by Wyer, Carol
‘Badly, mate. Thanks for coming.’
Mike crossed the room. ‘You want to talk it through with me?’
Natalie was grateful. It would be harder for David to tell her what had happened. She moved to the sitting room, where she found Josh with Eric and a policewoman. She acknowledged them all. Her son jumped up and gave her a warm hug. It had been a couple of years since they’d shared a proper heartfelt embrace like this. Eventually he pulled away.
‘Is she going to be okay?’
Natalie nodded, not trusting herself to speak for a second. Eric watched her with sad eyes.
Josh continued, ‘She never said anything about running away. She’s been proper moody lately but I didn’t have a clue she was planning this.’
‘She kept it from us all,’ said Natalie. ‘She might even have done it on the spur of the moment. They think she slipped through the hedgerow along the playing fields and onto the lane. Josh, do you know about a dare called Disappear?’
‘Sure, I’ve heard about it. It’s a bit of a craze. Kids go missing for as long as they can manage. They opt to do a twenty-four-hour challenge or longer. If they last the full five days without being discovered, their names go on some leader board. I haven’t looked at it. Somebody mentioned it in a chatroom.’
‘Did you talk to Leigh about this dare? Or did she bring it up?’
‘No. There are loads of stupid dares on social media, like the one where you pour vodka into your eye. Leigh never said anything about them. She doesn’t do Facebook. Says it’s for oldies. She hangs out on Snapchat. Do you think she’s taken up the dare?’
‘She might have done.’
He looked confused. ‘She’s got more sense than that.’
Josh had a point, but an unhappy, hormonal teenager didn’t necessarily pay attention to any sense when they felt trapped and unwanted. It seemed Leigh had planned to disappear.
‘Where might she try to hide, Josh? I can’t think of anywhere she’d go. She wouldn’t stay outdoors. You know how much she hates the dark. Do you know of any places maybe your friends have mentioned?’
‘She’d most likely stay with a friend.’
‘She hasn’t got a boyfriend I don’t know about, has she?’
‘Leigh? No.’
‘Okay, thanks, love. What time did you get home?’
‘After football practice. About quarter to six. I let myself in. Dad and Leigh weren’t about so I thought they’d gone out together. I went upstairs to mess about online and then Dad came rushing in and asked if Leigh was at home.’
‘You didn’t see Leigh at school?’
‘No. She never hangs about with me.’
Eric spoke up. ‘Leigh’s not silly or irresponsible. She’ll soon realise that whatever’s made her take off like this isn’t as bad as she thought, and she’ll come back.’
‘Did she say anything to you about being unhappy?’ Natalie asked.
‘I’m afraid not. She’s been a bit withdrawn the last couple of times she came around. I put it down to her age.’
‘Okay. Thanks, Eric. You’ll stay, won’t you? Keep an eye on David and Josh for me?’
‘You going looking for her?’
‘DI Kilburn will take over that side of things. I’m going to work it from my end.’
‘But you’re working a murder investigation, Mum,’ said Josh, slowly.
‘We’re also looking for another girl, Katy Bywater, who’s still missing. They might even be together,’ said Natalie, not wanting to frighten Josh.
‘I don’t know anyone called Katy Bywater.’
‘Leigh might know her though.’
The boy’s eyebrows sank low. He was looking more and more like David every day. She gave him a tender smile. ‘Try not to worry too much.’
