by Wyer, Carol
Back at the car, Murray slid back behind the wheel. ‘I don’t think he knows where Harriet is. She couldn’t have been hiding upstairs. His bedroom was barely large enough for a single bed and he had an open wardrobe – no doors, just a curtain across it. There was no place to hide. The bathroom door was ajar and the only other room was his mother’s bedroom,’ he said.
‘Damn! I was hoping she’d be there. Let’s try her family.’
Harriet’s house was on the outskirts of Watfield in a suburb known as Bramshall that backed onto woodlands. It was the third house, and the only one with lights on, in a line of terraced cottages. Melissa Long came to the door, her gaunt face streaked with tears.
‘Have you found her?’ she asked, eyes wide.
Natalie shook her head and introduced herself and Murray, and they were shown into a sitting room filled with children’s paraphernalia: a small trampoline, a baby chair, a child’s sit-on tractor, an activity mat and a box stuffed with books, cars and vibrant plastic objects. A baby with a runny nose and damp eyes sat on a man’s knee and hid his face against the man’s chest when Natalie and Murray walked in.
‘I’m DI Ward and this is DS Anderson. You must be Kyle Yates.’
The man with black hair and a fringe that hung in front of his coal-black eyes stroked the child’s head. The child sniffled loudly and stuck a thumb in its mouth, head turned away from the visitors. ‘That’s right.’
‘We’d like to ask a few questions if that’s okay.’
‘Are you from Missing Persons too? They’ve already asked us loads of questions,’ he said.
‘We’re handling another investigation, and Harriet’s name came up in it as a possible witness to an alibi, so we’re also trying to locate her.’
‘I rang Harriet’s mother yesterday afternoon and left a message on her phone, sir,’ said Murray.
The man nodded, eyes slightly unfocused.
Melissa spoke up. ‘Has Harriet done anything wrong? Is that why she’s gone?’
Natalie replied, ‘No. We just needed confirmation that she’d been with somebody Monday afternoon so we could eliminate that person from our enquiries. She wasn’t involved in anything to our knowledge.’
‘But you are helping to look for her?’
‘We are.’
Melissa chewed at a thumbnail and paced to the window, where she looked out onto the dark street.
Natalie turned once more towards Kyle. ‘I understand this is a difficult situation and you’ve probably answered these questions before, but we’d appreciate your help. When did you last see Harriet?’
‘This morning before I went to work.’
‘When did she tell you that she was going to be staying overnight with a friend?’
‘Only as we were leaving. She said she wouldn’t be home because Melissa had okayed it for her to stay over with her best mate, Emily, so they could work on a science project. She also said Melissa had asked her to tell me because she’d forgotten to. I didn’t think anything of it. I believed her.’
‘But you didn’t confirm the arrangement with Melissa?’
He stroked the child’s hair again and looked at Melissa, who’d turned to face them. ‘I’m so sorry, love.’
Melissa shook her head and blinked back tears. ‘It’s not your fault.’
He directed his explanation to Natalie and Murray. ‘It was mental here this morning. We have three kids: Harriet, the baby here and a three-year-old, Jack, who wouldn’t change out of his Spiderman pyjamas to go to nursery. Melissa was sorting them out, and Harriet and I were both running late. We left at the same time and she mentioned she wouldn’t be home just as she hurried off to catch the bus.’
‘And you didn’t speak to Melissa or message her at all today to confirm the arrangement?’ Natalie asked.
‘No.’
‘Surely you would have wanted to make sure of the fact?’ Natalie kept her tone light but her eyes fixed on the man who wouldn’t look up.
He shifted uncomfortably. ‘This little one is teething and had kept us up all night so we were all tired. I didn’t ring Melissa because I knew she’d be trying to sort out the children or maybe even grab a little shut-eye before her shift. It never even crossed my mind to double-check Harriet had asked if she could stay at Emily’s. She’s stayed over with her a few times, so it wasn’t odd. I just never thought…’ He glanced in Melissa’s direction again, then hung his head.
Melissa sniffed, her eyes glassy with tears.
