by GS Rhodes
“While we’re gone,” Kidd said, grabbing his jacket. “Owen, if you could get in touch with the best friend, try and set up an interview so we can grab a proper statement from her.”
“Sure thing, boss,” he replied, turning back to his computer, the smile quickly fading from his face. He really wasn’t firing on all cylinders today. Kidd couldn’t help but feel like none of them were, bouncing from one case straight into the next was common practice, but when you were a man down too, it made it all the more difficult.
“Janya, if you could look for any other missing children in the area,” Kidd said.
“You think there might be a serial kidnapper on the loose or something?” she asked.
“I don’t want to rule it out,” Kidd said. “Peter West ended up snagging three or four kids in the end. If there are any that have gone missing in the past week, I want to know about it.”
He grabbed his jacket and headed out of the Incident Room, DS Zoe Sanchez close behind him. It was almost an unspoken rule that the two of them handled a lot of the initial interviews of cases together. They were a great team, often on the same wavelength but always with different ideas to bounce off of one another.
They climbed into one of the unmarked vehicles in the car park, Zoe gravitating towards her favoured Ford Focus, and started on their way. She pulled out of the car park before Kidd had even managed to get his seatbelt on, speeding onto the one-way system and heading towards the Teddington address.
“What do you think of Peter West?” Zoe asked. “It was a bit before my time, so I don’t really know the case that well.”
Kidd explained it to her as she drove past Kingston train station. It had been a pretty twisted case. He’d managed to keep them fooled for quite some time, but he made a wrong move. He got caught on some CCTV that he hadn’t anticipated, and then all it took was for them to track the address and kick his door down. It sounded a lot easier in hindsight than it had been at the time. At the time it had left them stumped.
“So, you think he’s decided to pick up where he left off?” Zoe asked, shaking her head. “What did he…what did he do to them?”
Kidd let out a heavy breath. “It was torture, mostly. He never really said why. He was testing them, pushing them to see what he could do without…without killing them.” Kidd shook his head. “They all survived and they’re all becoming teenagers now, or getting close to it, walking around with that trauma sitting in their heads. I…I can’t imagine what they’ve been living through. If they see him out and about… it would be enough to drive anyone mad.”
Zoe slowed to a stop as the traffic lights before Kingston Bridge turned red.
“So, to pick up where we left off,” Zoe said keeping one eye on the road, one on Kidd. “What’s he been doing for the past two years?”
Kidd blinked. “Peter’s been in prison for—”
“Sorry, subject change,” Zoe said with a chuckle. “I’m talking about Craig.”
“Christ, that’s quite a sharp turn, Zo,” Kidd replied. “I…I don’t know. I didn’t really get to that part.”
“Did something happen?”
Kidd resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
“Nothing happened,” he growled. “He showed up at the riverside and called me, I went down to meet him.”
“Alone?”
“I’m a big boy, Zoe, I can handle myself,” he replied. “I went to meet him because I wanted to see him, I wanted to see if it was true. After two years of on and off searching, he just showed up.”
“Yes, exactly,” Zoe said. She put the car back in gear and started away from the lights, heading past Wood Street and onto the bridge, straight into crawling traffic.
Kidd turned to her. She had her gaze trained firmly on the road, but her brow was knitted together in thought.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked.
She sighed.
“It’s just a little suspicious, don’t you think?” she said. “I’m not trying to upset you or anything, okay? I’m just saying, why would he show up out of the blue after two years of being totally AWOL.”
“He tried to call me, remember?”
“Yes, but again, after two years,” she said. “I don’t want to ruin this for you or anything, because I know there must be a part of you, however small, that’s happy he’s alive and well. That he’s safe.”
Kidd nodded. He couldn’t deny that seeing Craig was something of a thrill for him. It had been so long since he’d laid eyes on him, and he’d been through so much looking for him and coming up with nothing that he was happy he was safe. But he understood Zoe’s concern. It was definitely a little suspicious. He shouldn’t forget that.
“Pull over here,” Kidd said as they made their way over Kingston Bridge.
“What? I’ve not upset you that much, have I?” Zoe teased, changing lanes and getting ready to turn off on the road that led down towards the river. It was always Kidd’s preference that he started at the scene of the crime. He always felt like it grounded him in the moment, gave him some kind of sense of where he needed to start.
Of course, he already knew he was starting with the interview, and there had been statements given from Rachel and some of the people who’d been sitting nearby, but there was something to be said for being there yourself, for taking it all in.
They got out of the car and walked down the riverfront. It was a beautiful spring day. There were a couple of people down here for morning walks, a couple of parents with their kids sat beneath the shade of the trees by the river. Kidd couldn’t quite fathom bringing your child here if you knew what had just happened, but maybe they were unaware. It was easy to forget that not everybody knew everything that happened in this part of London. They probably slept more peacefully because of it.
He walked to where the police tape was, to where a couple of PCs were stationed while people in white coveralls searched the area, taking photos, looking for anything that might help them in their search. There were even a few members of the public trying to get a look at what was going on while the PCs tried to get them to move on, which they didn’t enjoy.
