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November 2015
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Kamlesh Khan sat at his cubicle in the IT department of Curt’s Shanghai office. He finally discovered that the password to Lana’s email account was her cat’s adoption date, which was also Curt Steiger’s birthday.
Kamlesh wasn’t pleased with this hacking assignment because he knew how much Lana valued privacy.
After hours of research, he printed dozens of emails, as well as a police report from Oregon.
Meanwhile Curt sat in his office and stared at his computer. Upon seeing Kamlesh briskly enter, he looked up and asked, “Hey, what’d you find?”
“Dozens of emails from some lunatic,” Kamlesh responded, as he handed a stack of paper to Curt.
“Yuck,” said the distraught husband, as he rifled through selfies of Cal in his underwear. “This must be the guy who kidnapped her?”
Kamlesh shook his head and said, “I immediately followed up by calling the police department in Portland.”
“Khan, I’m impressed by your initiative. I wondered why my wife was friends with a tech guy, but you’re more than a geek. You’re a detective.”
“Thanks,” the hacker sighed. “Unfortunately, this guy didn’t have anything to do with Lana’s disappearance.”
“How do you know?”
“Cal spent the last month in an Oregon prison.”
“For what?”
“He burned down the house where Lana lived.”
“I didn’t know she lived in Oregon.”
Kamlesh wondered, Didn’t you ever ask her any questions?
“Was it arson?”
Kamlesh shook his head. “Nah, it was an accident. Cal and his friends broke into the vacant house. They threw a party, and some candles tipped over.”
Abruptly changing the subject, Curt asked, “Did you get a hold of her gay friend?”
“You mean Eric?”
“Sure.”
“He quit his job and returned to D.C. The office party, with Lana, was his last day in Shanghai. He hasn’t returned any of my calls or emails.”