Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Soon, lawyer Lindsay Doll arrived at the house, and she was accompanied by the law firm's boss Bobby Donnell. Donnell was more experienced in criminal cases and was sympathetic, so Ronald asked him to help through Lindsay.

He called Ronald and Diane's father Bert aside and said, "According to legal procedures, Diane has been missing for less than three hours, so theoretically, a missing person case cannot be filed. You haven't received any ransom calls from anyone, so kidnapping is not established."

Ronald and Bert looked at each other and said to lawyer Donnell, "If it was a kidnapper, would they call Bert?"

"It's possible. Diane Lane is a child star who has made several hit movies. If they really targeted her, the kidnappers may have done a background check and knew that she was temporarily staying at your aunt's house."

"I'll be back right away," Bert said, and was about to leave.

"Wait a minute, Rudy, a partner of my teacher's law firm, will be here soon. He is the representative lawyer of NYPD and has many connections in the department. You go with the police officers he brought. We will transfer the call to your home so that the tracking device can be set up."

Ronald felt that Rudy's name sounded familiar. When he arrived, he saw that he was the opposing lawyer who represented NYPD last time to negotiate a settlement plan for his detention without procedure.

"Hello, Rudy. Nice to meet again." Ronald shook hands with him and greeted him.

Rudy is a very capable lawyer in his thirties. He looks like an Italian, a bit like Al Pacino who played Michael in The Godfather, but a little thinner than him, and his ears are slightly protruding.

Rudy nodded and introduced a middle-aged man who came with him, "This is the... detective of the southern district of Manhattan. He will be in charge of the disappearance of Diane Lane."

Although it does not conform to the reporting procedure, Ronald has a good relationship with the southern district of Manhattan of NYPD, and patrolmen often drink free coffee in their own leg warmers. With Rudy's help, a detective was sent to take charge.

The detective asked the technical team to start monitoring the phone at Ronald's aunt Karen's home, then chatted with Rudy for a while and took over the investigation here.

Rudy was very busy, and left after telling Inspector Ray a few words. Bobby Donnell and lawyer Lindsay Doll also left, saying that he would call them again if needed.

"Do your daughter Diane and you usually have any enemies?" The detective asked Diane's father Bert.

"No, I'm just a lecturer teaching humanities at the City University of New York. I used to be an acting coach and drove a taxi, so I don't have any enemies. My daughter is just an actor, and she doesn't have any enemies."

"What about you? Do you have any enemies?" The detective asked Ronald again. "Diane lives in your house, and you have a cousin of the same age. It's possible that the kidnappers have made a mistake."

"Oh my God." Aunt Karen exclaimed when she heard it nearby.

Ronald motioned her not to worry, and then said to the detective:

"Are you targeting me? I don't have any enemies, maybe only those two vegetarian religious extremists last time."

The detective nodded and told his subordinates, "This is also a clue to follow up and see if there are any recent entry records of the "Children of God" people." Then he turned to everyone and said:

"We will send technicians to install phone tracking devices in your home and Diane's father's home. My team has gone to Diane's high school and the electronics store she went to to ask if there are any witnesses who have seen her.

The situation is not very clear now, there is no need to be nervous. Maybe she just went to a friend's house for a party and forgot the time."

"No, Diane said she would buy a gift for Ronald and she would not go to someone else's place halfway." Donna argued for her friend.

The detective shrugged. Teenagers often have their minds wandered and go somewhere to have fun. NYPD receives dozens of such false reports every day.

If Rudy had not switched from the liberal party of the Donkey Party to the Elephant Party, and had not been favored by the President through connections, and had the possibility of becoming the third-in-command of the Department of Justice - Deputy Attorney General, the NYPD would not have paid attention to this case. This time, the NYPD wanted to do Rudy a favor, so they sent him to investigate.

Although Diane Lane is a child star, he has seen child stars who often go off the rails, which is not uncommon in America. Almost every year, a child star will be on the front page of entertainment newspapers because of a scandal.

However, the agents sent to the school talked to Diane's teachers and classmates and did not find any abnormalities. Diane said goodbye to her classmates normally and said she was going to the electronics store to buy things.

Usually Diane just likes to party and get together, and she doesn't have any outstanding performance. On the contrary, her classmates think that she is not arrogant as a movie actor, and they get along well with her. At least she has no enemies in the school.

This is not good news. This disappearance is more and more like a kidnapping case.

At nine o'clock in the evening, Bert had arrived at Aunt Karen's house under the escort of the police. The telephone line had been set up, and no one had called yet.

"Ring, ring, ring..." The phone rang. Everyone held their breath and stared at the phone.

The technician waved his hand, indicating that it was his internal phone, and handed the receiver to the detective.

The detective called: "... Very good, you ask around the shops to see if anyone has seen them later,... You continue to follow up on this clue."

The detective put down the phone and told Ronald and others that it was his team that found the clerk who remembered Diane in the electronics store.

The clerk said that after Diane Lane bought the latest version of the software, she talked to a middle-aged woman when she left. It seemed that the two had a quarrel and the voices were very loud.

However, the clerk was serving other customers and did not pay attention to what Diane said. In the end, she and the middle-aged woman left peacefully and no violence was noticed.

