Three Stories One Middle East
Nader Habibi
To my second offspring, who asked me to dedicate my
second novel to her after realizing that I had not dedicated my first novel to
anyone. She was eight years old then.
(Story one)
Part two
I Am Sarah
Swarthmore,
Sunday, June 17, 2001
Nearly 24 hours had passed
since Jennifer had realized that Sarah was missing. Twenty-four hours of
anxiety and pain for her and her husband. Jennifer had barely had any sleep and
looked exhausted. Her sister, who lived in Philadelphia, and two of her friends
in Swarthmore, had come to comfort her. Her sister had stayed with them last
night, and the two friends arrived in the early morning.
For the peaceful and tranquil
Swarthmore where there was hardly any crime or disturbances, the disappearance
of a local girl was a major shock to the entire community. Hundreds of locals
had joined the police search. Police officers had been in and out of Goldberg’s
house several times after the initial interview on Saturday afternoon. The
officers gave John and Jennifer detailed instructions about what to do if a
potential kidnapper contacted them. Since Sarah had no history of tension with
her family and had not complained to anyone about her personal relationship
with Joshua, the police considered it unlikely that she had run away
voluntarily.
They interviewed Joshua for
an hour on Saturday night. He was very valuable to the investigation, because
he was the last person who had been with Sarah. They pressed him very hard to
find out if he and Sarah had been in an argument on Friday night. Joshua’s
testimony was compatible with what they learned from Sarah’s other friends who
were at Zoe’s graduation party Friday night. None of Sarah’s friends had
noticed anything strange in her behavior that might have hinted at her desire
to run away from home. Nothing was missing from her room either. Even her purse
and shoes were in her room.
Police were entertaining
several theories about the cause of her disappearance. On top of the list was
kidnapping or murder by someone that Sarah probably knew and trusted. They were
not ruling out her parents at this early stage of investigation. Several
Philadelphia news reporters had gathered around the Goldberg residence, and the
local media covered the event on Sunday morning. The police had also used the
media to appeal to the public to help find Sarah. When the phone rang at 11:05
am, a police officer, several relatives and Jennifer's friends were in the
house. At the sound of the ring they all froze. Police had already attached a
tracking and a recording device to the phone. John and Jennifer looked at the
officer. He signaled to them to answer the phone.
“Hello,” Said John calmly. He
could hear some static in the background. The officer was listening with a
headphone.
“Hello, may I speak to Mr.
Goldberg please?”
John did not recognize the
voice. The only thing that he could detect was the caller’s foreign accent.
“Speaking. Who is this?”
On the other end of the line,
Dr. Khan could not believe his ears. He never expected the phone number that
Yasmin had given him to actually belong to anyone – not to mention a person
named Goldberg.
“Are you Mr. John Goldberg?”
“Yes! Who is this?”
“Sir, My name is Mohammad
Hossain Khan. I’m calling from Karachi, Pakistan.”
“Yes?”
“Do you by any chance have a
daughter named Sarah?”
Everyone in the room could
see the shock in John’s face when he heard this question. He froze for a second
but the officer used a hand gesture to tell him to keep talking.
John tried very hard to
control his emotion.
“Yes, I do. I do. Do you have
any news about her? Do you know where she is?”
Now it was Dr. Khan’s turn to
freeze. How did Yasmin know this family?
He wondered. Yasmin, Fatima and Mrs. Khan were staring at Dr. Khan. Yasmin
stepped forward eager to take the phone and talk to her family, but Dr. Khan
signaled her to stay back. He still had more questions to ask.
“Hello! Hello! Are you still
there?” asked John.
“Yes I’m here.”
“You said you are calling
from Pakistan? How do you know us? What do you know about Sarah?”
“Has something happened to
her by any chance?” asked Dr. Khan.
“Please sir. Do you have any
news about her whereabouts? Is this why you are calling?” said John with a
trembling voice. Jennifer rushed forward and grabbed the phone from her
husband’s hand.
“Hello! Hello! This is
Jennifer Goldberg, Sarah’s mother. Do you have any news about my daughter?”
“Is your daughter missing
Mrs. Goldberg?” asked Dr. Khan. As Yasmin heard this question she rushed
forward. “That’s my mom. Let me talk to her please,” she begged. But Dr. Khan
held her back and signaled her wife to restrain her.
“Yes. She has been missing
since yesterday morning. Do you have any news about her?”
“I don’t know anything about
your daughter but something strange has happened. Since yesterday morning my
own daughter claims that her name is Sarah Goldberg. She gave me your phone
number and insisted that I call you.”
