Acting on a Hunch
“That man just took that girl,”
W
alking home from
school in the quiet
suburb of
Clarkston, 12-year-
old Susie Grady noticed a
white car drive by. As she
rounded the corner onto her
street, the car made a U-turn
and came back her way. The
driver parked across the
street, just a few doors down
from Grady’s house.
Something told Susie not to
cross just yet. She glanced
at the car as she passed it,
feeling scared but not sure
why.
A car door slammed behind
her and suddenly a man was
grabbing her arm and
pointing a gun. “Cooperate,”
he told the terrified
youngster, “and you won’t
get hurt.”
Kim Heimgartner, 33, had
not time to spare on this
chilly afternoon. After picking
up the kids at school, she
dropped off ten-year-old Clin
at math club. Now, with
Jackie, her six-year-old
daughter, in the back seat of
the Jeep, she planned a
quick stop at home to check
on the roast in the oven.
Then they’d go to the store
so Jackie could get a present
for her friend’s birthday party.
Driving up a residential
street, Heimgartner noticed a
girl of 11 or 12, a backpack
on her shoulders, walking up
the block. Then a man –
wearing glasses, blue hat,
jacket – appeared in her line
of vision. He was pulling the
now distressed-looking child
toward a white sedan.
Heimgartner, slowed to
about five m.p.h. Was she
watching an angry parent
gathering his tardy daughter?
Or was this something more
sinister?
The girl struggled out of the
man’s grip and tried to run.
But he yanked her by the
backpack, shoved her into
the backseat and then
sprinted to the driver’s side
and sped off like a bullet.
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Had she gotten the license
Heimgartner said aloud.
Jackie looked up. “Maybe it
was her dad.”
Possibly. But…
I’ve got to turn around,
Heimgartner decided. I’ve
got to get a license plate so if
the girl doesn’t come home.
… She didn’t want to finish
her thought.
The white sedan turned left
at a stop sign and then sped
out of town toward the
landfill. Doubling back,
Heimgartner got stuck
behind three other cars at
the stop sign. All three turned
left and meandered out of
town. She looked up the road
for the car. Gone.
One vehicle turned off the
two-lane road, as did the
second one. The last, a
pickup full of trash, took the
turn to the landfill. Still, there
was no sign of the white
sedan. Maybe it had long
turned onto a residential
street, just another dad and
child on their way home.
Maybe Heimgartner was
overacting, chasing thin air.
The roast would be burned to
a crisp if she didn’t turn back
soon. But she had to be
sure.
The landscape grew barren
as the pavement changed to
gravel and the road
zigzagged through the
desolate terrain of the Snake
River Valley toward
mountains. With no trees to
block the view, it was now
possible to see for almost a
mile.
Just then, she caught a
glimpse of taillights up
ahead. “There he is!” her
doubts evaporated.
Whatever that man planned
to do with the girl, he didn’t
want anyone else to see.
Heimgartner pulled out her
cell phone and dialed 911.
She had witnessed a
possible abduction, she
explained, describing her
location.
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number? Not yet, said
Heimgartner. She
maneuvered her Jeep
around the twists in the
increasingly hilly road,
steadily narrowing the
distance with her and the
sedan.
After ten minutes, the car
slowed at a steep grade.
Heimgartner could finally
read part of the plate. The
dispatcher said an officer
from Fish and Wildlife – the
only law enforcement official
close enough to help – was
headed her way.
Moments later, the officer’s
pickup turned onto the road.
Lights flashing, he took off
after the car. The abductor at
first seemed intent on
making a getaway. But,
perhaps realizing his car was
at a disadvantage in the
mountains, he stopped a
quarter-mile down the road.
Heimgartner watched the girl
dash from the car straight to
the waiting officer. Relieved,
but still unsure what had
happened, Heimgartner
started for home.
Later that night, her phone
rang. It was Richard Grady,
Susie’s father. “We want to
thank you,” he said. “You
saved our daughter’s life.”
Grady’s assessment was
almost certainly correct.
Kidnapper had surrendered
after a three-hour standoff
with police. In addition to the
gun he used to intimidate
Susie Grady, Nollette had
knives, cameras, duct tape
and 90 rounds of
ammunition.
At the trial, Susie showed
remarkable courage, clearly
and calmly answering a
barrage of questions that
seemed designed by
Nollette’s defense lawyer to
trip her up.
Nollette is currently serving a
13-year, 8 month term in
prison for is crime.
 Acting on a Hunch

