Luís introduced us, and asked Nelson to speak in English for my benefit. I was pleased to be included.
Luís asked me to describe the kidnapping itself. Nelson took notes in an old notebook with a cheap biro, occasionally asking detailed questions.
‘That area is a favourite place for kidnappings,’ he said. ‘There have been three there in the last year. Quiet streets next to a highway. Perfect. And the Tijuca forest has been used before as a staging post to keep the victims for a couple of days while they get somewhere else ready.’
‘So what can we expect now?’ Luís asked him.
‘The most important thing to remember is that this is a business transaction,’ Nelson began. His English was fast and accurate, although his accent was strong. He sounded confident, and his confidence was infectious. He clearly knew what he was talking about.
He went on: ‘The kidnappers have goods of value to you, which they want to sell. They can only do that if the goods are in good condition. So that is why it is in their interest to keep Isabel healthy.’
‘I’m not sure I like the idea of thinking of my daughter as goods to be traded,’ said Luís.
‘Of course not. And that’s what the kidnappers will be playing on. They will use everything they can to make you think that they are callous sadists who are just about to harm your daughter for no good reason. But they’re not. Kidnappers in Rio are usually very rational. All they want is the ransom. My job is to help you remember that, to try to keep this a commercial transaction, and to ensure that Isabel is returned safely for the smallest sum of money.’
He leaned forward and touched Luís’s arm, his round orange face sincere. ‘I’ve advised on sixteen kidnaps so far. In all but two the victim was returned alive. The odds are heavily on our side.’
Luís frowned. ‘That’s good to know. But will she... I mean will they—’
Nelson interrupted, ‘We have no way of knowing what conditions she will be kept in. That depends entirely on the kidnappers. But they won’t touch her. In my experience they never do.’
Luís’s frown lightened. Rape hadn’t occurred to me, thank God. But it would have done eventually, and I was very pleased to hear what Nelson had to say.
‘You have to decide whether to tell the police,’ Nelson went on. ‘I would strongly recommend it. They will keep their distance and won’t interfere with the ransom negotiations. And if we are open with them there is less chance of them stumbling blindly into the middle of something.’
Luís hesitated. ‘But what if the kidnappers tell us not to contact them?’
‘It’s quite likely that they will say that, but the police will keep a low profile. However, we should try to keep the press out of it if we can. The fewer people who know about this the better.’
‘How big’s the forest?’ I asked. ‘Do you think the police will find them?’
Nelson shook his head. ‘There is no chance of that. As soon as they realized you had escaped, the kidnappers would have moved on. But the police might learn something if they find the remains of the camp you saw.’
Luís nodded. ‘OK. We’ll tell the police. What happens next?’
‘We wait for the kidnappers to get in touch. It may be quick, or it may take several days.’
Just then Cordelia burst into the room, and ran to her father. He held her, his tall frame stooped over her, protecting her. I could see his expression, it was still firm, but they clung to each other for a long time.
Nelson caught my eye, and we left the room. We moved into a smaller sitting room with a TV in it.
Nelson turned to me. ‘He’s taking it well at the start. Some of these tough businessmen do. But it won’t last. It’s hard when it’s your daughter.’
‘I’m sure it will be.’
‘Are you a good friend of hers?’
The question was innocent, but the look that accompanied it was not. I nodded, letting Nelson draw his own conclusions.
‘I work with Isabel,’ I said. ‘I believe our firm has some kind of kidnap insurance.’
‘That’s technically illegal in Brazil. But I know some of the firms in London who operate in that area. Tell your employer to get their insurers to contact me here.’
‘OK,’ I said. We were trusting a lot to this man’s judgement, I thought. But Ricardo had said there was a procedure, and I was glad we had someone on our side who knew it.
There was one thing I had to ask him. ‘When I escaped, I left her with the kidnappers. I feel bad about that. I think I should have stayed with her. To help her.’
Nelson took hold of my arm.
‘One of the most common reactions to kidnapping from the relatives or friends of the victim is guilt. Guilt that they should have done something to prevent their loved one from being taken. It’s always a waste of time, and it can get in the way of thinking rationally about how to set the victim free.’
‘But I could have cheered her up if I’d stayed with her. Helped her through it.’
Nelson lowered his voice. ‘Frankly, Nick, you are lucky you did escape. Isabel is safe. She has a rich father willing to pay a fair ransom. You? You could easily have been killed to show that they mean business. You’re better off here.’
I shuddered. Perhaps Nelson was right. But I would do anything, anything I could to get Isabel out.
I spent the day at the Pereira apartment. A policeman came, a detective called Da Silva wearing the same sort of bad suit and loud tie that detectives all over the world wear. As Nelson had suggested, he promised to keep a low profile. Apparently, by focusing on the methods, or modus operandi of the kidnap gangs, the police were having some success in making arrests. Certainly more than they had in surprising a drop with all guns blazing. Da Silva interviewed me for an hour, asking me for every conceivable detail I could remember. Then he organized a tap on the phone, and asked to be kept informed on a daily basis.
The waiting was difficult, and it had only just begun. Luís tried to carry on with the bank’s business, but he couldn’t concentrate. So he paced around restlessly, picking up papers and documents, occasionally talking to me or Cordelia.
Cordelia insisted on staying. She too tried reading, but in the end she turned on the TV in the small sitting room, and sat staring blankly at it.
I was very tired: I hadn’t slept at all the previous night. But I couldn’t sleep now. I spent the time trying to control the agitation inside me. I wanted to scream, shout, do something. But, of course, there was nothing to do.
I became morbid, I couldn’t help it. I found myself snatching at the memories of things Isabel and I had done together as if they would be the last. This was ridiculous. The most likely thing was that she would be released unharmed, and I would see her again. But I could only force my brain to think of the most probable outcome for a few minutes. It would always drift back into thinking the worst.
Nelson stayed too, but remained inconspicuous. I spoke to Ricardo and put Nelson in touch with the kidnap insurance broker at Lloyds who had written the Dekker policy. They seemed to know of Nelson, which was encouraging. Under the policy the insurance company would cover a ransom paid by the family or Dekker up to a limit of a million dollars.
The phone rang on and off all day. Luís wanted to keep in touch with the office. He told them his daughter was ill and needed him. He wasn’t very specific and it didn’t make much sense, but he was the boss so no one could argue.
I stayed for supper, and then went back to the hotel. It seemed empty without Isabel. I went up to her room, and packed her stuff. I felt uncomfortable, gathering together her small personal belongings. It seemed a strangely domestic thing, as though at the moment we had been torn apart, we were making a step closer. The irony made me feel sick.