Murray, who’d been making notes, spoke again. ‘You didn’t see, speak or text Melissa even after you’d finished work?’
‘Not until she rang me earlier.’
Melissa interjected. ‘I work midday to midnight three days a week, over at East Midlands Airport, so I have to leave home at quarter past eleven at the latest. The babies stay with Kyle’s mum. We’re not allowed to use mobiles at work unless it’s during our break. Kyle doesn’t usually ring me.’
Kyle carried on speaking. ‘I collected the boys from my mum’s at about five and came straight home. I didn’t know Harriet wasn’t staying at Emily’s until Melissa rang to say the police wanted to talk to Harriet.’
‘You didn’t text or phone Harriet to check on her at all? Make sure she’d got to Emily’s? Ask how her project was going?’ Natalie asked.
Kyle kept his head lowered. ‘Harriet’s not the sort of girl you check up on. She probably wouldn’t have answered even if I had rung her,’ he said.
Natalie was quick to respond to the statement. ‘What do you mean by that?’
‘She’s independent, isn’t she, Melissa? Besides, I’m not her dad.’
‘He means Harriet can be a bit of a handful, that’s all. She knows her own mind and doesn’t always do what Kyle asks. I can’t understand why she’d lie about staying at Emily’s house. She’s never done anything like that before,’ said Melissa. She pulled out a cigarette from a packet with trembling fingers.
‘Has she taken any of her clothes or anything personal?’ Natalie asked.
Melissa shook her head. ‘The other officers asked the same question. I looked in her bedroom as soon as I got in. You think it hadn’t crossed my mind she’d run away? I don’t think anything is missing. She has a stuffed elephant – had it for years – but it’s still there, and a necklace that she got for her birthday. She can’t have run away. If she’d gone, she’d have taken both of those with her. None of this makes any sense. I think something’s happened to her.’
‘Has Harriet mentioned a boyfriend to you?’ Murray asked.
‘No. She hasn’t got a boyfriend, has she, Kyle?’
Kyle shrugged. ‘Not talked about one to me.’
Natalie gave Melissa a small smile of encouragement. ‘Did she mention the name Stu?’
Melissa blinked a couple of times and shook her head. ‘Definitely not. Kyle?’
‘No. Never heard of him,’ he replied.
‘Can you think of anybody at all – a relative, friend – who she might be staying with?’
Melissa stared at her unlit cigarette. ‘I can’t think of anyone. My parents live in Glasgow and we haven’t seen them for a couple of years; her dad’s in prison. She doesn’t have anything to do with him or his family. There’s Kyle’s mum who lives nearby but she didn’t see Harriet today. I tried a couple of her friends. Not many people are still up at this time of night but those who answered hadn’t seen her. Emily’s mum told me she’d not been invited to stay.’
Natalie watched as Kyle stroked the baby’s angry red cheek with one finger. He kept his eyes on the child all the time, assiduously avoiding her gaze. ‘I’d like a list of her closest friends to contact.’
‘We gave all the names we could think of to the other officers.’
‘That’s fine. I’ll get the names from them. Does Harriet have access to a laptop or iPad?’
‘Kyle has a games console and we have mobiles but we don’t own any computers.’ Melissa slipped the cigarette between h
er lips and pulled out a lighter from her trouser pocket.
‘Did Harriet mention Savannah Hopkins at any time?’ Murray asked.
Melissa flicked the lighter a couple of times but it wouldn’t spark. She extracted the cigarette from between her lips. ‘That’s the girl who was killed on Monday, isn’t it? No. She didn’t say anything about her.’
‘She didn’t know Savannah?’ Natalie asked.
‘No, but we know her stepdad, Lance Hopkins, don’t we, Kyle?’
Kyle’s eyes were fixed on the top of his baby’s head. ‘Yeah. He came around looking for work – gardening, DIY, that sort of thing.’
Natalie could sense Murray stiffening at the news. They’d found a connection.
‘Did he do any work for you?’ he asked.
‘Fixed some guttering that was leaking. He was only here for one morning,’ said Kyle.
‘When was this?’