COMPREHENSION CHECK
Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)?
True False

  1- Susie was absolutely sure that the man in the car had bad intentions.
  2- The kidnapper threatened the girl with a gun.
  3- Heimgartner had spared a whole afternoon for the roast.
  4- She was suspicious of the man so she wanted to get his car’s license plate.
  5- While she was following the man by her car, some people stopped her.
  6- She gave up hope of catching up with the kidnapper when she reached the
Snake River Valley.
  7- The taillights of the kidnapper’s car helped the police find his location.
  8- She preferred not to get closer to the sedan.
  9- The police did not ignore Heimgartner’s call for help.
  10-The police chased the kidnapper for a long time.
  11- Heimgartner spoke bravely at the trial.

BUILDING VOCABULARY

A- Match the words on the left with a definition on the right.

__ residential 1. curve a lot rather than being in a straight line

__ sinister 2. to push sb/sth in a rough way
__ dispatcher 3. seeming evil or dangerous seeming evil or dangerous
__ shove 4. pleasantly hard and dry
__ sprint 5. a person whose job is to see that trains, buses, planes, etc.
leave on time
__ meander 6. to run a short distance very fast
__ crisp 7. consisting of houses rather than factories or offices

B- Match the words on the left with a definition on the right.

__ barren 1. to pull sth/sb hard, quickly and suddenly

__ desolate 2. making sure that people obey a particular law or rule
__ intimidate 3. take sb away illegally, especially using force
__ evaporate 4. empty and without people
__ abduction 5. to frighten or threaten sb so that they will do what you want
__ yank 6. not good enough for plants to grow on it
__ enforcement 7. to disappear, especially by gradually becoming less and less

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 Acting on a Hunch

Idioms and other phrases

A- Match the idioms on the left with a definition on the right.

pick up 1. stop so that sb can get out of a car, etc.

drop off 2. to make a mistake; to deliberately make sb do this
speed off 3. to go somewhere in your car and collect sb who is waiting for you
trip sb up 4. to move along quickly; to drive too fast
.

B- Fill in the blanks with the appropriate idioms given below.

pick up drop off speed off trip up

1- No matter how hard the lawyer tried to ………….. the witness ………….., he was
unsuccessful.
2- The moment the burglars heard the police sirens wailing, they ………….. like a bullet.
3- Almost every day, I ………….. my kid from the kindergarten on my home.
4- I asked him to ………….. me ………….. at the nearest station but he insisted that he could
drive me home.

 Expressions with the word “disadvantage”:

be at a disadvantage : Our competitor was at a disadvantage compared to the

others who were younger than him.
put sb at a disadvantage : The new director of the international school doesn’t speak
English. This puts him at a disadvantage.
be to one’s disadvantage : His lack of experience will be to his disadvantage.

 Expressions with the word “glance”:

at a glance : He is a good mechanic. He can tell at a glance what’s wrong with your
car.
exchange glances : Last night, the old couple exchanged glances and didn’t greet each
other.
at first glance : At first glance the problem seemed that it could be easily dealt with.

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 Acting on a Hunch

ANSWER KEY

COMPREHENSION CHECK

1- F 2- T 3- F 4- T 5- F 6- F 7- F 8- F 9- T 10- F 11- F

BUILDING VOCABULARY

A-
1- meander
2- shove
3- sinister
4- crisp
5- dispatcher
6- sprint
7- residential

B-

1- yank
2- enforcement
3- abduction
4- desolate
5- intimidate
6- barren
7- evaporate

Idioms and other phrases

A-

1- drop off
2- trip sb up
3- pick up
4- speed off

B-

1- trip / up
2- sped off
3- pick up
4- drop /off

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