Where There's A Will

Chapter Twenty-Six

Stiff from having slept awkwardly and intermittently in one of the library's reading chairs, Stone woke to a flurry of fresh information: Brian Jacobs had regained consciousness, though he was now asleep; Julia Harris had come out of her shock – she too was currently sleeping, but had taken a cup of tea and a few biscuits and was, according to the doctor who had checked her over, fit to be questioned when she woke next; the van used by the kidnappers had been located, and finally – and best of all in Stone's opinion – another ransom note, this one giving more details about what the kidnappers wanted, had been received.

"Friday," Stone said, reading the ransom note for a second time. "That only gives the bank a day to get the money together, do you think they'll be able to manage it?" he asked of Keating, who was with him in the study.

Keating shrugged uncertainly. "I hope so." Setting down the mug of coffee he had been cradling, but not drinking, he checked his watch. "I'll call Tom, Tom Andrews, the manager of my bank," he clarified, "as soon as he gets in; the bank opens in an hour, hopefully he'll be there when it does. Do you think you'll be able to get anything from this ransom note?" he asked, gesturing to the plastic-encased sheet of paper that sat on his desk.

Stone studied the ransom note, and the stamped and addressed envelope that sat next to it in its own evidence bag, for a moment before he answered. "I haven't heard back from the lab about the other ransom note yet, so it's hard to say what might be found on these. We'll need Mr Chambers' fingerprints, and a DNA sample from him, so they can be eliminated from anything found, and we'll need to track down the postie who delivered the mail this morning so he can be eliminated as well." Stone shook his head uncertainly. "We have the best forensics people available working the case, so if there is anything to find, they'll find it – they have the van to go through as well, so there's every chance they'll come up with something from somewhere."

"Why do you think they're only giving us the information a bit at a time?" Keating wanted to know.

"To make things more difficult for us. The more time we have to plan and make arrangements, the more likely we are to catch them; they want to avoid that,and the best way for them to do so is to keep us in the dark as much as possible."