The Mysterious case of Lydia "Polack" - file photos 1-3/10

My name is Frank. My colleagues called me Riviera. You can call me Frank Riviera.

It's been over thirty years since I gave up being a detective. I've spent almost half my life investigating. Of course, I had several unsolved cases. But this one… this one haunted me for years after I left.

One day I found a new folder on my desk. Judging by the weight, there weren't many papers in it. We liked such files the most, we called them "razors", thin, even sharp, quickly resolved. The cover only said "Riviera" (a note from my supervisor) and "Lydia". Weird. Her last name was missing, the classification of the type of crime was missing. Inside was just a photo, no cover, no message, nothing. Only a photo with the description "Lydia", the current year and her weight.

There was a young girl in the photo. I estimated that she was 18 to 25 years old at the most. She looked modern, but something in her face told me she wasn't local. She resembled many young girls from Polish refugee communities who fled the communist regime. I needed to give her a last name or nickname until I find out who she is. So I nicknamed her "Polack". From that day on, she became Lydia "Polack".

The clues told me it was probably a kidnapping. Lydia was tied up, but it looked professional. I have previously worked on several rape and sex crime cases. I knew where to start and inquired about the outfit in the photo at almost every store that carried the product in the state. I showed her face to thousands of people in the Polish and Eastern European communities. Nothing led anywhere.

Almost a year later, my superiors informed me that the case was probably not a criminal offense, since no one had reported the disappearance of this person. Of course, there were disappearances and abductions, but none of the families identified the person in the photo. One day, almost a year later, another photo came "Lydia 1986 - 68kg/150lb".

The case was given the green light again. I was even relieved for a moment. Lydia looked worried, but at the same time it looked like her captor was taking good care of her. Usually, when we dealt with kidnapping, the victims were in bad shape within a few months. I had hope that I could solve it. Until then, I wished that Lydia was okay.

Even after a year, the case was stuck. I was in a big conflict with my superiors about the case as they wanted me to end it. They did not see the violation of the law and claimed that it was clear from the photos that she was not suffering. Whether she is really trapped or enjoying being tied up was questionable, maybe someone was just playing a joke on us.

When the next photo appeared I started to guess what the pattern was... then I understood and started to really fear the next progression, "Lydia 1987 - 79kg/174lb".