Jennifer was confused.
Everyone in the living room was standing up and staring at her in total
silence.
“Sir, what you are saying
doesn’t make any sense. Your daughter is calling herself Sarah? Please don’t do
this to us. My daughter is missing. Do you know how hard it is for us? For
God’s sake, do you have any news about my Sarah?”
“Madam, please believe me. I
have no ill intentions toward you or your family. My wife and I are very
concerned about the mental health of our daughter. She is the one that insisted
on calling this number after her new personality took over. To be honest, I
never thought this number would belong to anyone. I thought Sarah Goldberg was
an imaginary name. This is so strange. On the same day that your daughter
disappears my daughter claims to be Sarah. She denies having any memory of her
life as our daughter and refuses to speak our language. She only speaks English
and does so with a perfect American accent.”
“What are you saying? That my
daughter’s spirit has possessed your daughter’s body?”
“I’m not saying this, and as
a medical doctor, I don’t believe such a thing is even possible. It is my
daughter, Yasmin, who is making this claim and I have no idea how she knows
your daughter’s name or your phone number. She has never been to the United
States.”
Jennifer was silent. She didn’t
know what to say. Suddenly she heard the voice of a woman who must have been
only a few feet away from the phone receiver.
It was Yasmin: “I’m not making this up. I’m Sarah. Mom! Mom! It’s me
Sarah. Please let me talk to her. Please I beg you. For God’s Sake.”
From what Jennifer was able
to hear this was not the voice of her daughter. Was someone trying to extort
money from them, she wondered. The policeman signaled her to keep talking. He
himself was standing in a far corner and talking on his cell phone with another
officer.
“Can I speak to your daughter
please?” asked Jennifer.
Dr. Khan gave the phone to
Yasmin.
“Mom?” asked Yasmin with a
trembling voice.
Jennifer was confused. This
was not Sarah’s voice.
“Mom. This is Sarah. Please
talk to me.” Yasmin started to cry.
“Who are you? I would
recognize the voice of my daughter, but your voice is different. What do you
want from us? Please tell me? Do you know anything about Sarah?” asked
Jennifer, trying hard not to cry.
“Mom, listen. I’m Sarah. I
don’t know what happened. I’m as confused as you are, but please believe me.
All I remember is that Friday night Joshua walked me home, and I went straight
to bed. Then when I woke up yesterday I was in this girl’s body. Her name is
Yasmin.”
There was silence. “Please
mom, say something,” continued Yasmin. Jennifer was quiet. John Goldberg, who
was anxiously waiting to find out what was going on, put the phone on speaker
so that they could all listen to the conversation. Jennifer sat down.
“Hello, this is John
Goldberg.”
“Hi Dad,” said Yasmin before
crying loudly. Now everyone was shocked.
“Who
is this?”
“Dad it’s me Sarah! Please
come get me I want to come home.”
“Listen Miss, my daughter has
been missing for the past 24 hours. We are all under a lot of emotional stress.
Why are you playing this cruel game with us?”
“Dad, it is me, Sarah. I’m
also tormented. I’m trapped in this girl’s body in a foreign land and no one
here believes me either. I’m not lying.” Then it occurred to Yasmin to give his
father a clue.
“Listen dad, are you in the
living room right now?”
“Yes!”
“Remember Friday afternoon.
Before Joshua arrived to take me to Zoe’s house, you gave me a twenty dollar
bill. You said here is a brand new Mr. Jackson for Miss Goldberg.”
“How do you know about this?”
“I know because I was there.
After you left, I put it in the red dictionary on the top row of the bookshelf,
next to TV. If you check, it must still be there.”
Jennifer’s sister walked to
the bookshelf and pulled out the red dictionary. She opened the cover page and
there was indeed a brand new twenty-dollar bill in there. She slowly lifted the
bill for everyone to see.
“Oh my God,” shouted
Jennifer. John tightly held her hand.
“Did you find the money?”
asked Yasmin.
“Yes!” replied John. They were all looking at
each other.
“Dad. Please come get me I
want to come home,” said Yasmin, while sighing and crying.
“Look Miss. Give the phone to
that man that was talking before you. I want to talk to him.”
“You don’t believe me, do you
dad? How can I convince you that I’m really Sarah?”
John repeated his request.
Others could clearly notice the anger in his voice.
“No!
No! You let me talk to mom.”
