by M A Comley
“No. I’ll be honest with you both. The detectives said they didn’t see any reason to keep up the search for Noelle, given her choice of career.”
“Working as a pole dancer?”
Mr. Chesterfield sat up and threw an arm around his wife’s shoulder when a sob broke from her throat. “Yes. You see, we had no idea at all what Noelle was up to. As far as we were concerned, she went to uni and worked behind a bar part-time at night.”
“I’m so sorry. That must have come as an awful shock to learn the truth,” Katy said compassionately.
“Yes and no. Our daughter has always stood on her own two feet, never asked us for a penny during her higher education. She was determined to put herself through uni. It wasn’t so much her working in the club that upset us. It was the awful way the detectives shared the news with us. I can see the disgusting smirks on their faces even now. How can professionals judge people like that without knowing all the facts? The way they put it across was that Noelle was part of the sex industry, as if she’d been selling her body to all and sundry. Our daughter wouldn’t do that, and her friends confirmed she ‘never took her work home with her,’ but those two morons pressed the idea home to us as though they took pleasure in smearing our daughter’s name.”
“Again, I can only apologise for their shocking behaviour, as professionals we’re taught to handle every case sensitively and not to judge people in any way. I can assure you neither Sergeant Warner nor I will ever tarnish your daughter’s name or her choice of career from this day forward. If it’s any consolation, I think my former colleagues will rue the day they disrespected not only your daughter’s good name but the dozens of other cases we’re now being forced to re-open and investigate. If your daughter is out there, we will find her.”
“Thank you, Inspector. Your candid assessment is refreshing to hear. I respect you telling it how it is and not hiding the truth. Nowadays, we see very little transparency with issues such as this. We would very much like to put this all behind us and move on. We still believe Noelle is out there somewhere. Her car has never been found. Maybe you could run that through your police system again?”
“We’ll definitely be doing that, Mr. Chesterfield. Today, our main goal was to come out and introduce ourselves and to assure you that we will be taking your daughter’s disappearance seriously. We wanted to do this before we started the investigation from scratch—we think that will be the best way, considering how crass and inept our former colleagues seem to have been during the search for clues.”
“Then we’re happy for you to contact us to ask whatever you need to ask. All we want is for Noelle to be returned to us. Do you think one of the men visiting the club might have abducted her? That’s always been at the back of our minds.”
“It’s possible, Mr. Chesterfield. Let’s face it—anything is possible in this day and age,” Katy said. “What I foresee hampering us is the fact that Noelle has been missing for six months. Nevertheless, if there is a clue to be found, my resourceful team will find it. I don’t suppose Noelle could have gone away to relatives, could she?”
Lorne gave a slight cough and shook her head. “Just to recap, Inspector, Noelle was on her way to stay with her friend, Abbie.”
“That’s right, silly me. We’ll be contacting Abbie today to verify the conversation she had with Noelle before her disappearance,” Katy accepted Lorne’s interruption gracefully.
“That’s right. Noelle just wanted to get away from her flat, Inspector. We begged her to come here, we were on holiday at the time, but maybe she felt it wouldn’t be wise putting us in harm’s way. She never really did tell us why she decided not to stay here when she called to tell us about the incident at her flat. Like I’ve said already, maybe her stubbornness and determination to be independent forced her hand on her decision-making process. Who knows what went on in our daughter’s pretty head, sometimes?” Mr. Chesterfield smiled fondly at the photo hanging on the wall above the mantelpiece.
“Okay. Why don’t we leave it there for now? I want to reassure you that from this day on, your daughter will be at the top of our priority list. Do you have any questions for us?”
The couple looked at each other. Then Mr. Chesterfield said, “Just one.”
“Go on?” Katy asked with a smile.
“Do you have any children, Inspector?”
