an unsolved mystery

Two weeks ago, I received an unexpected call from S, my business partner.

"My driver is missing!" she blurted out. "Around 5pm, I asked him to drop me off at Santi's Deli in Rockwell. He was supposed to park the car at the nearby mall and buy me meds for my headache. But when I called and texted him – countless times – to ask him to pick me up, he never answered. To think that I told him I wouldn't take long! After waiting for two hours, I decided to take a cab home. Should I call the police?"

My mind raced. Was her driver's phone on silent mode? Why didn't he check it for messages? Did he fall asleep in the drivers' lounge? Did he meet an accident? Or was the car hijacked in the basement parking area of the mall? (The car was a high-end SUV, a vehicle on the police's list of cars-most-likely-to-be-carnapped. )

"We must be very sure before we report the matter to the police," I replied, "I think they issue shoot-to-kill orders on drivers of stolen vehicles."

"Then I should go back to the mall and find out if the car is still parked there," she said, sounding worried.

"That may be dangerous. You want my driver to come with you? He can be your bodyguard."

"I'll go alone."

At 7:30pm, I called her on her mobile phone.

After three rings, the call pushed through but no one said 'Hello'. There was a sound of rustling like someone was fumbling for the phone. Then I heard a very loud and shrill scream! What the hell was going on?!

She finally spoke, "Hi, I'm on my way to the mall."

"Are you okay? I heard a scream–" I asked.

"Those were my brakes screeching." Then she put the phone down.


At 8:30pm, she called and said, "The security guards found my car in Basement Parking Level One but my driver's nowhere to be found. They've paged him already."

"Ask the guards to check inside the car – maybe kidnappers tied him up in there, and are waiting for you," I spoke slowly, horrified at the thought.

At 9:30pm, my phone rang. "Found him. Said his phone got busted. He didn't hear any ring or any text message beep."

"But he got the messages?" I was so perplexed.

"Yup, they were in his phone inbox," was her exasperated reply.

"What an excuse!" I exclaimed to S. Then I thought to myself, "What a lie!"

Consider the facts: (1.) He knew that S would only take a short while at Santis Deli. (2.) Four and a half hours had passed since he dropped her off. (3.) All the text messages telling him to fetch her were in his phone.

Was he lying or not? What do you think really happened?

For me, the mystery was far from over.

(Top) This rare 'secret' bear with a big '?' on its forehead is the Series 3 Artist Be@rbrick by famous Japanese DJ-turned-streetwear designer Hiroshi Fujiwara. The "HTM" logo on its chest is from his spring 2002 streetwear line for Nike.

Click here to check out his blog / artworks.