Kidd took it all in. He looked across the water, pretty fast-running at the moment, a couple of boats trundling along, some rowers moving past at speed. On the other bank, he could see the restaurants and bars, people already hard at work. Could anyone who had been on the other side of the river yesterday have seen anything? It was a long shot, but maybe if they put out some kind of appeal, someone would come forward.
He hated working with the press at the best of times, but they certainly had their uses. And they were already on the story, it was already in the news cycle. He wondered if Rachel would be okay to talk to the cameras again. Putting a face to a case, a distressed mother pleading for help, might help jog a few people’s memories. On the whole, people wanted to help the police in cases like this. They’d end up with a lot of calls that came to nothing, but all it would take was one.
“It’s awful,” Zoe said, watching someone trampling through the bushes at the side of the water, their gloved hands pulling at branches. “I can’t imagine what she must be feeling.”
“Rachel or Maggie?” Kidd asked.
“Both,” she said. “What are your first thoughts?”
Kidd took a deep breath. “My first thought is that I’m exhausted.” It wasn’t a lie. He hadn’t slept well last night with Craig in the house. His brain had been running at a hundred miles a minute when he’d tried to rest. “My second, is that it could be anything. Sometimes these things are random, especially when it’s kids. I don’t know if it will be a targeted thing, but we can’t rule it out.”
“And what you said to Janya about a serial kidnapping?”
Kidd shrugged.
“A definite possibility with Peter West around,” he said. “Or maybe not even him. Somebody else,” he added. “Come on. We should keep moving.”
Zoe drove them through Hampton Wick and towards Teddington and Rachel
Walter’s address.
“You know you need to tell John, right?” she said as they drove beneath the railway bridge fast enough that it made Kidd’s stomach drop.
“About the case?” Kidd said. “I don’t know if he would be interested in it.”
“You know what I mean,” she said. “You should have mentioned it to him before, but now?” She shook her head. “Now you need to tell him. If Craig is going to be in your house—”
“I don’t know how long he’s—”
“Irrelevant,” Zoe interrupted. “You can’t keep hiding this from John. You either need to let him know, or let him go.”
“How long have you been sitting on that one?” Kidd asked with a smirk.
Zoe looked far too pleased with herself in that moment. “Came up with it just now,” she said. “Impressed?”
Kidd scoffed. “Irritated.”
Zoe laughed and pulled them onto Teddington High Street, moving through the town until they reached their turning.
Kidd might not have liked that Zoe was right, but couldn’t shake what she’d said. He definitely needed to talk to John, and soon. It wasn’t good to keep things from people. Secrets always seemed to have a way of getting out, no matter how hard you tried to keep them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Teddington Park was a street that looked like something out of a storybook. Lined with trees that were flourishing with blossoms and bright green leaves, you could almost forget that you were in London. Just for a second.
The Walters’ home was one of the smaller ones on the road. Semi-detached with bright orange brick, it looked a lot newer than some of the others. The car that was parked on the gravel drive, a silver Mercedes, had been parked pretty haphazardly, definitely by someone in a rush. It was also dirty. Very dirty. Kidd could never understand why people bothered to have nice cars if they weren’t going to bother with taking care of them.
Kidd rang the doorbell, knowing that the two of them would need to tread very carefully. He’d dealt with many missing persons cases before, but when it was someone’s child, and a young one at that, everything was a little more tense. While they needed answers to their questions, it wouldn’t do well to press either of the parents too hard.
A woman appeared at the front door. He recognised her from the picture that had been in the file, though she was a shadow of the person who was laughing in the photograph. She was mid-height, white, her light-brown hair tied back into a messy ponytail. She didn’t look like she had slept, which Kidd couldn’t blame her for. How on earth were you supposed to sleep when your world had been turned upside down?
“Can I help you?” she asked, her face twisting in confusion as she searched for recognition.
“Mrs Walters?”
“Yes,” she confirmed.
“My name is Detective Inspector Benjamin Kidd, this is my colleague Detective Sergeant Zoe Sanchez,” Kidd said.
“Hello,” Zoe said, inclining her head and offering a thin-lipped smile.
“Are you…are you looking for my Maggie?”
“We’re investigating her disappearance, yes,” Kidd confirmed. “We have some questions we’d like to ask you, if that’s alright. May we come in?”
“Of course, of course,” she said, moving out of their way and ushering them inside. “Can I get you anything to drink?” she added. “We…we don’t have much in at the moment. We have tea, if you want tea, or maybe coffee. I’m not sure if we have coffee. Daniel!” she called up the stairs, Kidd had to stop himself from jumping out of his skin at the sudden change in volume. “Do we have coffee?”
“Tea is perfect,” Kidd said, quickly. “Will your husband be joining us?” he added.
Rachel opened her mouth to respond before confusion returned to her face.
“He wasn’t there,” she said somewhat sheepishly. Kidd already knew this, of course, but she seemed almost embarrassed that he hadn’t been. “He was at work, I don’t think…I don’t know how much help he’ll be.”
“We’d really like to speak to you both,” Kidd said. “If he’s here and not at work, it would be really good if we could chat.”