‘Last year. Early July.’
‘And you knew he was Savannah’s stepdad?’ Natalie found it odd they would know that if Lance had only worked for them for one morning. Kyle spoke up.
‘There was a lot of talk at my local pub about the family when they first arrived in Uptown.’
‘Why?’
‘Because they were travellers,’ Kyle replied with a shrug. ‘The locals love to gossip about outsiders.’
‘And you didn’t see Lance again after he worked on your house?’ Natalie asked.
Melissa shook her head. ‘He overcharged us and we told him to piss off. He wasn’t very happy about it but he did a crap job and we weren’t going to pay him what he demanded. Kyle gave him what we thought it was worth and told him to sling his hook and so he did. Not seen him since.’
The baby wriggled in Kyle’s arms and began to fret. He shushed it. ‘I feel pretty shit about all of this. I feel like it’s my fault.’
Melissa spoke sharply. ‘It isn’t your fault, all right?’
‘I wish I’d said something earlier to you and then we’d have known she was missing sooner.’
‘We don’t know when she went missing, Kyle. She might not even have gone to school. She might have bunked off. You know how she can be.’
It was true. Until they knew Harriet’s precise movements, none of them would know when she had gone missing.
Natalie directed her next question at Melissa. ‘Has she bunked off school before?’
‘Only a couple of times. The first time she had some test she hadn’t revised for and the second she went into town with a friend. I found out about it and read her the riot act. She can be headstrong at times but she isn’t a bad kid, not at all. She might have skived off yesterday. I can’t watch over her twenty-four-seven, can I? Not with two little ones to handle and a job,’ said Melissa. She managed to light the cigarette at last and inhaled before waving it in Natalie’s direction. ‘I bet I can guess what you think of me but let me tell you, I love my daughter and I’d do anything for her. I watch out for her and I’ve brought her up properly. It’s not been easy with her dad in jail but we’re all fine and Kyle is good to her. She’s happy at home. She hasn’t run away.’ Her voice had become tremulous. She lifted her head up to the ceiling and groaned then rubbed her neck. ‘This is a fucking nightmare! Please find her.’
The baby began squirming and started sobbing.
Kyle spoke again. ‘I have to take this little chap back to bed. Do you have any more questions?’
‘Not for the moment. We’re going to do everything we can to track her down,’ said Natalie. They needed to locate the girl and quickly.
With Kyle out of the room, Melissa blinked back tears and addressed Natalie. ‘I’m sorry I snapped at you. I can’t imagine what’s made her go off like this and I’m really worried about her.’
‘I completely understand. Please try not to worry too much.’
Upstairs the baby’s cries increased and Melissa ran a hand over her face. ‘Oh God! I hope she’s okay.’
A knock at the door brought her back to her senses and Natalie took advantage to leave. ‘I’ll answer it for you. You stay here,’ said Natalie. She beckoned Murray and they left the woman staring once more out of the window.
Graham and another officer were on the doorstep, his face as solemn as the first time they’d met.
Natalie spoke before he went into the house. ‘Do you happen to know if Harriet made it into school today?’
‘Yes. I spoke to her head teacher. She attended all the lessons. It seems she vanished soon after school ended. We suspect she didn’t catch the school bus home. The driver didn’t recall seeing her get on the bus. He’s fairly new to the job and doesn’t know any of the kids by name, but when we showed him her photograph, he couldn’t remember seeing her at all. He’s certain he’d have recognised her if she had taken the bus.’
‘It’s the same pattern as yesterday, then?’
‘Looks that way, although I hope we’re wrong and she’s simply run away.’
‘Me too,’ she replied as Graham slipped into the hallway.
Natalie and Murray returned to the car. ‘What now?’ he asked.
‘We believe Savannah changed out of her school uniform to meet somebody, and now we know Harriet made up a story about her friend Emily and planned to be out overnight. She can’t have intended roaming the streets all night so I’m guessing she also intended meeting up with someone. Maybe it’s even the same person. We’ve got two people associated with both girls: Stu Oldfields and Lance Hopkins. We’ve no idea where Lance is, which is a worry, and the fact his name has cropped up yet again bothers me. We really must locate him. At the moment, Stu’s our most likely suspect. He knew both girls and Harriet was his alibi.’
