A security guard stopped him. “Sorry, sir, no one can go back inside.”
“My uncle! I can’t find him anywhere.”
“Fire’s already out. Just a lot of smoke. You have to move away from the door.”
“Let’s wait up front,” Sam said, drawing Oliver toward a row of benches near the entrance. “Remi and I will keep searching. You wait here in case he comes out.”
“Thank you,” Oliver said, surveying the faces of the people milling about. “I don’t think he’ll go far. He’s obsessed with the Ghost.”
The sirens grew louder, and within a few minutes several fire trucks sped into the drive, one parking in front, the two others driving on either side of the building.
Thirty minutes later, they still hadn’t found Albert.
Unfortunately, security wouldn’t let them back in the building. Oliver, pacing near the entrance, stopped and pointed to a man speaking with one of the firefighters who’d just left the building. “The event manager. He should be able to help us.”
The three approached, and the man turned toward them, a neutral smile on his face. “I daresay, quite the bit of excitement, that.”
“We need to get back in the building. I think my uncle’s still in there. Probably worried about his car.”
“Nothing to worry about. The fire’s out and all the cars are safe.”
“Can we go in?” Oliver asked.
“They’ll be letting everyone in in just a few minutes. We’ve shut the cooking demonstration down. Can’t imagine what anyone was thinking, bringing that sort of thing here. N
ot even sure how they got in the door.”
As promised, security opened up the entrance, allowing those who still waited back into the building. Sam, Remi, and Oliver filed in behind the dozens of other car enthusiasts who refused to let a little smoke stop their visit. The three wasted no time, walking straight to the back, murmuring from the crowd growing in intensity.
Oliver stopped in his tracks, looking at the empty stage. “The Gray Ghost! It’s gone!”
9
Not only was the car gone but so was Oliver’s uncle.
The officer taking the missing person’s report seemed very interested that Albert had disappeared just prior to the theft. “Any chance he might have taken it? Driven off, as it were?”
Oliver’s face paled. “I’d say no, but he did drive off in my car a few weeks ago, wrecking it. At the time, he’d told me he was looking for the Gray Ghost. We’d just sent it to the garage for repairs.”
“Would he have been able to start it?” the officer asked.
“I don’t really know,” Oliver replied.
“How?” Remi said. “The car was on a platform. At least a foot off the ground. Even if he could start it, how would he get it off?”
“Ramps?” the officer suggested.
Remi checked the platform, didn’t see any. “Where would he have gotten them from?”
“There is one other possibility,” Sam said, taking out his phone. “These three men were following us. Two of them,” he said, showing the video he’d taken on the train, “were tailing us in California. The third, I’ve never seen before.”
“Well done,” the officer said. “We’ll need a copy of that for the investigation.” The officer gave him an email address, then looked at Oliver, asking, “You might ring up your insurance company. Let them know.”
“The car’s the least of my worries.”
“I’m sure we’ll find your uncle. If he did take it, he’s bound to attract attention.” He handed Oliver his card. “Give a ring if you think of anything else. Or if your uncle shows. Try not to worry. We have a crack team of investigators on it.” The officer closed his notebook and tucked his pen in his pocket. “In the meantime, we’ll have a look at the video surveillance. Perhaps we’ll get answers there.”
Remi and Sam moved off a few feet, as Oliver and the officer spoke. “You don’t think he really drove off in that car?” she asked Sam.