Cradle to Grave

by Rachel Amphlett

  The woman had gone on to tell her where her father had kept all his valuables and private papers, and so before leaving with Carys, Kay had pointed at the safe Annette had shown them hidden behind one of the vineyard photographs and given orders to a police constable to find a locksmith to drill it open.

  Now, she sat up in her seat as the train station came into view, and opened the door while Carys was still braking.

  Debbie emerged from the ticket office.

  ‘We’ve got them on camera, guv. He got here forty-five minutes ago and bought two bottles of water from the vending machine, and then waited on the forecourt here. Twenty minutes ago, an SUV turned up. No train tickets were purchased, but a woman got out and frogmarched Alice to the car, and then they all left together, with Alice in the back seat.’ Her brow furrowed. ‘She put up a fight, guv. She didn’t want to get in the car. The woman slapped her at one point.’

  ‘What did the guy on the ticket counter do?’

  ‘He didn’t see it happen – there were no passengers waiting, and no trains expected for another forty minutes, so he went back to restocking the leaflets in the information displays. He was as shocked as us when he saw the playback. There’s something else – the woman who picked them up matches the description Greg Victor and Patricia Wells gave us.’

  ‘Beatrice. Did you get the licence plate?’

  ‘Yes. I phoned it through to Sharp so they can get the ANPR search started. They went north. Do you think they’ll head for the M20?’

  ‘I think so, yes. They’ll either try to board a cross-channel train at Folkestone or head to Dover and get on a ferry. We’ll head off and get closer to the motorway so we can help with the intercept if needs be. Have Sharp phone through to Folkestone and raise an alert with passport control. We can’t let them take Alice to France.’

  Kay turned back to the car, then stopped.

  ‘Guv? What’s wrong?’

  ‘Do me a favour – ask Sharp to put a watch on the estuary at Rochester, too. Greg Victor mentioned that his brother was planning to use a boat to get Alice out of the country. If Ken was aware of that, he might try the same thing. Greg doesn’t know who owned that boat.’

  Debbie already had her phone to her ear. ‘Get going, guv.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  Kay kept a tight grip on her mobile phone as Carys steered the car through narrow lanes, the villages of Langley Heath and Leeds no more than blurs past her window. Soon, they passed the thick privet hedgerow that shielded the castle from the road, then turned left and merged with the flow of traffic entering the junction with the motorway.

  Kay closed her eyes.

  She had to reach Alice.

  She had to save the little girl.

  She had to reunite her with her mother.

  ‘Guv?’

  She blinked, realising her phone was ringing, then spotted Sharp’s name on the display.

  ‘We’ve had a sighting on the approach into Folkestone,’ he said. ‘An SUV with French licence plates, and we’ve spotted the driver on camera – she matches the description we’ve got for Beatrice.’

  ‘We’re joining the M20 now,’ said Kay. ‘We’re probably thirty minutes away.’

  ‘Gavin and Piper are nearly there, and there are four patrol cars in pursuit at a distance as well. We’ve arranged for our people to be alongside vehicle control entering the international station,’ said Sharp. ‘They’re running it as a standard stop and search, so it’ll slow everyone down in the queue for the trains. We’ve got plainclothes officers in the food court, too. We’re working on the basis they’re going there rather than Dover, but we’ve got a similar operation at the port, too.

  ‘Guv? Ken might have a gun. We still haven’t located the one used to shoot Robert.’

  ‘I’ll alert the officers at the scene and have armed response head over there as well.’ He paused. ‘Christ, I hope we don’t need them, not with a kid involved.’

  ‘Alice put up a fight at Headcorn train station, guv. She might try to make a break for it given half a chance.’

  ‘She’s got some guts for her age, that one. All right, I’d best go. Keep in touch.’

  Kay relayed Sharp’s update to Carys, who immediately swung the car out into the overtaking lane and accelerated past at over a hundred miles an hour.

  ‘Sod this,’ she said through gritted teeth, and honked the horn at a slow-moving sports car.

  The driver pulled out of the way when she flashed the headlights, and Kay felt the acceleration push her back into her seat.