John looked at the police
officer. At that moment the head of Swarthmore’s police, Sergeant Rosen entered
the house. Officer Brown, who was already in the house, had alerted him to the
situation a few minutes earlier. Sergeant Rosen approached Brown and motioned
all the others to be quiet. He then looked at John and signaled to him to
continue the conversation. Yasmin was giving them another clue about what she
and her mother had done Thursday afternoon. Officer Brown quickly summarized
the phone conversation to the sergeant. They were standing far enough away from
the speakerphone that others could not hear them.
“Do you think these people
have Sarah and are looking for extortion money?” asked Sergeant Rosen.
“Well. It is strange. This
girl knows a lot about Sarah but so far they have not asked for anything. I
think this is just a hoax by someone who knows the family very well.”
“But what’s their motive? Has
the phone company tracked the call yet?”
“All they have been able to
determine is that it originates from outside the U.S. They can’t track it
beyond U.S. borders.”
“That’s odd,” said the
sergeant and joined the others who had circled around the phone. He was holding
a pen and a small notebook in his hands.
“Look Miss, everything that
you have said about Sarah is true but that doesn’t mean that you are Sarah,” said
John, and before Yasmin had a chance to reply, Jennifer’s sister cut in.
“If you are Sarah, do you
recognize my voice?”
“Hi Aunt Helen, of course I
recognize your voice. I’m glad you are there. Please don’t leave mom alone
until this ordeal is over.” said Yasmin without hesitation. How did she recognize Helen’s voice? Everyone
wondered.
In the meantime, Dr. Khan and
his wife were also listening to Yasmin’s conversation with bewilderment,
although they could not hear the other side of the conversation. How did their
daughter acquire all this personal information about this family? Dr. Khan
could not wait any longer. He approached Yasmin and asked for the receiver.
First Yasmin was hesitant but remembering how Dr. Khan had used force to
restrain her before, she complied.
“Hold on mom. This man wants
to talk to you. But don’t hang up after that – okay mom?” said Yasmin before
handing the receiver to Dr. Khan. He was shocked at the way his daughter had
referred to him as “this man.”
“Hello this is Dr. Khan
again. Whom am I speaking to now?”
“This is John Goldberg. What
is going on there? How does your daughter know so much about our family?” said
John, as the police officer gave him a note telling him to ask for a contact
number?
“Sir, I’m even more confused
than you. I have no idea where my daughter has gotten all this information. As
I said before, she has never been to the United States.”
“So, you have no information
about my daughter’s whereabouts?”
“No. And I’m very sorry that
she is missing. I hope you find her soon – sound and safe.”
There was a silence on both
ends for a few seconds.
“I hope you don’t think that
we have anything to do with your daughter’s disappearance?” asked Dr. Khan.
“My daughter has been missing
for the past 24 hours, and suddenly we get this strange phone call from you.
What do you expect us to think? Surely we thought you must have some news about
her.”
“As I said before, I only
called you because my daughter, who unfortunately doesn’t even recognize me
anymore, kept asking me to. But now that I know that you are real, perhaps the
disappearance of your daughter and the new personality of my daughter are
somehow connected.”
“Could you give me your phone
number please?”
Dr. Khan not only gave them
his phone number, but he also gave them his address and spelled his name for
them. Sensing their suspicion, he wanted to demonstrate his sincerity. When he
proceeded to put down the receiver, Yasmin shouted, “No, No. Let me talk to my
mom.” John and Jennifer could hear her voice in the background as the
connection went dead.
*****
Two days later there was
still no news of Sarah. John and Jennifer were both exhausted. Police asked the
Goldbergs and everyone else who was present during that strange phone call to
keep it a secret while they investigated. Both John and Jennifer had taken a
leave of absence from their work. Police had interviewed them and searched the
house several times during those four days. During some of the interviews, they
both got the impression that the police had not yet ruled them out as suspects
in Sarah’s abduction.
They were especially annoyed
when Detective Charles Owen from the FBI’s Missing Persons Division interviewed
them on Monday. He asked them if they had any friends or acquaintances of
Pakistani origin and if either one of them had ever been to Pakistan. Jennifer
had not put much thought into these questions, but afterwards, John told her
that police might be thinking that since this Pakistani girl knew so much about
them and Sarah, her call might have been staged by either John or Jennifer to
distract the police. How else could they explain the details that this girl
knew about their lives?
It was a little after ten in
the morning when Detective Owen called and told them that he wanted to stop by
to see them. He was a tall and slightly overweight man in his early
forties. A few minutes later, he and
Sergeant Rosen arrived. Detective Owen was taken aback by the visible signs of
anguish in Jennifer’s face.