This was an important clue. The detective immediately arranged for his subordinates to go to the railway station and the long-distance bus station to check whether there was any travel record of Diane and whether anyone had seen her. The subordinate asked Aunt Karen for a photo of Diane and copied it.

Everyone waited anxiously for another hour. At this time, another call came.

"Hmm, did you find the flight information? Okay, ask the airline for a list of passengers around the victim." The detective hung up the phone.

"Diane bought the earliest ticket to Atlanta. Does she know anyone in Atlanta?" The detective asked Bert.

"Atlanta?" Burt thought for a long time, "I can't remember who is from there."

"So what old acquaintances has she contacted recently? Or what new friends has she made?"

"Diane's mother Colleen Farrington has contacted her recently, but Colleen is from New Mexico. She has been living in New Jersey since she divorced me." Burt answered, and then looked at Ronald.

Ronald called Donna out and asked her what new friends Diane had made recently.

"No, she has always been very popular in high school, and her classmates all know her. Usually she just likes to go to parties or chat with me."

"Well, Diane left New York and went to Georgia. Now this matter is no longer a New York State case. We suspect that Diane was forced or coerced to buy a plane ticket to Atlanta. I will contact the FBI headquarters in New York immediately about this matter. They will take over and form a joint task force with us."

"Oh, my God." Aunt Karen heard this, worried about Diane, and felt that she had not fulfilled her responsibility to take care of her. She felt guilty towards Burt and covered her face and cried. Ronald hurried to comfort her.

Bert also sat on the sofa, muttering to himself with a pale face, "Atlanta, Atlanta..."

This was a sleepless night for Ronald's family.

Before noon the next day, Claire, an agent from the FBI's New York headquarters, came to Ronald's house with several agents wearing FBI vests.

Ronald saw Claire, an acquaintance, and greeted her. At that time, the FBI suspected their serial killer, but Claire saw the flaw and let him go.

At this time, Claire had been promoted from a special agent to a senior special agent. She handled cases calmly and was good at analysis. She went to the electronics store where Diane bought the software before, and asked the clerk on duty and found some details.

Diane was stopped by the middle-aged woman at the door of the store after buying the software. Before the two quarreled, they had a normal conversation for a while, which showed that Diane knew this middle-aged woman.

And Diane was a 15-year-old young woman. Although she didn't know whether the other party had other people to cooperate, even if she was not as strong as the other party, she would not lose the ability to shout for help in public places such as stores and airports.

It is unlikely that this middle-aged woman met Diane on the street. It is more likely that she ambushed Diane at school, followed her to the store, and took Diane away from school. Avoid being seen by classmates, teachers and other acquaintances, and leave a traceable portrait.

In addition, Diane bought the ticket in her own name. If she was coerced, there should be someone at the ticket counter who might remember some unusual circumstances. Diane would also have some opportunities to call for help, but none of these happened.

On the whole, it is very likely that this middle-aged woman is someone Diane is familiar with, and the biggest suspect is her mother.

Ronald remembered that Donna said that when Diane was filming in Canada, her mother and her new boyfriend went to visit the set together, hoping that Diane would go with her. So he asked Bert if this happened.

"Yes, her boyfriend and her saw the news that Diane's crew started filming on the daily variety show, and then went to the Canadian set, secretly contacted her, and wanted to take her away. I had a big fight with her when I found out."

"What's her boyfriend's name? Where is he from?" Claire grasped the key point.

"I only heard Colleen call him Lawrence. I don't know where she is from, and she has a southern accent." Bert recalled.

"Send a joint investigation notice to the Atlanta branch in Georgia. Then investigate whether there are passengers named Colleen and Lawrence on the same flight." FBI Agent Claire ordered the FBI and NYPD joint task force.

By noon, there was no news, and the people who took Diane away did not call to contact. Ronald saw that Bert and Aunt Karen and others were already a little exhausted.

After discussing with Agent Claire, he first sent Auntie and Donna back to his apartment to rest. Then he returned to the original place and prepared a blanket for Bert to rest.

Two hours later, the FBI agent who went to the airport to investigate brought back news that there was no one named Colleen or Lawrence on the flight. More importantly, after contacting the Atlanta airport, it was confirmed that Diane did not board that flight, and buying a ticket was just a feint.

What a cunning criminal.

Claire felt the thorniness of this child star case. If it was not handled properly, it would soon be picked up by the news media. If it was reported in the newspapers, it would be very detrimental to Diane's safety.

Agent Claire asked her subordinates to investigate the recent whereabouts of Diane's mother Colleen, but America is not a country that uniformly issues identity documents at the federal level. If a person does not want to be known, there are many ways to avoid it.

"In addition, since Diane's flight to Atlanta is fake, they may use other means of transportation, or take a car to the New Jersey airport and then fly to the destination. They chose Atlanta as a deceptive destination, which also shows some of their subconscious thoughts.

Issue a joint investigation notice to the FBI branches in Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee around Georgia to see if there is a report phone number with the name of Diane Lane."

Claire's last order brought unexpected results.

On the afternoon of the third day, the FBI branch in Tennessee called and someone in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which borders Georgia, went to the police station to surrender to the police for stealing a car. Because the car was stolen in Georgia and surrendered in Tennessee, because it was an interstate crime, the police notified the FBI.

The person who turned herself in was a 15-year-old girl, whose name according to records was Diane Lane.