  Twenty-five minutes later, Carys slowed and exited the motorway at the junction for the international train station.

  Kay craned her neck to see over the edge of the road bridge, noting three trains idling and a stream of cars disembarking from a fourth. She checked the timetable on her phone. ‘The next one’s due to leave in forty minutes.’

  ‘He’s been here nearly an hour, guv. So, where is he?’

  They both jumped as Kay’s phone rang.

  ‘It’s Sharp. ANPR lost the SUV after junction ten.’

  ‘What?’ Kay’s heart missed a beat. ‘How?’

  ‘They left the motorway. We’ve got them on the A20 for a few miles but then they head off cross-country towards Brabourne Lees. After that, we’ve been unable to trace them.’

  Kay swallowed. ‘Guv, they could be anywhere by now.’

  ‘I know, but stick to the plan until I can gather more intelligence at this end. They may have switched cars, Kay. Getting the train out of the country is still their quickest option. I’ve relayed the message to everyone at the scene, along with photographs of Ken and Alice. Patricia Wells has worked with one of the officers here to put together a better description of Beatrice, and that’s being circulated as well. I’ll message you a copy.’

  ‘Thanks, guv.’

  She raised her gaze to the windscreen as Carys steered the car into a parking space behind a maintenance building. Her phone emitted a ping, and she turned her attention to the face that appeared on the screen.

  Beatrice stared back at her with eyes that were colder than any Kay had seen.

  Fifty-Five

  ‘Where are Barnes and Piper?’ said Kay, as she fastened a protective stab vest over her blouse.

  ‘On the other side of the food court building, out near the picnic area,’ said Sergeant Hughes. He turned down the volume on his radio until the running commentary faded. ‘We’ve got three teams working their way through the car park. No sign of them yet. Certainly no sign of the SUV.’

  ‘They must’ve switched vehicles,’ said Kay. ‘Have we had any reports of stolen vehicles in the vicinity? Anywhere between junctions ten and eleven?’

  He shook his head. ‘That doesn’t mean they haven’t stolen something, of course – there are a lot of places along that stretch of the A20 where they could have found something.’

  A rumble of engines filled the air as cars and lorries began to surge towards the departure gates in an attempt to be first in line to drive onto the cross-channel train. Kay cast her eyes over the cars parked around the outer perimeter of the passenger building. ‘How the hell did they get through border security?’

  ‘DCI Sharp says word reached the staff on the gates too late to stop them,’ said Hughes. ‘There’s an emergency briefing on at the moment, though – they’ll run a search of vehicles while they’re queuing to be loaded onto the train.’

  She scrunched up her eyelids against a cloud of dust and grit that blew across the asphalt. ‘Okay, we’ll join the group on the other side of the building. Let me know how you get on.’

  ‘Guv.’

  ‘Carys, with me – we’ll cut through the terminal in case we spot them in there.’

  Her phone rang as they entered the passenger building through automatic double doors, and she stood to one side to avoid a group of pensioners laden with paper bags full of sandwiches, soft drinks, and chocolate. ‘They do know they can get that on the other side, don
’t they? Hello? Yes, Debbie?’

  ‘Guv, the locksmith has managed to open the safe in Ken Archerton’s study,’ said the police constable. ‘We’ve found a pistol, and ammunition. I’ve phoned Harriet with the details and she confirms it’s likely the same calibre that killed Robert Victor.’

  Kay exhaled. ‘Thanks, Debs. Relay that to the incident room, please.’

  ‘Will do.’

  ‘Got a radio, Carys?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Can you let the teams here know that Ken’s gun has been located at his house? We’ll continue to proceed with caution, but it sounds as if that was the weapon used to kill Robert.’

  Carys hurried across to a display of French and English touring maps, and lowered her voice, her eyes taking in the crowd before her. Kay turned her back to her colleague and swept her gaze over the people walking past.

  She couldn’t see Ken Archerton, but every time she heard a child’s excited shriek, she spun around to the location of the sound. Her heart sank as she spotted toddlers and children of Alice’s age running between the legs of adults, but she could see no sign of Annette Victor’s daughter.

