(4 of 6)
At the appointed hour, Edgar Bronfman, taking no chance of disappointing the kidnapers, loaded the originally requested $4.6 million in the back of a station wagon. It was stuffed into black plastic garbage bags. He drove to a parking lot at Kennedy Airport, then, while FBI agents observed from a distance, walked to the specified phone booth. At 8:10 the phone rang. Using the Raven identification, the caller directed Bronfman to another phone booth, in the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines section of the terminal. He waited an hour with no further word. At 9:30 p.m., the kidnapers called the Yorktown house, telling the family to get Bronfman back to the first booth at J.F.K. They reached him and he did so. Although he waited until well past midnight, however, the phone failed to ring.
THURSDAY. A third tape recording reached the Bronfman family. This time Sam's voice was even more urgent. He again protested the newspaper leaks and asked his family to stop "fooling around"; the situation was too "serious." Deeply concerned about the failure of the night before, the family sent a spokesman to read a statement to reporters at the gates of the estate. It urged the abductors to provide new instructions that were "clear, specific and practical" and "to renew their contacts by calling us at the number they originally indicated." The family had complied with all instructions, the statement said, but "the abductors so far have failed to follow through." They asked for fresh proof that Sam was still alive.
Despite the plea, there was no response all day. Bronfman, restive under the strain, went back to the original J.F.K. phone booth, pacing back and forth outside it for hours. Finally, the phone rang. "Not tonight ... tomorrow ... tomorrow," said a voice. One of the conspirators had apparently been scouting the terminal area and had seen Bronfman there. The arrangements were confirmed in another Raven call to Yorktown. The drop would be at 8 p.m. Friday night, same place. "No cops. No feds," warned the caller.
FRIDAY. Bronfman eagerly kept the appointment, this time driving to J.F.K. with just the $2.3 million in the trunk of a different car. Raven was punctual, but he directed Bronfman from one phone booth to another through a wide section of Long Island for four hours—a fairly standard kidnap technique designed to detect the presence of tailing police and prevent the tracing of phone calls. Accustomed to being driven by chauffeurs, Bronfman had difficulty finding his way through strange neighborhoods and traffic. At one point in Queens, he made a wrong turn, nearly hit another car in circling to correct his mistake—and was pursued by two angry men in the other car. Rattled, Bronfman sped up, and both vehicles raced past a police car, which gave chase and stopped them. Only quick word radioed to local police by FBI agents trailing discreetly at a distance prevented a disastrous delay that could have aborted the ransom delivery.
Bronfman resumed his course as directed, finally stopping near a Burger King hamburger stand in Queens. He was told to leave his car doors ajar and stand beside the auto. He waited that way for two hours. No kidnaper appeared.