Rachel nodded, taking her gaze away from the two detectives to consider this. A weak smile formed on her face.
“I’ll go and get him,” she said. “Won’t be a moment.” She turned towards the stairs but stopped, quickly turning back to the two of them. “He’s a good man,” she said. “He works a lot, works very hard, actually, for the family. It means he’s not here all the time, but he’s a good man. The living room is through there.” She pointed to an open door a little way down the corridor before she hurried upstairs, taking the steps two at a time, light as a feather.
Kidd watched her go. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say there were more problems than just a missing child in this house. Though, it wasn’t his place to pry into such things.
The hallway was pretty bare, the house feeling cold despite the warmth of the sun shining through the windows. It was strange, it was like no one had been living here, and were it not for the pile of shoes by the door or the coats hung three or four deep on the coat hooks, Kidd would say they didn’t live here at all. It felt like a house rather than a home.
He and Zoe walked through to the living room and it seemed that minimalism reigned supreme. The walls were white, the sofa and armchair grey with mustard cushions at either end, the floors were dark, grey carpet, and there was hardly any decorations in sight. There were a couple of plants on the window sill, a family photograph on the TV stand, but nothing else.
Kidd opened his mouth to speak when he heard voices upstairs. Raised voices. The deeper of the two was doing most of the talking. There were a few responses, but mostly it seemed to be a man’s voice. He couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but whatever it was, it didn’t sound good. Kidd looked at Zoe, who widened her eyes and grimaced.
“Pleasant,” he said quietly, taking a seat on the sofa and pulling out his notebook. Zoe followed suit, perching herself next to him.
“My thoughts exactly,” she said.
The sound of two sets of footsteps on the staircase made Kidd sit up. At least she had managed to convince him to come down, if that’s what they’d been arguing about.
Daniel Walters was around the same height as Rachel. Shorter than Kidd by a head or so, his face meaty, his brows knitted together as he took the two detectives in. There was a little bit of pink flushing his cheeks, some stubble across his square jawline. He was wearing the remnants of a suit, his shirt collar undone revealing a small smattering of hair, his tie hanging limply around his neck. He was even wearing suit trousers, but no shoes, his big toe pointing out of the end of a basic black sock.
“Sorry about the wait,” he grunted. “I’ve been…I’ve been working from home. Got a lot on at the moment.”
And it can’t stop for your missing daughter? Kidd thought. He wasn’t about to say it out loud. Daniel Walters looked like the kind of man who would swing fists first and ask questions later. He wasn’t about to antagonise him.
The offer of tea had clearly been forgotten, something Kidd wasn’t altogether surprised about considering Rachel had apparently just had a fight with her husband upstairs. He looked at them both, Rachel somehow managed to look even more fragile than she had when she’d opened the door to them. Kidd took a moment to compose himself before he got started.
“Not a problem,” Kidd said. “I’m sure Rachel has already told you, we just had a few questions to ask about Maggie’s disappearance.”
“Rachel gave you a statement, didn’t she?” Daniel replied. He was standing by the living room door, like he was ready to make a run for it if the situation required. What on earth was this guy’s problem?
“She did, Mr Walters,” Kidd said. “But I wanted to introduce myself, have a chat with you both. It’s possible that in the frenzy of everything that was going on, some details may have been forgotten. We want to bring Maggie home, Mr Walters, and we want t
o do everything we possibly can to make that happen.”
Daniel nodded, his face softening a little at the mention of his daughter.
So he’s not completely heartless, Kidd thought.
Rachel took a seat on the armchair, Daniel choosing to sit on the arm of it. She immediately took hold of his hand, squeezing it so tightly her knuckles quickly turned white. She was only just holding it together, Kidd could see that much. Perhaps Daniel’s standoffishness was just his way of coping with it, his way of staying strong for her.
“If we could start with exactly what happened in the time leading up to Maggie going missing,” Kidd said, pen poised, eyes trained on Rachel.
She offered him a small smile before she spoke, describing to him what had happened, how she had been sitting with her friend, how the kids had gone off to play, something that they always did, and how they knew never to go any further than the bench.
“Kids are always testing boundaries,” Rachel said. “That’s what the books always say. Parenting books, you know? She’s four, she wants to feel more independent and so she’s pushing me. It’s not the first time she’s done something like that, but it’s never…it’s never amounted to anything before. She always…” Tears started to fill her eyes, the shake in her voice unmistakable. Daniel kissed the back of her hand, now holding onto her with both hands. “She always came back,” she managed. “No matter what happened, she always came back.”
“Deep breaths, Rachel, you’re doing brilliantly,” Zoe said. “Take your time.”
She carried on and explained how they’d looked for her until it was dark, how good the police officers were when they took her statement. She even apologised for shouting at them the way she had, she was just so worried. It wouldn’t be the first time that officers would have been on the receiving end of some kind of abuse from a panicked parent.
“And Daniel,” Kidd said. “Where were you while all this was happening?”
Daniel sat up a little straighter, shifting his gaze from Kidd to Rachel and back again. “I was…I was at work,” he said.