Katy shook her head. “No, Mr. Chesterfield, but my partner has, and she will be working alongside me at all times, keeping me in line. I’m sure she won’t mind me confiding in you that her own daughter was abducted a few years ago. She fought like a lioness to get her daughter back in one piece, even defying orders from above. To me, you could have no one better fighting in your corner on this one.”
Katy winked at Lorne, and she felt her cheeks flood with heat. “My daughter was found safe and well, Mr. and Mrs. Chesterfield. Let’s hope the same fate is awaiting Noelle.”
“We appreciate your openness. It can’t be easy working on a case so close to something that has touched your own family, Sergeant. I hope it doesn’t bring back too many bad memories for you.”
“I have no doubt it will stir up terrible memories. However, the fact I still have my daughter will help to overcome them. I give you my word that we’ll do everything we can to ensure you have the same outcome. Our children are special gifts that no one has the right to tear from our lives.”
“Thank you, Sergeant.”
As Lorne and Katy stood up to leave, Mrs. Chesterfield looked at them and pleaded, “Please bring her home. She’s our only child, our life. Without her, there really is no need for us to go on.”
Lorne got down on one knee and clasped Mrs. Chesterfield’s hand. “You’ve found the courage to stay strong this far. Dig deep and search for the strength to continue. You have my assurance that we’ll do all we can to pick out the trail of where Noelle is. If she is still out there, we’ll bring her back home to you.”
Tears trickled from Mrs. Chesterfield’s eyes and teetered on her cheek. “Thank you.”
At the front door, Mr. Chesterfield looked over his shoulder at the living room door they’d just exited. “My wife blames herself for our daughter’s disappearance,” he said quietly. “Don’t ask me why. I suppose every mother would do the same thing. She’s on medication for depression. I have to keep the tablets locked away. If I didn’t, I think she might have ended her life months ago. I believe your visit today has given her hope, something to cling to. I’m grateful for that, and for you taking up our daughter’s case when we believed the police had forgotten her.”
Lorne rubbed her hand up and down his arm. “You need to not only take care of your wife but of yourself, too. A word of caution, if I may? You need to prepare yourself for a bad outcome, given the length of time it’s been since Noelle was reported missing.”
“I’m not silly, Sergeant. I realise what the odds are and that they’re not in our favour. We just want her back, alive or…”
Everyone standing in the confines of the tiny hallway knew what he meant. Lorne and Katy shook his hand and left the house. Back in the car, they each let out a huge sigh.
“Those poor people. How could Travers and Campbell do this to them?” Lorne shook her head.
Katy started the engine. “And they say most criminals are sick in the head. If that’s the case, what does that make these two morons? This is just one case, remember? Look at the devastation their corrupt ways have brought on all the other lives involved in the cases being reinvestigated.”
“My thoughts exactly. Are we still going to have lunch out? I’d like to take an in-depth look at the file, see if there’s anything obvious we’re missing while we eat.”
“Yep, sounds like a plan to me. How about the Packhorse, the new pub that’s had the classy refit recently? It’s close to the station, too.”
Lorne nodded. “I’ve been meaning to check out that place. The initial reports about their food appear to be good.”
Twenty minutes later,
Katy arrived at the pub to find punters already making their way inside the thatched black-and-white public house. They both ordered cod and chips. While she and Katy waited for the meals to arrive, Lorne bought two orange juices from the bar. Katy flipped open the file, and they silently surveyed its contents for a few minutes.
“Unbelievable. What the hell?” Lorne said.
“What? I take it you’re talking about the lack of witness accounts?”
Lorne took a sip from her glass. “Too bloody right. This case looks as though it was treated like some kind of joke from the very first day. Why? Because of where she worked?”
“You could be right. We’ll make amends, Lorne. We have to.”
The waitress appeared with two plates heaped with chips and battered cod. After the waitress deposited the meals and left, Katy continued, “We’re going to start from scratch. How about we work late tonight and pay the club where she worked a visit, to see what the staff have to say?”
