Broken Girls: A totally addictive and unputdownable crime thriller (Detective Bernadette Noel Book 2)

by Joy Kluver

  Kerry opened one of the bags, peeked inside and then passed it over. ‘Please, be my guest.’ She turned to Bernie. ‘I’m really confused. I thought you had gone to a church.’

  ‘I did,’ said Bernie as she pulled up a chair. ‘They have a coffee shop. Gillian works there. She was out with the Street Pastors team on Saturday night and is sure that no one saw Laura.’

  Kerry and Gerald continued eating as they waited for Laura to leave the clothes store. More people entered and left. Five minutes turned into ten. Laura still hadn’t left the shop.

  Bernie’s phone buzzed. It was a text from Anderson. They hadn’t actually spoken yet after the events of the weekend.

  Tom said you were going to ask Laura’s family about her password details. Thought Craig might have some idea. If it’s OK with you I can visit him in hospital now. Still waiting for Rosa’s ID so nothing much doing here.

  Bernie turned away from Kerry as she answered. She didn’t think Anderson had Worth’s permission to do this but she wasn’t about to say no. They really needed more people to help find Laura.

  That would be helpful, thanks. He’s more likely to know than his mum.

  She looked back at the monitor. ‘Is there a back way out of this place?’ asked Bernie.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ said Gerald. ‘If there is, it’s unlikely to have CCTV.’

  ‘Spin forward a little,’ said Kerry.

  The video juddered in front of them but there was still no sign of Laura. Gerald paused it.

  ‘What do you think? Did she stay in the shop for ages? Did she go out of the back? Or…’ said Gerald, ‘did she change her clothes?’

  ‘That’s a good point. Can you rewind it, please?’ asked Bernie.

  Gerald put it back to the point that Laura went into the shop. They all watched carefully as people left. No one looked like Laura.

  ‘Wait. There,’ said Kerry.

  Gerald paused. There was a big group of girls coming out. Was there an extra girl with them?

  ‘She might be attaching herself to this lot. She must have seen the cameras. Kids are so much more clued up these days,’ said Kerry.

  The group wandered down the street. One of the girls had a cap on. She swung a bag onto her back.

  ‘There,’ said Kerry. ‘She had that bag with her when she got off the bus.’

  ‘Follow those girls, Gerald. You said she received a phone call. Don’t we have the phone records, Kerry?’

  ‘Yes, but that’s a different phone. The last call made on her normal mobile was to her mother. Then it got switched off.’

  ‘Oh jeez, he gave her a phone. That’s really not good. We’ve got to get into her Instagram account. Anderson texted to say he’s going to see Craig to find out if he knows.’

  Kerry gave her an enquiring look.

  ‘By the way,’ said Gerald, ‘I’m recording all this for you so you can take it back to headquarters.’

  ‘Thanks, that’s really helpful,’ Bernie said. ‘We’ll then have a choice of shots to release to the press.’

  They continued to follow Laura for quite a while as she ducked into different shops and latched on to various groups of people.

  ‘She really is doing her best to stay hidden, isn’t she?’ Kerry said.

  ‘Maybe she was instructed to do so. Especially if she has another phone. We’ve no idea what’s being sent to her.’

  At seventeen twenty-five on the recording, Laura went into a café. They stared at the screen for five minutes but nothing really changed.

  ‘Can you fast forward, please, Gerald?’ Bernie asked.

  They watched carefully but there was no sign of Laura leaving.

  ‘Are there any cameras behind this parade of shops?’

  Gerald shook his head.

  ‘So our only hope is there might be some private CCTV behind the store.’

  ‘I’m afraid so,’ said Gerald. ‘I’m sorry I can’t help more.’

  ‘Oh God, you’ve done loads. We’re very grateful. Maybe we should go and check out this café. What do you think, Kerry?’

  ‘Yes, absolutely. Now?’ Kerry jotted down the address of the café.

  ‘I’ll keep checking this for you,’ said Gerald, ‘and then I’ll send all the visuals over to you at headquarters.’

  ‘Thanks,’ said Bernie.

