Chapter Twenty-Four #2
Malone brought him up to speed on what they’d learned from their brief interview with Asher Mayfield. He also added how they believed the entire thing stemmed from Luna refusing to engage with Brecken.
The chief was incredulous. “She was murdered because she wouldn’t give his son the time of day?”
“We believe that was the reason, but it’s part of a bigger issue,” Sam said, “which we’ll touch on in our briefing.”
The chief shook his head, aghast over the disturbing details of the case. “We see a lot of crazy crap around here, but this…”
“It’s crazier than most,” Sam said.
Sam glanced at Malone, who nodded to indicate he was ready to accompany her outside, where a much-larger-than-usual press corps awaited an update. They’d decided she would give the briefing since they were still ravenous for info about her nephew’s condition.
Reporters started shouting at her the minute she came through the door and didn’t stop until they realized she wasn’t going to say anything until they shut up. You’d think they’d have figured that out by now, but it was a lesson they had to relearn every day.
“I have a lot to share today, so I’d appreciate the chance to fully brief you before I answer questions.
As you know, three local children were recently reported missing—Luna Ahern, age thirteen, Tomas Cambra, age eleven, and Ethan Hogan, also age eleven.
As you know by now, Ethan Hogan is my nephew.
He’s the son of my sister Tracy and her husband, Mike.
Needless to say, our entire family is relieved and thankful for the safe return of both him and Tomas.
We wish we had the same news about Luna. ”
A ripple of gasps sounded.
“Thanks to the efforts of Captains Jake Malone and Michelle Ruiz, we were able to locate Luna in a storage unit on Florida Avenue.”
Another series of gasps went through the gathering.
“She was in critical condition when located and was transported to GW Trauma, where she passed away from her extensive injuries. Our hearts are with her parents, family and friends as they process this unfathomable loss. I use the word ‘unfathomable’ intentionally, as the motive behind this crime is the very definition of that word. We believe Luna was murdered because she rebuffed the advances of a fifteen-year-old boy.”
More sounds of disbelief as the reporters took frantic notes.
“But it goes deeper than the rebuff to an entire ‘manosphere’ built around male grievance toward the women who reject them. An entirely new vernacular has entered our lexicon during this investigation. We learned about incel culture. Incel stands for involuntary celibate, which speaks to men who are unable to achieve romantic success with women and, in turn, blame the women for their failures. They believe that eighty percent of women are interested in only twenty percent of men, and the other eighty percent of men are left out in the cold. This is part of a larger movement of disaffected men who share their grievances in online forums where they find like-minded individuals to validate their positions. Some of these people go so far as to act out against the women who’ve rejected them, as well as their romantic partners.
“We’ve arrested Asher Mayfield and his son, a juvenile we’re not naming at this time, for suspicion of kidnapping all three children.
We expect further charges to be forthcoming.
We believe Luna rejected Mayfield’s son.
Driven by a long history of personal failures with women himself, the senior Mayfield decided to exact revenge on his son’s behalf.
Father and son befriended Ethan and Tomas over a period of weeks and then kidnapped the boys and used their phones to lure Luna, who was friendly with Ethan and Tomas, to meet Mayfield and his son.
The boys were able to escape from where they were being held.
They received medical treatment at the hospital and are recovering at home with their families. ”
“What injuries did they sustain?” a reporter asked.
“They were dehydrated and had cuts and abrasions from the zip ties that were used to restrain them. Ethan had bruised ribs as well.”
“How were they able to escape?”
“Ethan had an all-purpose pocketknife that they used. Because of how they were bound, however, it took many hours for the boys to get free. Asher Mayfield is an active leader in the manosphere scene and is president of a local organization called the Dead Chads, which is the name they give to men who are successful with women. Women who choose these men are referred to as Stacys.”
“Is this shit for real?” Darren Tabor from the Washington Star asked.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Sam said. “It’s all too real and has led to other murders.
” She went through the list of well-documented incel-related murders that’d occurred around the country as well as some of the history behind the movement.
“Mayfield and his son will initially be charged with three counts of kidnapping. We expect additional charges to be forthcoming after the medical examiner completes her work. I’ll take a few more questions. ”
“Had you heard of incel culture or the mano… whatever it’s called… before this case?”
“It’s called the manosphere, and no, most of us had never heard of any of this, and we wish we hadn’t heard of it now.
I think it’s important to note that for the many, many ways the internet has made life easier and more efficient, it also has a dark side where like-minded individuals with serious grievances can find community and in some cases can organize to perpetrate violence upon their perceived enemies. ”
“This sounds like a pretty sophisticated society, if you will, with common vernacular and terminology. Is this something regular people, and women in particular, need to be afraid of?”
