So, Mr. Romson, please walk me through everything from when the young people were determined to be missing until now,” Detective Sarah Summers said. She had joined Officer Donovan in the interrogation room, making it crowded in the sparsely furnished space. James and Mary Romson sat on metal seats affixed on one side of a metal table, bolted to the floor. Officer Donovan and Detective Summers sat opposite them, and Bernie Watson, the Romsons’ attorney, sat at the end on the only loose piece of furniture in the room. Though the door was not locked behind them for this interview, Mary still found the whole process intimidating.
“Okay. I arrived home at approximately eleven-thirty or eleven-forty-five. Someone caused a breakdown and a small fire at the plant, and Charles and I, even though we had taken the day off because the kids were coming home, both had to go in to make sure it was repaired promptly.” He went on to detail all of the information he had from the students’ arrival time up until they found the doors tampered with at the hangar.
“I was particularly unhappy with the way the sergeant treated Charles dismissively when he called, saying they were eighteen, and the police basically weren’t concerned about their whereabouts.”
Detective Summers broke in, “Well, yes and no. We are, of course, interested in their whereabouts if foul play is involved. But without any sign of foul play, there isn’t much we can do since they are adults, even though they are still in high school and live in your home.”
“Okay, detective, I can understand to a degree, but it seems to me there should be a bit more interest in their well-being. Anyway, neither Mary nor I got any sleep last night, and I don’t believe Charles did either.
“We invited him over for breakfast to discuss what could be done to find the kids. It was by calling the kids in the class that we found out from Teddy Baldwin about the guy with the broken-down car.”
“You said Teddy Baldwin? Do you have a number for him?”
“I’m sorry, not with me. I can get it for you, though.”
“Not a problem. I’ll be talking with the school and can get it from them. We’ll want to talk with everyone involved with the trip anyway, but this sounds most promising.”
James continued, “We then came to the PD and talked with the chief and found out the car parked on the wrong side of the road belongs to Pete Richardson, my company pilot. We went to the hangar, where we found the doorknob tampered with to keep us from opening the door. We called for assistance, and Officer Donovan here showed up. You know what happened from that point.”
“And why do you suspect Mr. Richardson would have any interest in your children?” asked the detective.
“Actually, he has no interest in them directly. He came to me Thursday morning asking to speak with me privately. He then asked for a loan of twenty-five thousand dollars. I can’t imagine Pete doing anything to the kids. It doesn’t make sense, but perhaps I should not have been so hard-hearted.”
“Tell me about Mr. Richardson. Does he have family?”
“Divorced. His ex-wife moved out of state and took their two children two years ago. He has been estranged from them since.”
“Tell me about Mr. Sitton and Elizabeth. Do they get along? Was there any reason she would have not wanted to return home?”
Mary spoke up. “Absolutely not! They are very close!”
“How about the relationship between Jed and Elizabeth? Is there any romantic interest or anything going on that would cause them to go off together?”
Again Mary answered. “No, not at all. They are friendly, but they don’t run in the same circles, even within such a small school.”
“Would it be because of the stigma of her father working for Jed’s father?”
“Not at all,” James replied. “Charles and I are very good friends, and we don’t have a boss-employee relationship. Charles and I served in Vietnam together, and he saved my life. There is no one I hold in higher esteem, and I would be thrilled if my son was worthy of his daughter. In fact, Charles owns a stake in Romson Industries. The kids just have different interests.”
Mary tried to stifle—but could not hold back—a large yawn. Everything was catching up to her, and the adrenaline rush of finding the Bronco in the hangar and the plane missing was rapidly dissipating.
Bernie Watson noticed Mary’s yawn and had also noticed James’s speech dragging. He interrupted, “May I suggest we put a hold on this for the time being? As you can see, James and Mary are both dead on their feet. Perhaps we could schedule a time tomorrow to continue?”
Detective Summers was not happy with the interruption. She had noted the exhaustion and had planned to use it to her advantage. In her experience, those who were sleep deprived were not very good at covering lies, and it made interrogations much easier to have suspects at such a disadvantage. She knew, though, that Bernie could just tell them not to cooperate and she would get nothing at all. She really didn’t think the Romsons were suspects, but one never ruled out anyone until one knew for sure. “All right. Shall we say eight o’clock Monday morning?”
“Noon would be better. I’m sorry,” said James. “I still have a business to run. I’m not saying my business is more important than my son, but I also have a responsibility to my employees. I’ll need to make some arrangements in the morning, and then I’ll be able to give you whatever time you need. I just have to set things up with my management team and with Charles’s assistant. How about twelve? Will twelve work okay for you? Bernie?”
“All right, I guess,” said Detective Summers. “I will need your plane’s N-number, plus a description of the kids and the pilot. Pictures would be very helpful also. I’ll call the FBI and get them involved. With a plane involved, I’m sure state lines have been crossed.”
“Bernie, can you help the detective with these things? You have all the airplane info, I know. The pictures I have on my desk and Charles has on his office wall will probably be the easiest to use. They both are their senior pictures, so they are current. Of course, I have no idea what they were wearing, but when you call the other students and the trip sponsors, you may get some info from them.” James’s words were slurring from exhaustion as he asked Detective Summers, “Would you be so good as to give us a ride home? We took Charles’s car to the hangar.”
“Officer Donovan will be happy to give you a ride home. I’m sure Charles will be staying overnight at the hospital. I would suggest you take your phone off the hook when you get home. I would also suggest you put a note on your door asking people not to disturb. Most will be meaning the best, but you need rest, not people, at this time.”