“I’m afraid we still don’t
have any serious leads to work with other than the phone call from Pakistan.”
“Was the phone number
authentic?”
“Yes. I contacted the U.S.
Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan yesterday. They called this phone number, and it
indeed belongs to a man named Mohammad Hossain Khan in Karachi. Through the
Karachi Police, they sent someone to talk to him. He admitted that he was the
one who called you on Sunday. Apparently, he is a physician and lives in a nice
neighborhood,” said the detective and paused for a few seconds.
“Did they find out anything
about Sarah?” asked Jennifer. She was tightly holding John’s hand.
“No. Dr. Khan claims that he
knows nothing about Sarah or your family, except that his own daughter says she
is Sarah. It seems that she is still insisting on her claim. Dr. Khan did not
allow the American Consulate officer or the Pakistani police to talk to his
daughter, but he told them that she was receiving psychiatric help. Dr. Khan
also claims that he doesn’t know how his daughter has obtained your name and
phone number and all the other details that she revealed on the phone.”
“So where does this leave the
investigation?” asked John.
“Unfortunately it leaves us
with very little to work with. We still believe that this Pakistani family
might somehow be connected with Sarah’s disappearance. We need to know exactly
what this girl knows about Sarah and your family. Then we will try to match her
information with individuals among your relatives and friends who could have
passed her that information. Do you follow what I’m saying?”
Jennifer looked at her
husband. She was a little confused.
“I think so. If this girl
knows something that only one person other than Sarah and us could have known,
then we have reason to believe that that person has passed the information to
her. Is this what you have in mind?” asked John.
“Yes. And this will help us
find out who among Sarah’s friends or relatives might be involved in this
kidnapping.”
“But you just said that this man won’t let the
Pakistani police or American officials talk to his daughter. How are you then
going to reach her?” asked Jennifer.
“That’s where you come in. We
think the family might be willing to let you and John talk to their daughter.”
There was silence for a few
seconds.
“I know it might be
emotionally very difficult for you but it might help us find Sarah.”
“Jennifer has been under a lot of pressure
since Saturday… I don’t know if she is up to it. Do you think I can talk to
this girl instead of her?”
“No!” said Jennifer. “It’s
okay. They are more likely to let her talk to me than to you. I will call
them.”
Detective Owen gave Jennifer
some instructions on the kind of questions that she should ask and topics to
talk about during her conversation. The idea was to test this girl’s knowledge
of a variety of things that Sarah had experienced ever since childhood. The
detective also urged Jennifer to throw in some false information once in a
while to see if the girl could catch the errors or not.
“By the way, here are their
names. The girl’s name is Yasmin. The lady’s first name is Shahrzad. She has a
younger daughter named Fatima – just two children. Dr. Khan’s first name is
Mohammad Hossain.”
Sergeant Rosen reminded John
and Jennifer that all of their phone conversations were going to be recorded
and passed immediately to Detective Owen for analysis. Detective Owen thanked
them and reassured them that he and the local police were doing every thing
they could to find Sarah. What he didn’t tell them was that he had not ruled
out either one of them as suspects, and he was hopeful that their conversations
with this Pakistani family could shed light on whether they themselves had
anything to do with Sarah’s disappearance. When a young girl disappears, the
parents, particularly the father, are often among the suspects.
Soon after the detectives
left, the doorbell rang again and this time it was Joshua. He had visited them
several times since Sarah’s disappearance but knew noting about the Pakistani
family and their daughter. John had earlier asked Joshua if he and Sarah knew
any Pakistani or Indian girls, but the answer was no. Before Joshua left that
day, Jennifer asked him if he and Sarah had any nicknames for each other that
they kept secret from others. She occasionally had called him Jashy, but he
simply called her Sarah.
******
The change in Yasmin’s
personality had led to a big change in her choice of clothing and hairstyle.
Dr. Khan, Shahrzad and Fatima had all noticed how different Yasmin looked after
her transformation. Originally, Yasmin liked to wear contrasting colors - a
white top with a dark shalwar (pants) or a colorful top with a white or yellow
shalwar. The new Yasmin, who had quickly realized that her new family did not
allow her to wear skirts, wore dark on dark or light on light shalwar kameez.
Another major change was
noticeable in Yasmin’s food preferences. She was a lot more interested in
sweets than before. She had also asked for fish, whereas in the past she always
hated seafood.