‘In which case he’d want her to be alive to confirm that, wouldn’t he?’
Natalie nodded. ‘But only if she could back him up. What if she couldn’t because she wasn’t with him?’
‘A girl who’s disappeared can’t testify either way,’ said Murray.
‘Exactly.’
As they drove back towards the Samford Police headquarters, Natalie mulled over their conversations with Kyle Yates and Melissa Long. The fact Kyle had consistently avoided looking in their direction niggled at her. He’d deliberately kept his focus on the baby, even during questioning, and Natalie couldn’t help but feel he was hiding something.
Thirteen
Wednesday, 18 April – Early Morning
Lucy had been quick to respond to Natalie’s phone call, made as she and Murray drove back to Samford, and had arrived at HQ just before 3 a.m. Ian hadn’t yet responded but Natalie half-expected he was drowsy on medication and might well have not heard his phone.
The lack of sleep didn’t seem to have affected Lucy, who looked fresh and alert as she pushed her long blue-black fringe from her forehead and studied the screen closely. Over the last hour, they’d lifted CCTV footage from cameras along the route that Harriet might have taken home and spotted her climbing onto a local bus headed for the town centre. Now they were searching more footage from the same shopping area Savannah had walked on Monday.
Forensics had examined Stu’s phone and established he’d been telling the truth about Harriet ignoring his calls and texts. She’d not replied to any of his messages sent on Tuesday and although he’d rung her three times on Monday, there was nothing to prove they had arranged to meet after she’d finished school that day. Natalie had left instructions for the tech team to look into Harriet’s online presence for clues. She drained her coffee cup and sat back in her chair. In spite of the caffeine, her brain was fogging up with tiredness once more and she still had no information on Lance’s whereabouts. She’d put out a general alert on Lance’s family in the hope that if they could locate the travellers, they might be able to get hold of him.
Murray suddenly stabbed at the screen. ‘There. That’s her.’
They bent forwards and examined the girl with black hair fashioned into two buns, one each side of her head, more closely. At about f
ive foot eight, Harriet was a striking girl who looked far older than her years and made the Lincoln Fields Secondary uniform of black jacket, white shirt and grey skirt with flat black boots look fashionable. Lucy pointed out the red rucksack dangling loosely by her side as she walked from the bus across the car park at Aldi and into the passageway leading to the pedestrian precinct and almost missed the figure that moved behind the girl until Murray shouted, ‘Stop!’
Natalie raced across to see what they’d found.
Murray pointed at the screen. ‘We’ve found another connection – that’s Anthony Lane. He was one of the last people to see Savannah.’
‘The guy who’s on the sex offenders’ register?’ Lucy asked.
‘That’s the one.’
Natalie spun around and reached for her jacket. ‘Murray, you come with me. Lucy stay on this. Keep looking out for any other sightings of her… and if anything else crops up, let me know straight away.’
Anthony Lane rubbed at his chin, stubbled with growth. ‘I’ve not the foggiest idea who this girl is, DI Ward, and I resent you dragging me out of my bed at four thirty in the morning. This is victimisation, pure and simple.’
Murray stepped closer to Anthony, forcing him to retreat a step in the kitchen where they were all standing. He held up the photograph of Harriet Long right in front of Anthony’s face.
‘This isn’t victimisation. You were spotted on camera following this girl at four thirty yesterday afternoon. She is missing. Now, if you can give us a reasonable explanation as to why you were trailing her, we’ll go away. If not, we’ll be continuing this conversation at the station,’ he hissed.
Natalie let him have his moment. Murray, with his solid frame and ability to look angry at any given moment, was useful in such matters and had the desired effect.
Anthony responded quickly. ‘I’d no idea who was walking in front of me. I’d been to Aldi to buy food and then I popped down the road to post a birthday card. I couldn’t tell you who was walking in front of me. My mind was elsewhere.’