Kate straightened. ‘Good. Then you can come and share your findings with the rest of the team. Take a few minutes to freshen up and then come and join us in the incident room. Okay?’
‘Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am.’
Kate leaned against the door as it clicked shut. She’d seen ambitious detectives go off the rails before, and she couldn’t ignore the tell-tale signs Olly was showing. She would try again when the opportunity arose. But she just hoped she’d be able to reach him in time.
16
Kate made eye contact with each of her team, before beginning. ‘Let’s hear what you’ve got, starting with our missing teenager.’
DC Freeborn raised his thin arm into the air. ‘Still no activity on her phone or social media. Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but a teenager not on social media is setting alarm bells ringing in my head. Prior to her disappearance on the Friday, she didn’t tend to go more than three hours without accessing the web in some capacity. The site’s administrators have finally sent over a log of her activity from the month before she was last seen. Pages and pages of five-to ten-minute checks, during which time she liked or commented on at least one of her friends’ posts.’
‘Anyone she was interacting with more than others, Ewan?’
‘Her inner circle seemed to be made up of Georgie Barclay, their mutual friend Hannah Grainger and Hannah’s boyfriend Felix. He shares amusing videos he finds on YouTube and tags the others in them, which usually triggers the response.’
‘Anything to suggest we should consider him a suspect?’
Freeborn shook his head. ‘Based on his likes and recent comments I wouldn’t say so. He’s sixteen like Hannah and Georgie, and has continued to be active on social media since the disappearance. I wouldn’t say there’s been any change in his behaviour.’
‘Why hasn’t his name come up before?’
‘Doesn’t go to the girls’ school, and is more of a friend of a friend than part of the social group, I guess. You want me to interview him?’
‘It won’t do any harm, but keep it light for now, and for God’s sake, make sure his parents are present when you speak to him.’
‘Still nothing happening with her bank account either, ma’am, or any debit card use,’ Freeborn continued. ‘If she has run away, someone must be housing and feeding her. I went back and in the two months leading up to Friday she’d only withdrawn thirty pounds in total, money her parents had transferred in around her birthday. Ten of it she withdrew on the Friday from an ATM in Portswood just before four, right before she met up with Alfie Caplan. I’ve checked the camera and she was alone at the ATM.’
It was the biggest indication that this was more than just a case of a girl who had run away from home. But if she hadn’t, where was she now?
‘Thanks, Ewan,’ Kate concluded glumly. ‘Laura, what did Georgie have to say when you caught up with her this afternoon?’
‘Swears blind she’s had no contact with Daisy since that night, and I’m inclined to believe her, ma’am. They were best friends, and if she was in trouble Georgie would have been the first person she’d reach out to.’
‘Do me a favour, though: check Georgie’s banking activity in the months prior to that night too. Let’s just be certain someone else isn’t financing this disappearance. Ewan, has Georgie’s social media activity changed at all?’
‘She’s certainly been quieter, ma’am. Very active on the Saturday before she became aware of the disappearance, little on the Monday and Tuesday, but increasing on Wednesday and Thursday—’
‘Why not say what’s on everyone’s minds?’ DS Humberidge interrupted. ‘It’s time to start investigating a murder, not just a disappearance.’
Kate watched him carefully. She didn’t want his negativity rubbing off on the rest of the team, but this could be an opportunity to silence his cynicism once and for all. ‘Okay, Humberidge. The stage is yours. Tell us why you’re so convinced we’re wasting our time.’
Every eye fell on him, but he didn’t look concerned by the sudden attention. Pushing off from the desk, he straightened his tie and proceeded to the wallboard. ‘Very well. Let’s look at Val and Barry Emerson first. Barry’s a former boxer – heavyweight – did a few semi-pro fights before he had to retire with a broken eye socket. Set up a business afterwards, restoring antique cars, but the business went bust eighteen months ago and they’ve been treading water since. Val works as a nail technician in a local salon, but her wages are barely enough to cover the mortgage payment.’
