Missing (4 page)

An hour later, Matt and Colin arrived at DAC airlines main office. DAC was the acronym for Dawson Air Carriers. The company started twenty years ago, and had gained in popularity over the years. The owner, David Dawson, was rich and because of the popularity of his airline, he was getting richer. When they first started, the flights were U.S. only, and limited cities. Over the years, they expanded their service to other cities, which is when they began getting a foothold in the airline market and became competitors. Five years ago, they expanded to several European countries. Their main advantage over other airline carriers was that none of their planes was over five years old. Once they hit the five-year mark, the planes went to smaller, local companies for their local service. On average, Dawson was buying five new planes a year. He believed in safety for the crew and comfort for the passengers. This made them successful with the public because of their safety record and for the comparable and, most times, lower prices for flights.

The corporate office for DAC airlines was across from the JFK airport. Matt parked the car in the parking lot in front of the building. As they got out, a plane flew directly above them. The noise was loud and Matt could feel the pressure from the jet engines in his chest. Once inside the five story building, they were instructed how to get to the office. After the secretary announced them, they walked into Conrad Boyer’s office.

Conrad Boyer is a short five feet six inches and his extra weight made him look pudgy. He is in his mid-forties and has brown hair with a few gray streaks. He is wearing an ill-fitting brown suit and a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. Hardly what Matt would have thought a public relations representative should look like. They showed their badges as they approached his desk. Boyer stood up and extended his hand to both agents.

“
Mr. Boyer, I am Special Agent Palmer and this is Special Agent McWilliams.”

“
Nice to meet you both. Please sit down,” Boyer said.

Both men sat down in the two wood and leather wing chairs in front of his desk and then waited for Boyer to compose himself. Boyer was jittery, first playing with his pen, then his tie. Matt could understand his nervousness, but he wasn’t sure if it was just because they were there or if it was because of the missing plane. Probably both.

Boyer’s office was spacious, but dark. Dark oak paneling surrounded the room on three walls. Built-in cabinets faced Boyer’s oak desk. The main light in the room came from the wall of five-foot high windows facing the airport. Heavy curtains over the windows were half-open. An overhead light supplied the only other light to the room.

“
So, what can you tell us, Mr. Boyer?” Matt finally asked.

“
There isn’t much else I can tell you. We are missing a plane.”

“
Has anything more been found on the plane?”

Boyer shook his head. “No, not much. The British are still searching, but since it has been eight hours, they aren’t hopeful the plane will be found. There is no indication of where the plane went down.”

“
No oil slicks?” Matt asked.

“
No. No debris, nothing.”

“
But, they haven’t given up finding the plane?”

“
No, but they have cut down the amount of planes searching and the area they are searching.”

Matt nodded. “What area are they now searching?”

“
They started out with five planes searching a hundred mile radius out from the airport. Now they only have two planes searching a two hundred mile radius.”

“
Just out to sea or are they also checking land areas?”

“
Just out to sea. If the plane had landed on land, someone would have reported it.”

“
That’s true. So, what about the passengers and crew that was on the plane?”

“
I have a list of who was on the plane ready for you.”

“
We appreciate that.”

Boyer turned to the side table, picked up a stack of papers, and handed them to Matt.

“
Each of the pages describes what we have on each of the seven crew members and the six passengers. Unfortunately, there isn’t a whole lot of information on the passengers, but their home addresses are listed.”

Matt nodded as looked down at the pages. On top were the pages for the crew. Each page listed the flight crew’s name, residential address, the length of service with the company, and a photo of each with personal information. The pages on the passengers listed their names and addresses. Also marked was how they paid. Matt thought it was strange they had all paid in cash, and each ticket was a one-way from London.

It wasn’t much information, but it was enough for now. He wondered if they would need to look deeper into the lives of the crew and passengers. At the moment, he didn’t think so. At least not until they found the plane. He handed the pages to Colin, and then looked up at Boyer.

“
So, is anything else being done to find the plane?”

Boyer nodded. “Two hours ago, we contacted the Navy and they sent out a couple of planes. They also have a ship nearby that has sonar equipment. It is now on the way. It should be there in a couple more hours. If the plane just sunk, then they would be able to find it.”

“
Nothing on the black box either?”

Boyer shook his head. “No. That is one reason David Dawson decided to contact the Navy. The Navy ship with sonar might be able to find it, but that will take time. It will probably take a couple of days to go over the suggested area where the plane may have crashed. They have also been trying to contact the plane, but haven’t gotten any answers since the plane left. They just can’t figure out what happened to the plane. If lightening had struck the plane and it went down, there should be an oil slick and plane parts floating in the water. If there was a malfunction on the plane and it went into the water, there should still be an oil slick and debris. But, they have found nothing.”

Boyer went back to twisting his tie. He was getting more nervous by the minute. Matt wondered how he handled such a stress-oriented job. Or, was it because they were keeping the missing plane a secret?

“
Okay,” Matt said, taking back the papers from Colin. He looked down at the top page in the pile. “What about the pilot?”

“
John Murphy? He is one of the best the company has. As is mentioned on his page, he has had an extensive amount of flight time. He has flown in storms before and has had no problems. He is the kind of pilot who, if he thinks there will be any kind of problem, he will wait a storm out. He would rather choose to be late than take a chance with the lives of his crew and passengers.”