  ‘Message passed on,’ said Carys, appearing at her side. ‘Do you want to do a walk-through and then head outside?’

  ‘Yes. Uniform will be running regular checks but we may as well while we’re here. Can you have a look in the disabled toilets, and I’ll do the ladies’ ones?’

  They split up, and Kay pushed open a door demarcated “Ladies”. Two of the stalls were in use, while the rest were empty. She hovered at the sinks, ignoring the haggard face that stared back at her in the mirror above the soap dispensers.

  She’d worry about sleep when she knew Alice was safe once more, and Kenneth Archerton was arrested along with his French colleague.

  As one woman then another exited the stalls, she hurried to find Carys hovering outside a coffee chain’s busy shopfront.

  ‘No luck?’ she said.

  ‘No.’

  ‘I asked a bloke to take a look inside the gents’ toilets for me as well – I showed him a photo of Archerton, but he confirmed he wasn’t in there, either.’

  ‘Okay, let’s have a walk past the burger place and then we’ll head outside to meet Barnes and Gavin.’

  Five minutes later, they had walked back out into bright sunshine, and Kay shielded her eyes against the glare off car windscreens as she stalked towards her two detectives.

  ‘Anything?’

  ‘Not yet.’ Barnes rolled up his shirtsleeves. ‘The next train’s in fifteen minutes, guv. What if we––’

  A scream pierced the air.

  Kay turned towards the sound, heart racing, in time to see a man duck behind a navy-coloured estate car on the fringes of the car park.

  A second scream ended in a strangled cry.

  ‘It’s them.’

  Kay took off at a sprint, gesturing to Gavin to take up position on the opposite side of her while Carys and Barnes brought up the rear.

  Barnes held his radio to his mouth, and Kay hoped the uniformed teams were en route. Slowing as she reached the estate car, she gulped a deep breath, and then called.

  ‘Alice? It’s Detective Hunter. Are you okay?’

  ‘Mumeeeeeee…’

  ‘Ken, don’t hurt her. Please, don’t hurt her. I just want to talk.’ She signalled to Barnes to move to the front of the car, then lowered her voice. ‘Carys, keep a look out for Beatrice. She’ll be close by, somewhere.’

  Sudden movement caught her off guard, and she was shoved aside as a blur shot out from behind the car and bolted towards another vehicle further away.

  Kay didn’t wait, and inched around the rear of the vehicle, while Barnes took off after Beatrice.

  Kenneth Archerton sat with his back to the front wheel, his face pale. ‘She wouldn’t listen. I told her it had gone too far, that I couldn’t hurt Alice.’

  Lowering herself to the floor, she frowned. ‘Are you all right?’

  He panted for breath. ‘Chest pains.’

  ‘Shit – Carys, get around here and phone for an ambulance. Ken – where is Beatrice taking Alice?’

  ‘France,’ he groaned.

  ‘What’s her name? What name is she planning to travel on, Ken? It’s important.’

  ‘Beatrice Caron. That’s what it says on the tickets.’

  Kay glanced up as Gavin appeared. ‘Stay with him.’

  While her detective constable crouched beside Archerton, and Carys called instructions into her mobile phone as she loosened the man’s collar, Kay rose to her feet and peered over the tops of the vehicles parked beyond her position.

  Four uniformed officers ran along the periphery of the car park, keeping a wide berth between their position and the unfolding drama.

  ‘Can you see anything, Barnes?’

  In response, he pointed across the roof of a dark-green hatchback.

  She jogged across to where he stood. ‘Is it them?’

  ‘Other side of that white van. I think I heard Alice,’ he murmured.

  ‘Okay, with me.’ She checked over her shoulder, and then beckoned to the uniformed officers to join them. ‘Circle around the van – you take the front end. She can’t keep running – there’s a perimeter fence beyond the next row of cars. We’ll box her in.’

  Kay took a deep breath, forced herself to remain calm, and moved around the car.

  Crouching on the asphalt, one arm around Alice’s waist and a hand across the little girl’s mouth, the woman matching Beatrice’s description stared up at her with hatred in her eyes.

  Alice whimpered, her eyes wide.

  ‘Let her go, Beatrice.’