Kate frowned. ‘And?’
‘I’m not saying that’s their motive, but with all the sudden media attention in the last week, and the offers of money for exclusive interviews, it couldn’t have come at a better time for them financially. You’re all thinking the same as me: if Daisy’s alive, where the hell is she? She’s fifteen, vulnerable, and from a stable home. How the hell is she going to survive on the streets alone? There’s foul play here.’
‘Is that all your theory is based on: money troubles and her vulnerability?’
He turned to face her. ‘Let me look into them more deeply, then. That girl didn’t run away, ma’am. In my opinion, someone’s taken her and we’re wasting valuable time because you refuse to accept it.’
‘I remain open-minded as far as this investigation goes.’
He scoffed, as he made his way back to his space in the gathered crowd.
She should have taken him to one side and discussed the matter rationally and without prejudice. But she couldn’t bite her tongue any longer. ‘I’ve looked into Val’s eyes, and from one mother to another, I am certain she didn’t kill Daisy. Until you’ve experienced the anguish of losing a child, you cannot begin to understand the emotional turmoil it takes.’ Kate felt the burning in her cheeks and instantly regretted the outburst, even more so when she saw the open mouths and astonished faces of her team.
‘Shall I go next?’ Patel offered, keen to move proceedings forward.
Kate nodded for him to carry on.
‘We interviewed Alfie Caplan earlier today,’ Patel said, addressing the rest of the team. ‘He has admitted to a disagreement between him and Daisy at the ice-cream parlour in Portswood, which corroborates what the waitress told us. Caplan wouldn’t tell us what the disagreement was about, but we need to verify his alibi just in case. He claimed to be staying at his brother’s place in Richmond, West London over that weekend. I agree with DI Matthews that Daisy couldn’t have disappeared on her own. Someone must be helping her, and we need to narrow down who.’
‘Might it be time for the Emersons to formally appeal to the press?’ Laura suggested. ‘I know they were at the original conference on Wednesday, but I wondered whether hearing them speak might encourage Daisy to come home.’
‘Good idea,’ Kate said, composing herself once more. ‘I’ll discuss it with the supe. Keep looking for her. I have no doubt Daisy is still out there, and it’s up to us to find her and bring her home. Now, moving on to our second case. Olly, care to tell us what you’ve observed from the security tapes at the school where the foot was found?’
Quinlan stared down at his notes. ‘I’ve got footage from the last week, and I’m working backwards from last night. I’ve been given a list of vehicles belonging to teachers and administrators at the school, so I won’t cover those off specifically. The school operates a no-car zone for parents. There are two bus routes that pass the school, and parents aren’t allowed to drive into the grounds. Those who insist on collecting their children by car must find one of the limited spaces on the residential streets on either side of the grounds. The hall in question is nowhere near either street, so it seems unlikely that the victim’s body was forced over a side fence and then dragged to the sports hall.’
‘Any unexpected vehicles on the Thursday or Friday?’
‘So far, the Royal Mail van has stopped by twice, each at different times of the morning, but not unexpected. Then there’s the works van belonging to Chr
is Jackson, the photocopy engineer. I’m following up with the school on that to see who called him and to check he was accounted for at all times.’
Kate nodded at Laura. ‘Have you managed to get hold of Jackson himself?’
Laura shook her head. ‘I’ve left messages, but no response yet. Uniform have visited his home address, which also serves as his business address, but no answer there either. He could be away for the weekend, ma’am.’
‘Okay, keep trying. Sorry, Olly, please continue.’
‘The gardener you met this morning – Neil Watkins? – his van arrives just after ten on both days, and leaves again before three. On Thursday afternoon, the school minibus collected and dropped off the football team who’d been playing away at Itchen College, and finally a van delivered food for the school dinners. It’s a third-party contractor, which services a number of schools in the city. And finally, Liam Phillips from TUTD Surveyors was there for a couple of hours on Thursday morning.’
