Joseph, and Betty Robinson were both wealthy and successfull in their own right. It was estimated that between the two of the there was a wealth of almost twenty million. That said they never really lived like millionaires. I mean they never drove about in flashy cars nor behaved in any way that would attract attention to say here see me I am a millionaires do. Betty spent some time in hospital during her pregnancy but returned home after ten days and the pregnancy went to full term. She had the baby in May that year. She was a bouncy 9lbs 3oz healthy baby.  Betty was home after 48hrs and Joseph had turned one of the bed rooms into a nursery.

Liz was a  healthy good baby, she just ate and went to sleep most days as normal good babies did. If she cried it would be obvious she needed to be changed. Joseph, Betty, and Cyrstabel took very good care of Liz. It was such a nice family atmostphere. Cristabel was asked to change rooms so as to be just next to the nursery. She agreed to help with taking care of Liz as she hardly did much becuase both Joseph and Betty did some of the things around the house for themselves instead of waiting for Cristabel to do it. Joseph took the dry cleaning to the cleaners as well as did the grocery shopping so Cristabel had a lot of time on her hands.

image via Wikipedia

The Robinsons decided not to hire a nanny, this is what I meant, (when I said they did not live like millionairs)  they felt it was a waste of money especially as Cristabel had some nursery experience and was for a few years a nanny. The Robinsons always did try to live a modest living. When Liz was five months old Cristabel took the baby in her pram to the near by park. This was a routine day out. Once a day if the weather was fine Cristabel would take a walk to the park and  return home after a few hours. On one of those walks it was  a hot day and she decided to get an ice cream for herself.  For the few minutes that she took her  eyes off the babies pram some how the baby got taken out of the pram and out of sight of any passers by.

Image by NickPiggott via Flickr

Cristabel raised the alarm when she returned her attention to Liz’s pram and the baby was no longer in the pram. At first she thought perhaps one of the Robinson’s had come out and seen her at the Ice Cream Van and took the child. So she looked around in a panic. She asked people who stood by if they had seen anyone took a child out of the pram. Nobody noticed anything. Cristabel was flushed hot and red in the face . She had freckles and the shock had actaully made her freckles deep brown. A passer by called the police on from their mobile phone. Cristabel run to the nearest phone boot and telephoned home to enquire if both of the Robinsons were home. Her first thought as she explined later was to think Betty, Joseph or somebody who knew the Robinsons’  had come out to the park, and had taken the child just to teach her a lesson for taking her attention off the baby’s pram. She discovered that was not so later when she telephoned the Robinsons.

Betty took the call with Cristabel shouting in a panic, She said Betty ! Betty ! is Joseph there ? Is the baby with one of you? Betty asked what’s wrong! What about Liz?; Calm down, calm down, what’s happened ? Joseph had by that time joined Betty by the phone, so Betty said to Cristabel, what’s wrong, what’s happened to the baby ? “Joseph is here right by me “.    At that point they heard of syrens of police car arriving at the Robinson’s front gate and the bell at the gate rang. The gate door was not really locked so the plian clothes officers let themselves in.  Joseph went out to find out what was going on because at that point they had no real message from Cristabel who was in shock becuase it was clear to her at that point that Liz was not taken by any of her parents as she had originally thought.

Image via Wikipedia

Betty finally got Cristabel to calm down and tell her what she tried to tell her before. Cristabel explained what had happened Betty fainted in the living room. Joseph had just returned from the front door with the plain clothes officers who had come to make enquiries on the message received at the police station. He run into the drawing room and brought out a little bottle which contained smelling salt. He put it to Betty’s nose and she came to- opened her eyes and enquired what had happened? Joseph started to explain and she remembered the phone conversation she had with Cristabel before she fainted. Betty screamed out – “where is our Liz?”  Is Cristabel home with Liz now ?”  Joseph introduced the officers to Betty and explained how far things had moved.

Meanwhile at the scene there was two uniformed officers talking to members of the community there. Members of the public were looking through the bushes around the park. This was an occasion where the Police moved very quick to act because the alarm was raised early and people on the scene also raised  the alarm further by contacting their own contacts.  The Press was on the scene within an hour by then the plain clothes officers and the Robinsons had joined Crystabel on the park. A police officer on a cycle stopped by to inform the officers on the scene that there has been a car reported stollen not far away from the park. A woman shopper came back to the car park to find her car stollen.  At that time the Police approached the Robinsons’ and asked them to go home. They were convinced it was a case of a kidnapp. It was assumed that the kidnapper had used the car to get away to avoid being seen with a child.

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

After he gave his colleaques the information he got back on his motocycle and sped off back on the road. An hour and half went by without an answer as to what had happened to Liz nor who had taken her out of her pram. And the stranger of that was the fact that nobody saw anyone remove her out of her pram. Just a few yards away from Crystabel who was went to get herself an ice cream. Joseph had been doing his best to console Betty. Betty kept asking the question, who could have done this to them, and why they would do it to them.

The Police had confiscated the pram in other to check for finger prints just in case the adopt-or left any finger prints while they kidnapped Liz from her pram. and cordoned off part of the park with a yellow ribbon. The plain clothes officers approached Betty and Joseph and asked them to go home and wait incase the adoptor of Liz telephoned. The detective inspector assured them they would do everything in their power to find their daughter or bring the the adopter to justice. They informed them about the information they received about the stollen car and how the police had been looking for the car in question further up the road and surronding area where the car had been stollen from because they had linked the two incidents together.

Image via Wikipedia

It was almost now three hours into when the alarm was first sounded so Cristabel, and the Robinsons got into a car and went back home. The Robinson’s front yard was filled up with reporters, members of the public as well as one or two uniformed officers who were talking to the crowd.  Betty and Joseph went in without saying anything to the crowd. They just asked their friends if they wished to come in and they all went into the mansion. Joseph sat by the phone and waited for news of their daughter. Cristabel could not stop crying. Her eyes was red and sore. She could not forgive herself for what happened. At some point on the park the police wanted to take her down to the station to question her but the Robinsons told them there was no need for it and that they were certain Cristabel had no involvement with the adaptor.

Betty, some friends of hers, and Cristabel went into the drawing room. Waiting to hear the phone ring, the whole town was talking about it. There were some press still outside the house at about 22-00 hours just one or two and a very scanty members of the public as well. There had been no news from the police. No randsome demand of any sort to the Robinson’s mansion niether. The Becky and John who were waiting with Betty said goodnight and left  the Robinson’s home. The waiting went on 12 midnight came and still no randsome demand. Meanwhile further away Liz was well taken care of by. ———.  in Chapter 3.