by Mary Higgins Clark
Having been a fan of best-selling suspense writer, Mary Higgins Clark, in years past, I recently realized there were several of her books I had not read. Two Little Girls in Blue was one of them and I consider it one of her best.
Synopsis of Two Little Girls in Blue
Kelly and Kathy, twin daughters of Margaret and Steve Frawley of Ridgefield, Connecticut, celebrate the girls' third birthday with an afternoon party at their new, fixer-upper, home. That evening, Steve & Margaret are obligated to attend a black-tie dinner in New York City for Steve's company. When they return home, they discover the police there and learn that the babysitter has been found unconscious and that the children are gone. A note demanding eight-million-dollars in ransom was left in the twins bedroom.
The Frawleys do not have that kind of money, but Steve's firm, a global investment company, agrees to pay the ransom. One board member of the firm disagrees with paying the ransom, stating it could become a precedent for other kidnappers to target company employees, but he is overruled.
The FBI and the local town and state police are all involved. When the kidnapper, who calls himself the “Pied Piper”, makes his terms known, the family and the FBI are told that 'on delivery of the money' a call will come revealing the girls' whereabouts. The “Pied Piper” used two men to do the actual kidnapping, and a woman (girlfriend of one of the men) to take care of the twins until the ransom is paid. The kidnappers never know who the 'boss' is; only communicating with him via burner cell phones.
The ransom is paid in a rather convoluted manner that, despite FBI agents undercover all around the 'drop' area, the kidnappers get away without being caught. The promised call does come, but only Kelly is in the car parked behind a deserted restaurant. The driver of the car is dead from a gunshot wound and a suicide note states that he inadvertently killed Kathy and dumped her body in the ocean.
The heart-broken parents have a private memorial Mass for Kathy, but Kelly speaks up saying “Mommy, Kathy is very scared of that lady and she wants to come home right now.”
At first, only the mother believes that the twins are communicating in their special 'twin-talk' and that Kathy is still alive. But as Kelly becomes more specific with her warnings, the FBI is finally convinced and set out on a search for Kathy. The climax of this suspenseful novel is breathtaking.
Summary
This story describes the well-documented, though unexplained, phenomenon of twin telepathy and the special 'twin-talk' that identical twins often engage in. A fascinating and exciting story I thoroughly enjoyed.
*Two Little Girls in Blue book review written by Wednesday Elf.