‘And that’s it?’
‘Apart from the teachers’ and administrators’ cars.’
Kate looked at the rest of the team. ‘Have we managed to make contact with all the teachers yet?’
‘Most,’ Patel confirmed, ‘though Ismael Vardan wasn’t home when we called.’
Kate narrowed her eyes. ‘You’re telling me the teacher previously accused of inappropriate behaviour with a pupil – and Daisy’s tutor – can’t be found?’
‘You want me to have vehicle recognition search for him?’ Patel said.
‘I’d like to know where he is and what he’s been up to. See what they can find, would you? Vicky, any progress on identifying the make of electric saw and how it was purchased?
Rogers brushed the hair from her eyes. ‘We have narrowed it down to two models, but unfortunately it’s one of the most popular brands on the market. It’s available in all major retailers, and a dozen more online stores. I’ll reach out to each for customer names and dates of purchase, but I think this line of enquiry will prove more beneficial when we know who our lead suspect is and can validate his purchase.’
‘Do me a favour, get those lists and check it for the names of those we know were at the school: all the teachers, Phillips, Watkins and Jackson.’ Kate again looked at each of her team. ‘I know it’s been a long day and there’s nothing more exhausting than heading up blind alleys hunting for information, but all this legwork will pay off in the end. Daisy is still out there, as is the person who left us the foot. Together we will find them both. Overtime is available tomorrow for anyone who wants it.’
17
Rain lashed against the windscreen as Kate pulled onto her road. After last night’s late return and lack of sleep, she couldn’t wait for her head to hit the pillow. It had been another tough day, with more questions raised than answered. But she was sure they were doing everything in their power to find Daisy.
Picturing her innocent face out there on a night like this sent a shiver down Kate’s spine, suddenly reminding her of the tenderness of her shoulder. The tattoo artist had given her a tub of cream to use to smear over the image, to help it heal.
‘You’ll experience some skin irritation over the next few days,’ she’d warned when she was done. ‘But that’s just the ink settling into your pores. You should be right as rain in about a week.’
Humberidge’s attitude was another irritation she’d have to put up with. She could understand his cynicism; with thirty years in the force he’d seen more than his fair share of horrific crimes and supposedly innocent suspects, but then so had she. But that didn’t mean he should question the direction of the investigation in the middle of a meeting. If he had concerns, the time to raise them would be privately, somewhere they could discuss and argue their points. But undermining her in front of the rest of the team was tantamount to mutiny.
Humberidge was from the DI Underhill ilk of police: assume everyone’s guilty of the worst crimes until they prove otherwise. Whilst the approach had historically proved effective, there was no place for it in modern policing. With advances in technology, and information on police techniques readily available for all to find, the criminal mind was more advanced than it had ever been.
Kate was certain that Barry and Val Emerson genuinely didn’t have any idea where their daughter was, but some of the points the team had made had planted seeds of doubt in her mind. Nobody had seen Daisy walking home, so there was a convincing argument that she hadn’t walked home. But no witnesses had come forward to confirm they’d seen Daisy anywhere else either. When someone vanishes into thin air, was it wrong to assume the worst had happened? That someone had grabbed her from the streets?
But who?
Whilst Southampton suffered crime as much as any other major city outside of London, mindless abductions and murders weren’t commonplace. But Kate knew better than anyone that serial killers did lurk in the shadows, as she’d experienced more than once.
*
Kate parked the Audi in her space, and climbed out, darting through the rain to the communal entrance to the small block of flats.
‘Kate?’ a voice called out from the shadow of a tree in the car park.
Turning and squinting into the darkness, Kate tried to make out who’d called to her, her heart racing at the possibility that Daisy had sought her out.
The figure of the young girl stepped into the light shining through the main door, an umbrella over her head, and a thin denim jacket over her shoulders. Kate continued to watch in shock as the figure moved towards her.
But as the girl reached the steps, Kate realised exactly who it was. ‘Tara? What are you doing here?’