Natalie headed upstairs to her daughter’s bedroom to see if anything was missing: Leigh was incredibly untidy and her nightdress, socks and a school blouse with a stain on it had been left on top of an unmade bed. Sammy the bear was flat on his back on the floor and the charging lead for her mobile phone was still connected to the socket. Natalie opened drawers but could spot no missing clothing. Her favourite black sweater was folded up, and her ripped jeans that she loved wearing were tossed on the back of a chair. Leigh’s collection of trainers and boots were higgledy-piggledy at the bottom of her wardrobe and her only two coats hung on a hook behind the door. If her daughter had planned on running away, she’d intended doing so in her school uniform. Natalie lifted a bright-orange box marked with Leigh’s name and shook it. It rattled. She looked inside. There were about forty pounds in coins and notes in it, the equivalent of four weeks’ pocket money. Leigh had been saving up for some new clothes and it seemed she hadn’t taken the contents. The silver necklace that she’d received for her thirteenth birthday was in its box in her bedside drawer. After staring at it for a moment, Natalie decided she couldn’t tell if her daughter had planned to run away or not, but either way, she’d taken nothing she valued with her.
Natalie checked the hiding place where she kept the children’s savings account books and then returned downstairs, where she found Mike and David in deep conversation that stopped as soon as she entered the room. ‘I can’t tell if anything has been taken. It all seems to be in its usual place.’
‘Shit. Is she just in her school uniform, then?’
‘Looks that way and I don’t think she has much money. Her building society account book is still here and she’s left her pocket money behind. You didn’t give her any money, did you?’
His gaze fell downwards. ‘No.’
‘She appears to have no clean clothes, no money and she’s afraid of the dark. It smacks of an impulsive decision and she might be hiding out at a friend’s house. I’ll tell DI Kilburn what I know.’ A hiatus fell during which David couldn’t look at her. ‘I’ve got to go,’ she said eventually.
‘I don’t know what to say, Natalie. I didn’t pick up on anything unusual this morning. She wasn’t any different to other days. I couldn’t have guessed what she was planning.’
‘Me neither, David. We’re both at fault.’
Mike patted his friend’s hand and stood up. ‘Ring me if you need me.’
‘I’ll be okay. I just hope Leigh is.’ His eyes rested on Natalie. He was expecting her to comfort him or at the very least say something further to assuage his guilt, but she couldn’t. She wanted to but she was prevented from speaking by two thoughts: David wasn’t at home working as he said he would be, and he’d lied about helping Eric. Eric hadn’t known what she’d been talking about when she asked him about the washing machine and had divulged that David had only been with him a few minutes. David knew how strongly she felt about people lying to her face. It was the one thing she could not tolerate and had stemmed from the ghastly incident with her sister, Frances, many years ago that she tried to forget but couldn’t – the incident that had resulted in them never speaking to each other again.
She cleared her throat and mumbled that she’d stay in touch and left her house. In the car, she didn’t speak again until they’d cleared Castergate and were headed back to Samford. Mike reached for his cigarettes and lit one, then wound down the window a few centimetres. A breeze found its way inside and chilled her cheeks but couldn’t cool the heated fury that was building up inside.
‘Did he tell you why he wasn’t at home when Josh got back?’
Mike pursed his lips and blew smoke out of the small gap. ‘Yes.’
‘And where was he?’
‘Don’t do this to yourself, Nat. Leigh is missing. That’s what’s important here not where David was.’
‘He should have been at home, working. That’s what he told me he’d be doing but he wasn’t. If he had been, he’d have picked up his mobile or answered the house phone when Rowena called, so it is important.’
‘It’d be best if he tells you.’
‘Why? Is it another woman?’
Mike snorted silently. ‘No, not another
woman.’
‘Then where the hell was he with his phone switched off?’
‘It’s not important.’
‘Mike, for fuck’s sake. Don’t hold back on me.’
Mike held the cigarette between finger and thumb and dragged on it, then after he’d released the smoke said, ‘He was at the bookmakers. He laid bets on some of the races at Cheltenham this afternoon and was waiting for the outcome of the five thirty-five race.’
‘Betting shop. I should have guessed,’ she said, softly.
* * *
The snake was oiled and ready for action. Tiny electrical currents pulsed through his veins, warming his body. This was so perfect. DI Ward would soon find out what it was like to be up against somebody far cleverer than her, somebody who could outwit and outsmart her without trying too hard. She hadn’t a clue what was about to happen. He stroked the snake’s head tenderly and wondered how loudly the detective’s daughter would scream once the snake coiled around her throat.
