When Walter returned home from work, the intense cries of his baby son greeted him at the door. His wife, Abby, sat in the kitchen, visibly worn out from trying to calm their son.
Walter wrapped his arms around her from behind, offering comfort. “How long has he been crying?” he asked softly.
“I’ve tried everything, Walter,” Abby said through her tears. “He’s been fed, changed, bathed, and burped. I even checked his temperature. I don’t know what else to do. He just won’t stop.”
Since becoming parents a month ago, their lives had changed dramatically, and nothing distressed Walter more than hearing little Logan cry like this.
“Let’s try to figure this out together,” Walter said, guiding Abby to the nursery.
When Walter approached the crib with a hopeful smile, he was stunned to find not his baby, but a dictaphone playing a recording of Logan’s cries. Next to it was a note. He stopped the recording and picked up the note with trembling hands.
“What’s happening?” Abby asked, noticing Walter’s alarmed expression. She grabbed the note and read it aloud:
“I warned you. You’ll regret being rude to me. If you want to see your baby again, leave $200,000 in the lockers near the pier. If you go to the police, you’ll never see him again.”
Abby gasped, her face turning pale. “Who would kidnap Logan? Did we offend someone?”
Walter recalled a recent encounter with the hospital janitor. After Logan’s birth, Walter had argued with the janitor when he accidentally knocked over a gift Walter had brought for Abby. In anger, Walter had insulted him. He remembered the janitor’s words: “You’ll regret it!”
“We need to call the police,” Walter said, his heart racing. “I think it’s him.”
“But the note says we’ll never see Logan again if we do that,” Abby argued. “We should pay the ransom!”
“We can’t trust him,” Walter insisted. “He wouldn’t know if we went to the police. They might catch him before anything happens to Logan.”
Reluctantly, Abby agreed, and they went to the police station. Just as they arrived, Walter received a text:
“This is your final warning. If you enter that police station, your son will be in danger. Deliver the money as instructed.”
Abby’s fear was palpable, and Walter realized they were being watched. He decided they had no choice but to pay the ransom. But first, he took Abby home when her nausea worsened.
After dropping her off, Walter withdrew the money and went to the pier. He placed the ransom in the locker as directed and waited nearby. Soon, he saw the janitor approaching the locker. But just as Walter prepared to confront him, a group of tourists blocked his view. By the time they cleared, the janitor was gone.
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