“Fine by me. I’ll have to contact Tony to let him know I’ll be late home, but I don’t foresee a problem.”
“That’s settled then. Let’s tuck in—it might be the last meal we get this side of tomorrow.”
Lorne stepped outside and sat on one of the kiddie swings in the adventure playground area at the rear of the pub. As she dialled Tony’s mobile, the thought crossed her mind to play a practical joke on him—something along the lines of putting on a voice and pretending to be a damsel in distress. Then she remembered that her number would show up on his screen. “Hi, Tony. How’s the investigation going?”
“Hi. Slowly, in a word. I was just thinking about you.”
“You were? Why? Keep it clean. I’m in a kiddie’s play area.”
Tony laughed. “I didn’t know they had a crèche at the station. Mind you, looking at the age of some of the force’s latest recruits, I can totally see the need for installing one.”
“Idiot! Katy and I are having lunch out. Umm… you know when I said I wouldn’t volunteer for any overtime when I rejoined the force…”
“Yes,” he replied, sounding suspicious.
“Well, I lied. I shouldn’t be that late, I promise.”
“Is this to do with a new case?” Tony asked then let out a sigh.
“Yep, it’s a cold case. We’ve just visited the parents, and well, it was heart-breaking, brought back so many tortured memories of what happened to Charlie. I have to give this case my all, if only for them, love.”
“No need to apologise or make excuses, hon. I totally understand. Are you going to tell me what the case is?”
“In a nutshell, a young girl went missing six months ago. This case belonged to two bent coppers, and it’s one of many being revisited. By what we’ve gleaned so far, they didn’t exactly put themselves out to investigate the bloody case because the girl was paying for uni by working at a pole dancers’ club.”
“Crap. All right, you do what you have to do and just come home safely, okay?”
“Will do. Love you.” Lorne hung up and joined Katy in the car.
“Everything okay?”
“Yep, he’s fine. I feel pretty shit going back on my word never to work extended hours, though.”
Katy turned her head sharply to look at her. “Did he throw that at you?”
“No. He was really supportive, as always. It’s just me and my guilt gene pricking my conscience. Back to the station now?”
“Yep, let’s see if the team have managed to come up with anything while we’ve been out.”
“You forgot to add stuffing our faces.” Lorne laughed.
Katy cringed. “Do you think we should stop off en route and pick them up some sandwiches?”
“Good idea.”
Once they arrived in the office, Lorne handed out the sandwiches they’d just bought to the grateful team then moved over to the incident board.
AJ was the first to speak. “I’ve done my usual trick of chasing up the CCTV footage from the cameras in the vicinity of the club. Hope that was okay?”
“Brilliant. Are they likely to go that far back?” Katy pulled out a chair alongside Lorne and sat down.
“Yep, they should go back at least twelve months,” AJ confirmed with a smile.
Lorne jotted that task on the board then wrote down the word car. “Any news on the vehicle? Maybe we should check if it’s still registered in Noelle’s name, yes?”
Karen Titchard raised her hand. “I’ll look into that after lunch. While you were out, I checked the witnesses’ addresses, made sure they were up to date. I thought you’d want to start questioning them soon.”
“Thanks, Karen. Any we need to chase up?”
“The few that were on file still live at the same address. There weren’t that many, though, were there?” Karen replied, shaking her head ruefully.
“That’s a huge disappointment to us. Lorne and I are planning to work overtime tonight to visit the club. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get a clearer picture of what actually went on that night or if there were any problems down there during the nights before the incident. The file mentions that Noelle said there was an incident in the alley behind the club the night before she found the intruder in her apartment—she thought someone might have been following her. Maybe someone saw something that night. We’ll see. Places like this tend to treat the police with disrespect.” Katy shrugged. “What else have we got?”