  ‘Only when I reach France. Then I’ll let her go.’

  ‘That’s not going to happen. You’re not getting on the train.’

  The Frenchwoman rose to her feet, keeping a tight grip on Alice’s wrist. Her other hand slipped into her pocket.

  ‘Keep your hands where I can see them, Beatrice.’

  Shaking her head, her black hair caressing her shoulders, the woman withdrew her hand. She flicked her wrist, exposing a blade.

  ‘Let me go, or I kill her.’

  Alice screamed, and tried to pull away from Beatrice, tears puddling over her cheeks.

  ‘You tell Kenneth he owes me. He gets me out of the country, he gets his little girl back.’

  ‘Beatrice, calm down,’ said Kay, keeping her voice steady.

  The woman tugged Alice’s wrist, twisting it backwards, forcing the five-year-old to a standstill.

  ‘Let me go!’

  Kay raised her hands. ‘You’re scaring her. Please, put down the knife and we’ll sort this out. This is only making it worse for you.’

  ‘There is nothing to talk about. There is–– You bitch!’

  Beatrice’s grip on Alice loosened as her face contorted with pain. The Frenchwoman dropped the knife, her hands moving to the ankle Alice had kicked.

  Alice bolted from her clutches, running towards the waiting police officers before barrelling into Barnes, burying her face into the side of his leg.

  Hughes didn’t hesitate. He pounced on the Frenchwoman, swinging her body towards the side of the car to block any escape route.

  ‘Beatrice Caron, you do not have to say anything…’

  Kay ran across to where Barnes stood smoothing down Alice’s hair, a grim expression etched in his eyes.

  ‘Alice? Are you hurt?’

  The little girl shook her head, then turned to face Kay and wiped her nose on the back of her sleeve.

  ‘I want my mummy.’

  ‘We’re going to take you to her right now. Do you want to go with Ian?’

  Alice nodded.

  ‘All right, let’s get you out of here. You were very brave.’

  A watery smile crossed the girl’s lips.

  ‘Don’t listen to her, she’s a liar,’ said Beatrice, twisting in Hughes’s grip to face them. ‘Kenneth was stupid to bring her.’


  ‘Not the motherly type, I take it?’ said Barnes. He walked away, a hand on Alice’s shoulder.

  Beatrice glared at them as she was led to a waiting patrol car.

  ‘You can’t prove anything,’ she said. ‘I was only giving Mr Archerton and his granddaughter a lift to the train station.’

  ‘Oh, I think you and I know that’s not the case, Mademoiselle Caron,’ said Kay. She opened the back door. ‘In the meantime, my colleagues can’t wait to hear your version of events.’

  Fifty-Six

  Kay flicked the blinds at the window of Sharp’s office and watched as Kenneth Archerton was marched across the car park to the cells on the ground floor.

  The man appeared defiant despite his predicament, his chin jutting out and his shoulders straight.

  ‘I thought I heard reports he had a heart attack at the scene,’ said Sharp as he joined her.

  ‘Self-induced panic attack,’ said Kay, and grinned. ‘The paramedic saw straight through it and cleared him for questioning.’

  ‘I’ll report back to the Chief Super at Headquarters,’ said Sharp. ‘At least that’ll free up you and Barnes to interview Ken. Carys and Piper can handle Beatrice. Have you got everything you need?’

  Kay held up the manila folder in her hand. ‘Debbie and Gavin have collated everything, and I’ve made some extra notes.’

  Sharp turned his attention back to the car park as Barnes and Carys climbed out of their pool car and hurried towards the building. He smiled.

  ‘Keep an eye on that one,’ he said.

  ‘Who? Carys?’ Kay frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I mean, it’s only a matter of time before she’s going to want to stretch her wings beyond this station. We don’t have any roles available in the area for her, Kay – not with our budgets being stripped back the way they have been. She’s going to want to start taking on more responsibility after this one.’

  ‘Oh.’

  A sadness swept through her as she absorbed Sharp’s words. She knew no investigation team could expect to work together for their entire careers, but the thought of losing one of her key people, and a friend and close colleague at that, left her melancholy.