* * *
As soon as Natalie got back into the office, she dumped her bag on the floor and addressed Lucy and Murray.
‘Just so you know, Missing Persons are looking for Leigh. I’ve every reason to assume she’s taken off of her own accord and I want us to remain completely focused on finding the person or persons responsible for killing Savannah and Harriet, and who might have taken Katy.’
Lucy was first to respond. ‘Anthony’s computer was clean and his alibi checked out. He was with Chad, his teacher, after art class. As he told us, he paints portraits of young women and Chad believes he is quite a talent. He also said he’s very dedicated to his artwork.’
‘We can rule out Anthony then, and unless Forensics come up trumps with the Toyota, we have nothing on Duffy. Bloody great!’ Natalie pulled a face and stalked to the window.
‘We’re still examining CCTV footage in Bramshall and Watfield. There are no cameras near Western Park but there’s a camera on the roundabout as you leave Watfield. We’re trying that. I requested assistance from Forensics and they’re using the latest technology on it,’ said Murray.
‘Okay. That’s good.’ Aileen had come through on her promise that they’d receive some help. There had to be another way to track the killer down. What hadn’t they followed up? The answer came in a flash: the Alisha Kumar investigation.
‘Ian was waiting on some information from a colleague in Manchester, regarding one of the suspects in the Alisha Kumar case: Brendon Jones. Can you chase that up? I want to know where the guy is.’ She stared out into the inky sky and watched the silvery trails of raindrops sliding down the glass. If her daughter was outside, she’d need shelter. The rain was beginning to fall heavily. The idea of Leigh alone in the darkness ate away at her and she lost several minutes to morbid thoughts until she dragged herself back to the here and now. Worrying wasn’t going to bring Leigh home. She had to trust in the expertise of Graham and his units. She returned to her desk and thumbed through her notes, annoyed she had so little to go on. Katy could even now be in the killer’s hands and they were no closer to working out who it might be. She ran through everything they’d done so far. Was there something she was overlooking?
Lucy came off the phone. ‘Brendon Jones, the main suspect in the Kumar investigation, lived on a narrowboat called Swinging Rose. It was moored on a canal only a couple of streets away from the Kumars’ restaurant. Manchester police haven’t been able to locate Brendon but they have had word the boat was moved away and is somewhere in Staffordshire.’
Natalie’s pulse beat quickly in her temple. This could be the break they’d been waiting for. The only problem was that Staffordshire was at the heart of the inland waterways with more miles of canal than any other shire, not to mention the numerous marinas dotted throughout the county. The boat could literally be almost anywhere on their patch.
‘It’s a vast area but we’ll begin with waterways closest to Watfield. If Brendon is behind these killings, he needs to live somewhere nearby.’
‘I’ll get onto it. I’ll start with the marinas and see if the boat’s been spotted.’ Lucy headed to her terminal and hunched back over it. Natalie rubbed at her forehead. The urge to ring Graham and ask how they were getting on was great. Too great. Her daughter was somewhere outside. She ought to be at home, curled up on the settee, watching Hollyoaks or a film, or teasing her brother. Natalie swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. Her phone rang. She snatched it up.
‘Just wanted to tell you there’s no news yet.’ David sounded flat.
‘They’ll keep up the search for her.’
‘Is that what they do? Keep searching?’
‘That’s right. They won’t give up.’
‘I feel useless. I ought to go and help search for her. I can’t sit here like this.’
‘You need to be there in case she rings or comes home.’
There was a silence followed by, ‘Why did she go?’
‘I don’t know but when she comes home, we’ll make sure that whatever it was is resolved and never happens again.’
There was another silence.
‘I have to get on, David. Is Eric still with you?’
‘Yes, he’s here.’
‘Good. We have to wait and let the experts handle this.’
‘Sure. Sorry. I’ll see you later. Natalie…’
‘Yes.’
‘I love you.’