  ‘And if there’s anything else you want me to check out then just let me know.’ He scribbled something on a piece of paper. ‘This is the direct line through to here plus my mobile if I’m not in.’ He smiled as he gave it to Kerry. She murmured her thanks.

  As the door swung shut behind them, Bernie said, ‘I think you’ve pulled there.’

  Kerry gave her a hard stare. ‘That’s not even remotely funny.’

  ‘Oh, come on. He’s a sweetheart. Just not for you.’

  33

  Finding parking around the café proved to be hard. In the end, Bernie abandoned the car on a single yellow line and stuck a ‘police’ sign in the windscreen. She hoped it would be enough to deter any parking wardens. They walked back to the café they were looking for. The weather was pleasant enough but a cool breeze signalled that autumn was firmly in charge. Bernie pulled her suit jacket across and did up the buttons.

  The café was called The Little Teapot. A bell tinged as Bernie pushed open the door. A middle-aged woman with red-framed glasses looked up from behind the counter and smiled.

  ‘Good afternoon. Table for two?’

  ‘No, thanks. I have some questions actually,’ said Bernie. She held up her warrant card. ‘I’m Detective Inspector Bernie Noel and this is my colleague, Detective Sergeant Kerry Allen. And you are?’

  ‘Oh, Barbara Finch. I own this place.’

  ‘Mrs Finch, we believe this girl came in here on Saturday.’ Bernie flicked through her phone and found the picture of Laura.

  ‘Oh.’ Barbara Finch pushed the glasses onto the top of her head and peered at the photo. ‘I’m not sure. We were very busy on Saturday. We had a promotion on so lots of extra customers.’

  ‘It would have been around five twenty-five p.m.,’ said Kerry. ‘We have CCTV footage showing her come in but not leave.’

  ‘Not leave?’ Barbara looked puzzled. ‘I’m not sure how that’s possible.’

  ‘Do you have a back door to the shop?’

  ‘Yes, it leads out onto a small service road.’

  ‘Do you have CCTV out there?’ asked Bernie.

  Barbara shook her head. ‘No, I don’t. But some of the other larger shops might. I don’t understand it… Oh, wait… I popped up to the loo. Left my daughter in charge. She helps out on Saturdays. I would only have been gone five minutes though. It was nearly closing time anyway.’

  Bernie looked at Kerry. Five minutes would be long enough for the daughter to let Laura out the back.

  ‘Can we see your back door, please?’ asked Bernie.

  ‘Yes, of course.’

  Barbara Finch locked the front door and turned the sign round to ‘closed’. She then pulled back a curtain behind the counter and led them down a short corridor to a back door, passing a kitchen on the way. Outside was a small parking area with one car and two large wheelie bins. Bernie stayed with the café owner as Kerry jogged quickly up and down the service road.

  ‘We’re in luck. CCTV at a couple of shops in both directions. If she came out this way then we’ll be able to spot her,’ said Kerry.

  ‘I don’t understand what’s going on here,’ said Barbara.

  Bernie gave a brief smile. ‘I’m sorry. I can only tell you so much but this girl has gone missing. And the last place we saw her on CCTV was your café. We’re going to need to speak to your daughter.’

  Bernie waited for Barbara Finch’s daughter to arrive while Kerry visited the shops that had CCTV overlooking the service road. She glanced at her watch – two fifty p.m. – and checked her phone again. There was a message from Anderson.

  Got possible password from Craig for Instagram. Going back to H
Q now to see if it works. See you later.

  She tapped back quickly.

  Great. Thanks.

  She was aware that she and Anderson needed to have a conversation, the sooner the better.

  ‘Katie should be here in a few minutes,’ said the woman. ‘She normally comes here straight from school and does her homework upstairs until I close up.’

  Bernie looked up at Barbara. She seemed a bit twitchy, fiddling with a pen, twisting it round and round with her fingers.

  ‘How old is she?’ asked Bernie.

  ‘Fifteen.’

  ‘In that case, you’ll need to be present when I speak to her. I’m afraid you may have to shut again.’

  The woman gave a slight nod of the head. ‘That’s fine. It tends to be a bit quiet on a Monday. I was thinking of going half-days on Mondays anyway, use the time to catch up on ordering and the accounts, so it’s not a problem.’