Matt looked down at the top page again, and then looked back up at Boyer. “He was on his final flight?”

Boyer nodded. “Yes. He has been with the company for twenty years. He came to the company from another smaller company that was going out of business. He is only fifty-four, but he decided to retire. I heard he might get into flight instruction. Maybe even start his own flight school. I do know his wife has been sick lately and he wanted to be closer to home, to be with her.”

“
And in wanting to get home could he have not used good judgment?”

Boyer shook his head. “No, not John. Yes, I know he wanted to get home, to retire, but he would work his job to the best of his ability until he took his last steps down from the plane. No, he would have definitely used good judgment.”

Matt thought for a few moments. He didn’t think Boyer had any more information for now. Just then, he thought of something.

“
What about family members of the crew and passengers? Since the plane is long overdue, have you heard from any of them?”

Boyer blew out his breath and nodded. “Yes, but only the wives of the pilot and first officer. The alternate pilot and first officer that were on-board are single. Neither of their parents lives around here. The three flight attendants are also single and live in apartments nearby. They have roommates who also work with our airline, but they are out on their own flights. John and Peter’s wives have been calling for two hours.”

“
What have you told them?”

“
So far, all we’ve told them is that the plane is late.”

“
Did you tell them about the search?”

He shook his head again. “No, I don’t want to worry them. We just told them we would try to find out why the plane was so late. I did tell them that there had been a series of bad storms going through England and that we assume they sat the storms out.”

Matt nodded. He doubted the wives accepted the explanation, but what else could Boyer have told them? He agreed there was no reason to worry them. At least not yet. Then he thought of something else.

“
One more question. Why would the airline fly with only six passengers onboard?”

Boyer nodded. “Well, actually, there was a large tour group that was supposed to have been on that flight.”

“
How large was the group?”

“
One hundred tourists.”

“
One hundred? That’s a little bit big for a tour group, don’t you think?”

Boyer shrugged. “I guess. I’ve never been on a tour, so I have no idea.”

“
Okay, so what happened?”

“
All I know is that they canceled at the last minute.”

“
Any explanation given?”

Boyer shook his head. “No, there wasn’t any explanation.” He reached on the side table again and pulled one more page off, handing it Matt. “Here is what we have on the group.”

Matt took the page and looked at it. The tour group was Elite England Tours. No name of the contact person, no listing of tour members or their address. This sounded suspicious.

“
Okay, Mr. Boyer. I think that is all we need right now. Thanks for the list. We would like you to call us if anything changes in the situation.” He pulled a business card out of the inside pocket of his suit coat, and then handed it to him. “We need to be notified the moment you hear anything, good or bad.”

Boyer took the card, and then nodded. “Okay. Not a problem.”

“
So, what’s your take on this?”

Boyer sighed, and shook his head. “I don’t like it. This company has never had a plane go down before. David Dawson is not happy about it either. He is worried sick what this will do to the company. I have seen what happens when other company’s planes have gone down, but this is different somehow. I just don’t like it.”

Matt nodded. My sentiments exactly, he thought.

CHAPTER SIX

When Matt and Colin got back to the office, they headed for Abernathy’s office. Even though there wasn’t much more to tell him, he would want to know. Matt knocked on the side of the open glass door.

Abernathy glanced up from the file he was looking at. “What happened?” he asked, as Matt and Colin walked in and then sat down on the chairs in front of his desk.

“
Not too much. He doesn’t know what happened. He pretty much told us the same thing as you did about what had happened when the plane left. I questioned on how competent the pilot was and he swears by him. Said if the pilot thought there was going to be a problem, he would have waited the storm out. Also, the pilot was on his last flight. Boyer also said the Navy sent a couple of planes out a couple of hours ago and they have a ship on the way that has sonar equipment in case the plane went down with no breakage. It can also pick up the sound of the black box. The British sent out planes once the storm had passed and the plane couldn’t be reached.”

“
What about the rest of the crew and the passengers?”

Matt nodded. “He gave us pages on each of the crew members and the passengers.” He held up the folder. “One page per person.”

“
See anything that might be suspicious?”

“
Nothing on a quick glance. We haven’t checked them out yet. The pages on the crew are descriptive. But, the pages on the passengers just list their names and addresses and how they paid for the tickets. They all paid cash and were one-way tickets from London. I questioned Boyer why they would fly with only six passengers and he said there was a tour group of a hundred people that canceled at the last minute. Must have really been last minute and they had no choice but to continue with the flight. I have the sheet on the tour group, but there is no listing of who was in charge or the passenger names and no address for the tour company.”

“
So, they ended up with six passengers and seven crew members onboard?”

Matt nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“
Okay. Is Boyer going to let you know if something happens?”

“
Yes. I left him with my card and gave instructions for him to call me, no matter how big or small the news is.”

“
All right. Just keep me posted.”

“
Yes, sir,” Matt said.

Matt and Colin stood up and walked out of the office, going back to their desks, which was located at the far end of the next room. Their desks faced each other. When he sat down, Colin looked up at Matt.

“
Is something bothering you?” Colin asked.

Matt looked up at him. “Why do you ask?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. You just have this look.”

“
Really? Huh. I think I’d better go back to school to get that no-expression look.”