She wished he hadn’t rung. She didn’t need such distractions. She turned her attention again to Savannah and the day she disappeared. They’d appealed for witnesses but nobody apart from Duffy had seen her that day. Duffy. It kept coming back to Duffy.
‘Duffy is still troubling me. Apart from him, and maybe an unknown who overheard the girls in the coffee shop, who else could have known when the girls were going to disappear and follow them?’ she said to Murray.
‘One of the girls might have let it slip to somebody else.’
‘I considered that but they all wanted to keep it secret. They didn’t even share with their best friends.’
‘Duffy has alibis for Monday and Tuesday.’
‘I’ll admit that’s a bit of a puzzle but there’s a potential weakness in his alibi for Tuesday. He was only with his band mates until twelve. After that, we don’t know where he went.’
Murray nodded.
‘And what if he had an accomplice?’
‘That’s true but why would he want to kill the girls? From what we’ve seen, he rather enjoys female attention.’
Natalie couldn’t refute that. The man was a charmer. She’d observed the effect he had on teenagers, so why would he murder them? ‘Why does anyone murder? Maybe there’s more to what he does than merely remove parental controls.’ She was clutching at straws and she knew it. ‘Shit! I can’t think straight. I need to do something proactive. Which terminal’s set up with the Watfield roundabout footage?’
‘The one on the left.’
‘I’ll look at that. You stick to Bramshall and maybe one of us or Forensics will get a result.’ She clicked onto the footage and started noting registrations and times the cars passed over it towards Watfield. This was going to take a long time, but while her daughter was missing, she had time. She wasn’t going anywhere until she knew Leigh was safe.
Twenty-Seven
Friday, 20 April – Early Morning
The evening had turned into night and then into the next day, and even the adrenalin and sugar couldn’t prevent Natalie’s officers from fading. Lucy had tried in vain to locate Swinging Rose and Murray was red-eyed from staring at the screen. By one thirty they’d gone off for some rest, leaving Natalie staring out of her office window.
A car drove past, its headlights illuminating the fast-falling rain. Leigh only had her school jacket with her. She’d be cold unless she’d taken shelter. She pulled up David’s number then changed her mind. He might have dozed off, and even if he hadn’t, what was there to say? Leigh had run away because they had failed her.
> She turned swiftly at the sound of Mike’s voice.
‘I guessed you’d be here. I brought you a hot chocolate.’
She took the offered drink with thanks. ‘Why are you still here?’
‘Working overtime. There’s a very important investigation that needs my attention.’
She had no energy to smile. Steam spiralled like a corkscrew from the cup and she inhaled sugary aromas. ‘David and I fucked up big time. We drove Leigh away,’ she said.
‘No, you didn’t. She’ll come back. You know the stats in these cases as well as I do. Most teenagers reappear of their own volition within twenty-four hours.’
She blew on the drink, causing a small indentation in the foam. ‘What if she doesn’t come home by then?’
‘Plenty of kids come back unharmed. Don’t believe the worst. You can’t stay here all night, Nat. You should go home even if it’s only for a short while. You need to present a united front when she returns.’
‘I don’t want to.’
‘Sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do,’ he replied and stroked her cheek, fingers grazing it gently. ‘Go home. Be there for her when she returns.’
She looked away, blinking back tears. His tenderness had touched her deeply and he was right. It would be better for Leigh if she turned up overnight and found both her parents waiting with their arms open. There was little to be gained by staying at the station.
‘Thanks,’ she said.
‘You’re welcome. I’m at the end of the phone if you need me.’
He gave her a smile that lit his eyes and she remembered the passion she’d once seen in them when they’d been in a similar situation – her hating David for lying and him giving her what she craved. It couldn’t happen again – not in similar circumstances. She finished the warm chocolate and picked up her car keys.
A light burnt downstairs and Natalie padded into the sitting room. Eric was lying on the settee, a blanket over him, reading the car magazine she’d spotted in David’s office.