  Bernie thought Barbara was nervous, telling her things she didn’t really need to know.

  ‘Oh, here comes Katie now.’

  Bernie turned to see a tall teenage girl with bountiful brunette hair cascading down her back. She had model features and looked a lot older than fifteen.

  The bell rang as the door opened.

  ‘Hi, Mum. Is everything OK? You look a bit odd.’

  ‘Umm, Katie, love, this is a police officer. She’d like to ask you a few questions.’

  Bernie watched Katie to see her reaction. She saw the same puzzlement her mother had shown.

  ‘Hello, Katie. I’m Detective Inspector Bernie Noel. Don’t worry, you’re not in trouble. I want to ask you about a girl that came in here on Saturday around five twenty-five p.m.’

  Bernie pulled out her phone and showed the picture of Laura to Katie.

  ‘Do you remember seeing her?’

  The girl stared at the phone and then slowly nodded her head. ‘Yes. She was a bit cagey. I told her it was too late to be ordering anything. We shut at five thirty. Mum had gone upstairs to the loo. But she said she didn’t want anything to eat or drink, she needed help. There were some girls after her and she asked if there was a back way out of the shop. She seemed so scared I took pity on her. So I let her out the back.’

  Bernie put her phone away and took out her notepad and pen.

  ‘In what way did she seem scared?’

  Katie thought for a minute, her eyes drifting briefly to the floor. ‘Well, her voice was quiet and she just seemed a bit shaky. She kept looking around as well, looking out of the window. She was definitely on edge.’

  ‘Can you remember what she was wearing or if she had anything with her?’

  ‘Umm… she was wearing jeans and had a dark jacket – maybe black. Her hair was up in a very high ponytail, like in the picture… Oh wait, she took her hair down and tied it loosely just before she left. So it was tied at her neck rather than on top of her head.’ Katie took hold of her own hair and demonstrated.

  ‘Why do you think she did that?’ asked Bernie.

  ‘I don’t know. Maybe she was trying to change her appearance because of the girls.’

  ‘Did you see these girls or did anyone come in asking for her?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘And when she left, which way did she go?’

  ‘I don’t know. I heard the bell on the door ring so I rushed back.’

  Bernie smiled. ‘You’re doing really well, Katie. Have you ever seen this girl before?’

  ‘No. It’s the first time but I’m sure I’d recognise her again. Has she done something wrong?’

  ‘No, she hasn’t done anything wrong. She’s gone missing and we’re trying to track her movements. You’ve been really helpful.’

  The girl’s eyes widened. ‘Oh no. I hope I wasn’t the last person to see her. Oh, she had a bag with her – a rucksack. It looked quite heavy. She kept pulling it up onto her shoulders, as though it was uncomfortable.’

  Bernie delved into her pocket and pulled out a card. ‘This is my number. If you think of anything else, no matter how small, just contact me. If I can’t answer, leave a message and I’ll get back to you ASAP.’

  Bernie met Kerry by the car. A plastic bag containing a ticket fluttered underneath one of the windscreen wipers.

  ‘Oh bloody hell, that’s all I need. Can’t they read?’ said Bernie.

  Kerry grimaced. ‘I’m afraid I have more bad news.’

  Bernie grabbed the ticket and unlocked the car.

  ‘One of the cameras is a dummy one,’ said Kerry as she got in the car. ‘One shop has only one tape so they overwrite it each day.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s a small shop. There was one other and I have the tape for that. But if Laura didn’t go that way then we’re stuffed.’

  ‘Well, we know now she did go out the back. The café owner’s daughter let her out. Laura told her some girls were after her. But she doesn’t know which way she turned. Where is the shop with CCTV in relation to this one?’

  ‘As you stand out the back, with the café behind you, it’s to the left.’

  ‘So, if she went to the right…’ said Bernie.

  ‘Yep, we don’t have footage.’

  ‘So, I take it you haven’t looked at the tape then?’

  ‘No. They were too busy in the shop to play it.’

  Bernie grinned. ‘But I know a man who can help us. Time to call your latest boyfriend, Kerry.’