Last Sunday’s phone call to
America had only added to the Khan family’s confusion. They still had no
rational explanation for the behavior of their daughter. The new Yasmin was as
much a stranger to them as they were to her. Dr. Iqbal visited them again on
Tuesday afternoon and spent another half an hour with Yasmin. He was also
puzzled by Yasmin’s condition. On the one hand, she was completely normal and
rational. On the other hand, she had undergone a complete transformation into a
new personality with a whole new set of memories, knowledge and skills. She
showed no knowledge of Pakistani culture and manners.
Mrs. Khan was emotionally
impacted by Yasmin’s ordeal far more than her husband, and it was showing on
her face. She looked fatigued and stressed. At Dr. Iqbal’s recommendation, she
was trying very hard not to get angry with Yasmin but on a few occasions she
just couldn’t help herself and raised her voice at her. The first incident
occurred early Monday morning when Yasmin asked to call her boyfriend Joshua. For
a young Pakistani girl having a boyfriend is a taboo and Mrs. Khan could not
stand Yasmin talking about a boyfriend in front of Fatima. Even a mental
problem was no excuse for such a rude behavior. After that request, Mrs. Khan
removed the regular phone from the living room and carried the cordless phone
in her pocket all the time to make sure Yasmin could not make any phone calls
without her permission. Through a series of trial and error, Sarah was
gradually learning the boundaries of her new world.
Mrs. Khan was very worried
about Yasmin’s good name and reputation. One public display of immodest
behavior would be enough to destroy a girl’s reputation. She was also worried
that Yasmin’s condition could affect Fatima’s future, as people would think that
she might also develop a personality disorder.
She and Dr. Khan were doing their best to keep others from finding out
about Yasmin.
They were shocked when an
employee of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi showed up on their front door along
with a Pakistani policeman. They never expected the phone call to America to be
followed by this visit. They found it absurd that anyone would think they had
something to do with the disappearance of an American girl half-way around the
world. They felt they had every right not to let this American officer talk to
their daughter – particularly because of the presence of the local policeman.
Yasmin’s ordeal was such an unusual development that they were sure the
policeman would talk to his friends and colleagues about it. It would have been
a huge scandal if someone had leaked the story to the press.
They were equally worried
about their relatives. Mrs. Khan had managed to come up with excuses on two
occasions when her sister and her mother-in-law had called to come over. But
for how long could she prevent the relatives from coming into face-to-face
contact with Yasmin without causing suspicion? She just prayed that this ordeal
would be over soon.
Ever since Sunday’s
conversation with her parents, Yasmin was more reserved – at least in
appearance. Initially, she was shocked that her parents did not recognize her
but later she began to see the situation from their point of view. With her new
body came a new voice that was very different from Sarah’s. How could she blame
her parents for being suspicious of a stranger who claimed to be their missing
daughter?
She was also developing an
understanding for the ordeal of Mr. and Mrs. Khan and Fatima. She thought there was no point in being
confrontational or getting angry. She also noticed that Dr. and Mrs. Khan were
trying to be calm and accommodating towards her. They tried not to discuss her transformation
or remind her of her original personality. So far, they had not allowed her to
leave the house. However, they took her out for a drive Monday evening after
Dr. Khan came home from work. Yasmin and Mrs. Khan sat in the back. Fatima sat
on the front seat next to her father. Yasmin found this arrangement odd but
thought that perhaps Mrs. Khan wanted to keep an eye on her to make sure she
wouldn’t suddenly open the car door and run away. Yasmin was thinking of
running away but not without a plan. Dr. Khan lived in the prosperous DHA
neighborhood of Karachi but decided to drive into downtown to observe Yasmin’s
reaction.
The crowded streets of
Karachi were a totally strange world for Yasmin, who had only visited England
and France outside of the United States. Despite sitting in the back seat, the
driving conditions made Yasmin nervous and on a few occasions she shouted “Be careful!”
to Dr. Khan while grabbing the door handle or the front seat. Mrs. Khan saw this as yet another sign of
Yasmin’s strange new personality. She never minded her father’s driving before.
When they returned to DHA, Dr. Khan intentionally drove to St. Josephs Convent
School. He had earlier told Fatima and his wife to keep quiet when they drive
near Yasmin’s school. Fatima and Mrs. Khan were both looking at Yasmin as they
drove slowly around the school. To
their disappointment, Yasmin did not recognize the place at all.