Lorne scribbled on the board as she spoke. “Well, we’ve seen the parents. We should visit the neighbours, ask if they saw anyone suspicious lingering around the property at that time. There’s also Noelle’s friend Abbie, whom she was planning on staying with. Perhaps she can give us a little more background information into Noelle’s past relationships. She was obviously a good friend if Noelle was on her way over there to stay with her.”
Katy nodded and addressed the team, “Any objections to me sending a few of you guys out to question some of these folks? I’m hoping to tie up this case ASAP. Can anyone think of any other avenues we should be exploring?”
“What about looking into possible complaints from other members of the staff working at the club?” Graham Barlow called out. “If we’re looking at the incidents being connected.”
Lorne noted how tired the young detective looked, and she made a mental note to pull him aside after the meeting to see if everything was okay at home. He’d taken on a lot for someone his age. At twenty-sixish, the detective had already been married for four years and was the proud father to two children under the age of three. Lorne was full of admiration for anyone taking on that kind of challenge in today’s world. Graham and his wife, Liz, were childhood sweethearts, and from the time they’d got together, they had meticulously planned out their lives. They were married at twenty-one and had all the children they wanted by the age of twenty-five. That way, when they’ll be in their early forties, having done their duty of bringing up the kids, they could go on to thoroughly enjoy what remained of their lives. One day over coffee, Graham had confided in Lorne that travelling the world was high up on their agenda. Maybe the pressure he’d put himself under was starting to get to him, if the worry lines on his young features were anything to go by.
Katy smiled at him. “Great idea, Graham. Lorne and I can look into that side of things before we set off for the club later. Anything else?”
The team responded with shaking heads.
“Okay, Stephen and Graham, I’d like you to get in touch with the witnesses, on the friends and family side of things, and organise dropping by for a quick chat to go over the facts. Leave the witnesses from the club for Lorne and me to chase up, okay?”
“Yes, boss,” the two detectives said in unison.
“AJ and Karen, I think you’re both better suited to working around here. AJ, once you get hold of the CCTV discs, I’d like you to search through them see what you can come up with. And, Karen, keep on the vehicle side of things. I’d also like you to contact the media, TV and radio, and make them aware o
f the case and the urgency to bring it to a conclusion.”
“Okay. Shall I ring the BBC? Maybe pursue a slot on Crimewatch? Perhaps they’ll consider doing a reconstruction of the crime,” Karen suggested.
“Why not? It can’t hurt, although I’m not sure how many people, er… sober people would be around at the time of morning Noelle left work. It’s definitely worth a shot.”
Karen chuckled. “I see what you mean. Maybe it would be better to do a reconstruction consisting of the attack at her home rather than her activities at the club. The intruder broke in during the daylight hours, didn’t he?”
Katy clicked her fingers. “Spot on. Good thinking, Karen. Anything else? Okay, then let’s get to work, people. Report back with any significant findings as they come your way, please.”
Lorne and Katy went through to her office. “Do you want me to collate what we have regarding the staff at the club and see if any of them have connections to other crimes?” Lorne asked before either of them had a chance to sit down.
“Sounds good to me. I’ll be busy doing my usual mountaineering trick of combating my post in the meantime. I’ve still got a few loose ends I need to tie into a pretty bow regarding the case we solved last week, too, before Roberts comes after me for my blood.”
“Talking of Roberts…” Lorne said, lowering her voice and pushing the door closed with her fingertips. “Have you heard anything about a possible move on the cards for him in the pipeline?”
Katy frowned. “Should I? Has he hinted at anything of that nature?”
“Yes and no. Oh, just ignore me, maybe it’s something in the air. Graham looks as though he has the weight of the world on his shoulders at the moment, too. Mind if I have a quick chat with him before he gets stuck into his tasks?”
“Sure. We need to know what’s going on with him and if it’s likely to affect his work. Regarding Roberts, I hope you’re wrong about him moving on. I know he pushes me and can be a severe pain in the arse at times, but I’d rather have him tear me off a strip than an outsider any day.”