, doesn't fit the scenario of a stranger abduction. They agree with me that you are the most likely cause of the disappearances. You may not like that, but those are the facts as they are."

Rob thought about what Detective Maki had just said, and calmed down a bit. "I won't disagree that you could look at it the way you have described, but I did not have anything to do with it. Could you arrange for a test with an expert on a lie detector? I'm willing to do anything to get you to realize you're on the wrong track."

"We're not big on using lie detectors around here. We've heard enough stories about people who have been able to beat them, or that they come up with results that can't be looked at as definitive. We'll discuss whether something like that will be appropriate to have done at a later stage of the investigation. For now you can leave as we're still checking on details of your story, but don't be surprised if we want to talk to you again." With that, Detective Maki turned away from Rob and went back to the papers on his desk, effectively dismissing Rob from his presence.

Rob got up from his seat and left the police station. The information that Katy's phone had been used in Grand Marais had to be important, and Rob was determined to follow up on it even if the police were not treating it completely seriously. He would have to go to Grand Marais himself to see if he could find her there. He drove straight home to pack an overnight bag with what he would need for the trip.

During the drive he thought about what he would have to do before he left, so by the time he arrived at his home he had a mental list of tasks to perform. As he walked up the sidewalk to his front door he was dialing Henry Brown, and when he reached him he said, "Hello Henry, this is Rob. I'm going to have to go out of town for a few days so can we postpone our meeting to the first of next week, say Monday afternoon?" Having received an affirmative answer, Rob continued, "Thanks Henry. They have a report that Katy could be in Grand Marais, so I'm going to go there to look around for her, myself. Bye for now." As he was gathering together a few clothes to take with him, he dialed Doctor Baker's number, as he knew he would have to cancel his appointment with the psychologist, whom he had agreed to meet the next morning. Once that appointment had been canceled he called the printer's office to make arrangements with them to have some of the printed posters sent to him in Grand Marais. His last call was to his next door neighbor, Herman McLean, with a request that he keep an eye on Rob's home for the next few days and that he pick up his mail and newspapers.

In less than 20 minutes Rob had packed his toilet articles and clothing into a gym bag and was on the front step, locking his door. In another minute he was pulling away from the curb, already thinking about what he would do when he got to Grand Marais later in the afternoon.

The drive from Duluth to Grand Marais took Rob just over two hours. The whole way there he was constantly checking the cars that passed him, looking for anyone that resembled Katy. Once, as he drove through Two Harbors, his heart raced for a moment when he thought he saw her walking along the sidewalk. As he got closer he realized that the person he saw was much older, and didn't have a streak in her hair. He was greatly disappointed.

When he arrived in Grand Marais he found himself a room in a motel conveniently located in about the center of the town. After he checked in he decided to drive around the surrounding streets to see if he could catch sight of Katy anywhere. He spent about an hour in a futile attempt to spot her that he soon realized would require an enormous amount of luck on his part. Once he had come to that realization he headed back to the motel to get a map of the area and plan his next move. He could already see that his emotions were overruling his common sense, and knew that he was never going to accomplish anything this way.

He inquired at the motel office for information on what maps were available for the area and discovered that the Department of Natural Resources had the best maps but that they were already closed for the day. They made it onto his list of things to do first thing in the morning. There was a small tourist map of Grand Marais available so for the time being he satisfied himself with that.

He had brought one of the sample posters that he had printed at home along with him on this trip, so he decided to take it around town to a few of the businesses that were still open. He needed to get himself some supper anyway, so a walk around the downtown area would allow him to look for her, show her picture around, and also allow him to find a restaurant. He spent the next hour approaching the few pedestrians he encountered as well as any employees in the businesses that were still open for the day. No one recognized Katy or Erin.

By 7:30 he was getting hungry so he decided to try Sven and Ole's Pizzeria. His first stop was at the cashier, where he asked the teenaged girl at the cash register if she had noticed Katy or Erin. Once again his question was met with a shake of the head so he proceeded to take a seat at a window table. He placed an order for two slices of pizza and a draft beer, and spent the time waiting for it to be brought to his table updating his notes for the next day's tasks.

He had left his copy of the missing person's poster on the table in front of him, and when his waitress arrived with his order he picked it up so that she could place his plate in front of him. The waitress started to turn away from him, but then turned back and took a close look at the poster that he held in his hand. She said, "I think I saw that girl somewhere, just lately too. Can I take a closer look at this picture?"

Rob's heart quickened at this statement that the waitress had volunteered, and he quickly handed her the poster as he said, "Take a good look. She's been missing from Duluth since yesterday. She's my daughter."

The waitress studied the picture for a minute before she looked up at Rob. She spoke tentatively as she said, "I can't be really sure, but I think she was in a car that passed me as I was walking to work yesterday afternoon. It was right here in front of the restaurant. I'm story I can't be certain."

Rob was ecstatic, and quickly blurted out, "Did she looked like she was OK? Did you see who had her? What kind of car was she in?"

"She looked fine to me, if it was her. I don't have any idea who she was with or what kind of car it was. It might have been brown and it wasn't too big. You know, maybe about the size of a Honda Civic. I don't know cars though, so I can't really tell you anything beyond that."

"Do you know which direction they were going? What time was that do you think?" Rob was busy making notes of what she was telling him and when he was finished them had looked up at her expectantly.

"The car was going west on the street just outside the restaurant. I was just on my way to work so it was just before four o'clock in the afternoon." The waitress handed him back the poster and waited to see if he had any further questions for her.

Rob had jotted down her latest information, and then took a page from the note pad and wrote his cell phone number and name on it. He asked her, "If you think of anything at all, or if you should see her again, could you please call me and leave a message if I don't answer?"

The waitress assured him that she would let him know if she thought of anything else, and would call him right away if she should happen to see Katy again. Rob thanked her profusely for her information and when she left he tackled his supper with renewed hope in his heart. He just knew he was going to find Katy.

After he had eaten he resumed his walk through the downtown area of Grand Marais, showing his poster to anyone he met. He didn't find anyone else who thought they might have seen Katy. By the time he got back to the motel he was exhausted, worn out from walking, and a little less enthused by the waitress's tentative sighting from the afternoon before. He was beginning to realize that she may have simply seen someone who only reminded her of Katy. She definitely hadn't been certain of her identification.

Rob knew that he would want to get an early start in the morning, so he decided that he would have a shower and get to bed early. He wasn't able to get to sleep right away, as thoughts of Katy and Erin were foremost in his mind. Twice before he fell asleep he sat up, turned on the light and wrote notes to himself, notes to remind him of things he had to do the next day. He finally fell into a troubled sleep, and awoke at his usual time the next morning.

--Day 4--

As soon as Rob got up he set up the small coffee pot in the motel room so that while he shaved and got prepared for the day his coffee was being brewed. It was waiting for him as he sat down at the small table in his motel room, his notes and papers before him. As he drank his first cup of coffee he was busy reviewing the tasks that faced him for the day. By 7:30 he had finished the pot of coffee and had rewritten his notes to include the items he thought of late the previous evening.

Just after eight o'clock he was finishing his breakfast in the small diner attached to the motel and had made his first phone call, a message left on Officer Aikman's machine asking that she call him on his cell phone. He advised her that he was in Grand Marais trying to track down his daughter. His next call was to Detective Maki, and he was put through to the detective after the switchboard spent several minutes trying to track him down. The detective sounded surprised to hear Rob on the phone.