Mrs. Khan was watching
television when the phone rang on Tuesday night. It was half past nine but her
husband was not home. He had to attend a dinner party in honor of a retiring
colleague at the hospital. She was speechless for a few seconds when she found
out who was calling. The first thing that alarmed her was that the caller spoke
in English. It was a woman with American accent. The shock came when she
introduced herself as Jennifer Goldberg, the imaginary mother of Yasmin. She felt
relieved that Yasmin was in her room and could not hear her phone conversation.
She could not imagine why this woman had called. Were they still thinking that
she and her family had anything to do with their daughter’s disappearance? Jennifer asked about Yasmin and whether her
condition had changed.
“Why are you calling?”
replied Mrs. Khan instead of answering her question. This unfriendly response
did not come as a surprise to Jennifer.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean any
harm. I was just curious. Does she still claim to be Sarah?”
“You think we had something
to do with your daughter’s disappearance don’t you? That’s why you contacted
the American Consulate and sent an American officer to our house. Is that why
you are calling?” said Mrs. Khan. Jennifer was trying hard to understand her
strong Pakistani accent, but it wasn’t hard to detect the anger in Mrs. Khan’s
voice.
“No. No. We never thought
that, and the police contacted the American Consulate in your town without our
knowledge, Mrs. Khan,” she said with a thick American accent, “I know that you
have a respectable family and that with daughters of your own, you would never
think of such a plot. Besides you live halfway around the world. But please try
to understand our situation. My daughter has been missing for four days now,
and the police have no clue as to her whereabouts. Every moment is precious to
us and I would appreciate any kind of help that you offer us. When we talked to
your daughter, she knew some very private information about Sarah and about us.
It would be very useful to us if you could tell us where she got that
information? You have a young daughter yourself. Please try to understand how
hard it is for us.”
Mrs. Khan felt calmer after
these words. Initially, she had wanted to hang up but not anymore. Now she felt
sorry for Jennifer. When comparing her own problem with Jennifer’s, she felt
fortunate that at least her daughter was home and out of harm's way. She would
have been worried to death if her daughter was missing.
“I’m very sorry about your
daughter’s disappearance. I hope you find her soon.”
“Would you please let me talk
to your daughter? She might have some information that can help us.”
Mrs. Khan was hesitant. She knew that her husband would not approve
of this. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible now. Perhaps later.” She answered.
“But when?” asked Jennifer.
“I have to talk to my husband
first.”
“Then at least tell me, has
she said any thing new about us?” asked Jennifer.
“Well! She still insists on
being Sarah. Once in a while she says something about her life before this
change. She has mentioned a couple of times a boy named Joshua. Do you know
anyone by this name?”
“Joshua is Sarah’s
boyfriend.”
“Yesterday she tried to call
this boy but I stopped her and she got very angry.”
“Sarah and Joshua are very
close. They really like each other.”
“But why should my daughter,
who has never seen this Joshua, be so eager to talk to him? She acts as if she
is in love with him.”
“Have you taken Yasmin to a
psychologist?” asked Jennifer.
Mrs. Khan explained about Dr.
Iqbal’s examinations and that he was also puzzled with Yasmin’s condition.
“No one knows what’s wrong
with her or when she will return to her real self again,” she explained.
Jennifer could sense the fear and frustration in her voice.
“Mrs. Khan, I must tell you I
have a feeling that somehow the disappearance of Sarah and the personality
change of your daughter are connected. I know this sounds strange but perhaps
finding Sarah could be the key to finding a cure for your daughter’s problem.
Don’t you see the link here? On the same day that my daughter disappears your
daughter claims to be her – the exact same day! Maybe we can help each
other.”
Although deep in her heart
Jennifer still felt that this family might be connected to Sarah’s possible
abduction, she was careful not to show it in what she said. John had suggested
earlier that perhaps by mentioning this link, she might be able to gain their
trust and cooperation. John was right. After hearing these sentences, Mrs. Khan
felt more sympathy for John and Jennifer. She asked Jennifer how she could help
with Sarah’s investigation. Jennifer said the best help they could offer was to
let her speak to Yasmin. Mrs. Khan promised to talk to her husband and would
have an answer for her by next day. Within a few minutes after that phone call,
John and Jennifer called Detective Owen. Much to their surprise he had also
listened to the entire conversation. He instructed Jennifer to call them the
next day around 5 am, which would have been around 3:30 pm Karachi time. The police still had no lead on Sarah’s
disappearance – no suspect, no evidence and no motive. No wonder the Pakistani
link was so important to them.