services, contacts or a diary, anything that might give him a clue as to what Jill had recently been doing or with whom she might have recently been. The computer guy said “no problem,” give him three or four hours, and come back.
Sudhir’s next task was the cell phone company which proved slightly more tedious. First, he had called the 1-800 line and asked to have the most recent activity for the phone number he provided. The generic attendant that answered stated that was against California privacy laws, and she was not authorized to give out that information. He, then, asked to speak to a supervisor and was told there were none available.
Has there ever been a supervisor available when you needed to speak to somebody at a cellular phone company? Do supervisors even work at cellular phone companies? Finally, in anger Sudhir started screaming into the phone that somebody’s life could be in danger. He needed to get the activity on this phone number immediately. If not, he would be coming down there personally and making sure that everyone who impeded his progress paid the price that the victim might be paying by these delays. The vein in his forehead protruded, marking a long dark brown line, which occurred often when he got angry. He was, then, told to hold for a minute, and she would see what she could do.
After several minutes, she came back on the line and asked Sudhir to continue holding as a supervisor would speak to him shortly. After a total of 43 minutes on the phone, a man (who sounded like he might have been 20 years old) picked up the line and asked Sudhir how he could help him. Sudhir then went through the entire story again, as he was requested to start from the beginning. The supervisor politely said he would fax Sudhir a form. The form needed to be filled out and returned, and once approved, the data could then be given out. The whole process could be done within 30 minutes as this was an emergency.
Sudhir gave out the precinct fax number and hung up. He waited for the form and, finally, 20 minutes later, it arrived. Simplistic enough, it took about 10 minutes to fill out and was returned to the same machine from which it came. Sudhir typed in the fax number and pressed the send button, hearing the familiar squeaking tone informing him that the machine had made its desired connection. He had asked for the last 30 days of listings for phone, as well as texts. He was most concerned with the previous night’s activity and needed that immediately. Ironically, as Sudhir would find out later, the computer sitting on his desk was tied into this very database. If he had known how to access it, everything he was requesting was there waiting for him.
Finally, after another 45 minutes of waiting, the return fax arrived. There were a few numbers from the afternoon in question, so Sudhir started calling these as priority No. 1. The first was to her parents, and he politely informed them of who he was again and apologized for calling. It was an awkward conversation, but he was moving quickly and had not realized whom he was calling before they answered the phone. The second two were friends of hers; and he responded to them, saying he was sorry but was calling them by mistake.
The fourth didn’t answer on the first try so he called again. The second try somebody picked up the phone, so Sudhir politely said, “Hello, who is this?” There was a pause at the end of the line, and the response came back of “Who is this?” Sudhir gave the obligatory answer of “This is Detective Takhar of the Palo Alto Police Force, will you please tell me who this is?” At that point the phone went dead.
Sudhir was immediately convinced that this was a bad sign – a very bad sign. He repeatedly tried to call the same phone number again and again, but it went straight to the recorded message stating that this phone’s voice mail was not set up.
He, then, called the phone company and told them the story; and after another
Sudhir’s next task was the cell phone company which proved slightly more tedious. First, he had called the 1-800 line and asked to have the most recent activity for the phone number he provided. The generic attendant that answered stated that was against California privacy laws, and she was not authorized to give out that information. He, then, asked to speak to a supervisor and was told there were none available.
Has there ever been a supervisor available when you needed to speak to somebody at a cellular phone company? Do supervisors even work at cellular phone companies? Finally, in anger Sudhir started screaming into the phone that somebody’s life could be in danger. He needed to get the activity on this phone number immediately. If not, he would be coming down there personally and making sure that everyone who impeded his progress paid the price that the victim might be paying by these delays. The vein in his forehead protruded, marking a long dark brown line, which occurred often when he got angry. He was, then, told to hold for a minute, and she would see what she could do.
After several minutes, she came back on the line and asked Sudhir to continue holding as a supervisor would speak to him shortly. After a total of 43 minutes on the phone, a man (who sounded like he might have been 20 years old) picked up the line and asked Sudhir how he could help him. Sudhir then went through the entire story again, as he was requested to start from the beginning. The supervisor politely said he would fax Sudhir a form. The form needed to be filled out and returned, and once approved, the data could then be given out. The whole process could be done within 30 minutes as this was an emergency.
Sudhir gave out the precinct fax number and hung up. He waited for the form and, finally, 20 minutes later, it arrived. Simplistic enough, it took about 10 minutes to fill out and was returned to the same machine from which it came. Sudhir typed in the fax number and pressed the send button, hearing the familiar squeaking tone informing him that the machine had made its desired connection. He had asked for the last 30 days of listings for phone, as well as texts. He was most concerned with the previous night’s activity and needed that immediately. Ironically, as Sudhir would find out later, the computer sitting on his desk was tied into this very database. If he had known how to access it, everything he was requesting was there waiting for him.
Finally, after another 45 minutes of waiting, the return fax arrived. There were a few numbers from the afternoon in question, so Sudhir started calling these as priority No. 1. The first was to her parents, and he politely informed them of who he was again and apologized for calling. It was an awkward conversation, but he was moving quickly and had not realized whom he was calling before they answered the phone. The second two were friends of hers; and he responded to them, saying he was sorry but was calling them by mistake.
The fourth didn’t answer on the first try so he called again. The second try somebody picked up the phone, so Sudhir politely said, “Hello, who is this?” There was a pause at the end of the line, and the response came back of “Who is this?” Sudhir gave the obligatory answer of “This is Detective Takhar of the Palo Alto Police Force, will you please tell me who this is?” At that point the phone went dead.
Sudhir was immediately convinced that this was a bad sign – a very bad sign. He repeatedly tried to call the same phone number again and again, but it went straight to the recorded message stating that this phone’s voice mail was not set up.
He, then, called the phone company and told them the story; and after another
Similar Books