The girl’s face was stained where her tears had run with her makeup. ‘Can I come in?’
Glancing up at the heavy cloud overhead, Kate didn’t think twice before opening the main door and heading up the flight of stairs to her flat on the first floor. Once inside, Kate switched on the central heating and set the kettle to boil, showing the supe’s daughter through to the living room.
‘Hang your jacket on the chair by the radiator,’ Kate suggested. ‘It’ll dry quicker.’
The girl obliged, before edging to the sofa and perching on the end. ‘I didn’t know where else to go.’
Kate had first met Tara at the supe’s birthday barbecue last summer. Only a select few of the team had been invited to the event, held on the expansive lawn behind the supe’s house. It had been a beautiful Saturday afternoon, at the height of a long heatwave. The booze had flowed and the party had continued long into the night. It had been the first formal occasion Ben and Kate had appeared as a couple, and despite Kate’s initial anxiety, nobody had batted an eyelid. The supe had even commented what a handsome pair they made.
And when Tara had stepped out of the house, resplendent in a faded yellow summer dress, beads around her neck and wrists – souvenirs from her recent holiday with friends on a Greek island – the supe was almost moved to tears as he told everyone that Tara had just been accepted to study medicine at Oxford University. It was a day when everything seemed possible, the horrors of their day jobs forgotten for just a few timeless moments.
Kate lowered herself onto the sofa next to the shivering girl. ‘What’s going on, Tara? Why are you here?’
‘I didn’t know where else to go. I’m sorry.’ Fresh tears glistened from her cheeks.
‘Whatever is the matter?’
But Tara didn’t answer, burying her face in her hands.
‘Has something happened? Is it your dad? Is everything okay?’ Kate pressed, but this only brought more sobs.
Kate returned to the kitchen, as the kettle boiled and fixed two mugs of hot chocolate, adding extra sugar to both mugs, and locating a packet of chocolate digestives in the cupboard. She carried the items through on a tray, not sure how she would get through to the girl she barely knew.
Kate placed one of the mugs on the table nearest Tara, before offering her the packet of digestives. Tara slipped one of the b
iscuits from the packet and nibbled on it.
Kate retook her seat, sipping from the mug. ‘I… I don’t want to upset you, Tara, but you need to help me out. I feel like I ought to call your parents and—’
‘No,’ Tara suddenly interrupted. ‘Please don’t call them.’
Kate frowned. ‘Why not? Have you had a fight with them…? Or… I don’t know. I’m sorry, you need to give me something to work with here…’
Tara’s brown locks, which were sodden from the rain outside, hung down almost to her waist, her frame slight, and deep brown pools for eyes. Kate could see why Daisy’s disappearance was affecting the supe so much.
Tara straightened, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘I’m pregnant.’
Kate blinked several times, as she tried to process the information. ‘You-you-you’re pregnant?’
Tara’s eyes remained closed, as if she couldn’t bring herself to see the reaction in Kate’s expression. ‘I did a test.’
But Kate didn’t react; she didn’t know Tara well enough to express any real emotional response to the news. Her mind was stuck on asking why Tara had chosen to break the news to her.
‘These tests can be wrong,’ Kate offered, in an effort at reassurance.
Tara nodded, eyes still closed. ‘That’s why I did five. All positive.’
Kate knew she had to tread carefully here. ‘I take it you haven’t told your parents yet?’
Tara’s eyes opened wide. ‘Are you kidding? Can you imagine how my dad will react? You can’t tell him, Kate. You have to promise me!’
Kate was taken aback by the outburst. ‘Okay, I won’t say anything, but you can’t keep something like this from them. This really is something you should be discussing with them.’
‘I only found out today. I’m not ready to tell them yet. I need to get my head around the news first.’
‘Do you know who… I mean, does the father know yet?’
‘It’s nothing to do with him. It’s my body and I need to work out what to do for the best.’
Cold Heart: Absolutely gripping serial-killer fiction Page 9