  34

  Gerald took the tape and popped it into the machine.

  ‘What time was it again? Around five twenty-five p.m.?’

  ‘Yes, please, Gerald,’ said Bernie.

  The screen flickered in front of them as the picture fast forwarded to the right time. Gerald hit play just before five twenty-five p.m. They all watched but nothing changed on the screen. No one walked past. Gerald put it on the slowest fast forward setting. A figure appeared.

  ‘Stop,’ said Bernie. ‘Who’s that?’

  They saw a man pull out a packet of cigarettes and light one. After a couple of minutes, he flicked the cigarette away and walked out of shot.

  ‘Looks like a shop worker having a quick fag break,’ said Kerry.

  ‘Might be worth looking into. He might have seen or heard something,’ said Bernie. ‘Keep spinning forward. Even if we don’t see Laura, there may be other potential witnesses.’

  The picture moved forward but no one else appeared.

  Bernie rubbed her forehead. She could feel a headache brewing. She desperately needed a drink of water.

  ‘I guess our only option at the moment is to see if we can find the guy who had a quick smoke at work,’ she said.

  ‘There is something else we can try,’ said Gerald. ‘We’re assuming now that Laura turned right and walked down the service road. I can start searching for cameras in that area and see if I can pick her up.’

  ‘If you’re able to work a bit longer, that would be great, thanks,’ said Bernie.

  ‘I don’t mind working late. If it helps find her, then it’ll be worth it, won’t it?’

  ‘I guess it’s going to be a late night for all of us,’ said Kerry. She pulled her phone out. ‘I’d better let Debs know. For once, we thought we had a free evening together.’

  ‘Sorry.’

  Kerry moved away.

  ‘Debs?’ asked Gerald.

  ‘Her partner,’ said Bernie.

  ‘Oh.’

  If Gerald was crestfallen, Bernie couldn’t tell. He kept his eyes on the monitor.

  Her own phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out. Matt was calling her.

  ‘Hi, Matt. Have you got something for me?’

  ‘Not exactly. The DCI has called an urgent meeting. You need to come back to headquarters now. It starts at five p.m.’

  The car crawled along with the rest of the rush hour traffic.

  ‘I wonder what this meeting’s about,’ Kerry said.

  ‘No idea. Although, I haven’t heard anything yet about Rosa’s ID.’


  ‘Why have we been invited then if we’re off the case?’

  ‘Why indeed.’

  Bernie thought about Gillian’s reaction to the photos earlier. She recognised the shoes more than Rosa. And then there were the comments from Rosa’s grandparents about her being a tomboy. Something wasn’t right. She edged the car forward.

  ‘This is all we need. It takes about fifty minutes in good traffic to get back to Devizes. It’s going to be well over an hour at this rate,’ said Bernie.

  ‘Unless…’

  ‘Unless what?’

  ‘You do something a bit naughty,’ said Kerry.

  ‘Blues and twos?’

  ‘Well, I’m sure it won’t be the first time an officer has bent the rules a little bit on that score.’

  ‘It is tempting… but probably shouldn’t. Can you look again to see if Matt has got back to you?’

  Kerry checked her phone. ‘No. We really can’t be late. Apart from Worth going apeshit at us, Jane might nab your seat next to Anderson.’

  Bernie gave Kerry a withering look.

  ‘Hey, what’s that for? With Alex out of the way, there’s nothing stopping you two now.’

  Bernie huffed loudly. ‘You’ve changed your tune. You were telling me off yesterday.’

  ‘It was a shock. I’ve had a chance to think about it. You’d be good together. Of course, you’ll probably argue all the time.’

  ‘There’s no guarantee we’re going to end up together. It might have just been a one-night stand.’

  ‘Do you really think that?’

  ‘I don’t know what to think. Oh… shut up and let me drive.’

  The traffic lights turned green and Bernie inched the car forward, only for the lights to turn red as she approached.

  ‘Sod it. Pretend to take a call and then talk to me,’ said Bernie.

  ‘What?’

  ‘What did you say? There’s an emergency up ahead and our presence is required?’

  Kerry giggled and put her phone to her ear.