“I wouldn’t advise wide-scale fear, but more of an awareness that this mindset exists.
We’ve all known of cases in which a woman rejects a man’s advances and is served with violent retribution of some kind.
It can be everything from stalking to intimidation to assault to murder.
Many of those cases are not directly tied to incel culture or the manosphere, but in this case, there’s a direct tie. ”
“How did Mayfield and his son make contact with Tomas and Ethan?”
“The boys met at a video arcade at the Wharf some time ago and became friendly, meeting up several times after that initial contact. Once, Asher Mayfield accompanied his son and met the boys. He treated them to more games and pizza. They said the son was, as they put it, obsessed with Luna. Ethan and Tomas had met her a couple of times. At one point, Ethan passed her a note that said he thought she was very pretty and he’d like to talk more.
He gave her his phone number. To our knowledge, she never reached out to him, nor do we believe the younger Mayfield ever knew about the note from Ethan to Luna. ”
“How do you know about the note?”
“It was found in Luna’s room when our detectives searched it. We believe the Mayfields targeted Ethan and Tomas and encouraged their friendship with her so they could use the boys’ phones to get her to come out to meet them. Except she didn’t know it wasn’t them waiting for her.”
“I know one of these kids is your nephew, Lieutenant, but aren’t they young to be running around the city unsupervised?” The question came from a male TV reporter, who she guessed to be in his early forties. “I have middle school kids who don’t go anywhere without an adult with them.”
“I hear you, and I understand that parents will be questioning their decisions on these things in light of this case. I want to be clear that I’m not standing in judgment of any parents, especially my sister and brother-in-law, who have to confront these challenges with their tweens and teens.
As I told my sister, I’m the last person in the world who’d ever judge the choices of other parents, especially with my kids under Secret Service protection.
That said, as a police officer, I was surprised that Ethan was allowed to go out with only his friends at age eleven. ”
“So you were unaware he was allowed to do that?”
“I was. In this high-tech age, I think parents are possibly lulled into a false sense of security because of cell phones and the ability to track their child’s location.
They have the numbers of the friends their children will be with and parameters set on where the kids are allowed to go—and where they’re not allowed to go.
In the case of my nephew, my sister and brother-in-law first became alarmed when they realized Ethan’s phone had been shut off.
They were no longer able to see his location, their calls were going to voicemail, and texts weren’t being delivered. ”
“Lieutenant, with this case involving a family member, were you permitted to work on it?”
“I wasn’t formally assigned to the case, but I did help out behind the scenes where I could without compromising the investigation in any way.
I was sent out here today to talk to you because there’ve been a lot of specific questions about my nephew and my family, and they wanted me to share with you that he’s home safe and that everyone involved is heartbroken over the senseless murder of Luna Ahern.
” She took a beat before she continued. “I’d like to also brief you on a second case, that of Dale Carver, who was fatally stabbed at the Vacation Inn and Suites on 10th Street Northwest. He was in town from Spokane, Washington, for meetings at USDA. ”
“Was he stabbed in his room?”
“No, it happened in the room where guests go to get ice. We’re pursuing a number of leads in that case and will have updates for you as they become available. That’s all I have for now.”
“Lieutenant, were you and the president concerned that your nephew’s disappearance might somehow be tied to your roles as POTUS and FLOTUS?”
Sam debated whether she should answer and decided to address it to hopefully shut down that line of questioning. “Of course it crossed our minds before the evidence led in other directions.”
“Was the federal response to his disappearance due to his proximity to you and the president?”
“The FBI and U.S. Marshals regularly assist us, and that was no different in this case.”
“Who called them in?”
“Thanks, everyone.”
Sam ducked inside, ignoring the shouted follow-up questions.
Malone followed her. “You did good.”
“Is that question about the Feds going to haunt me?”
“Maybe a little, but who cares who we asked for help? We have the culprits in custody.”
“We’ll get a lot of follow-up questions about this case.”
“We’ll let Public Affairs take them. I’ll make sure they’re fully briefed.”
“Let me do that so you can go home and get some rest.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am. Go ahead.”
“Thanks. I won’t say no to that.”
“Do you want me to wait to see Luna’s mother until you can come, too?”
“No, go ahead and do that. I think it’d mean a lot to her if you stopped by.”
“You did everything you could for Luna. Tell me you know that.”
“I know it, but my everything wasn’t enough, and that’ll haunt me for the rest of my life.”
With that, he walked away.