by G D Sanders
‘As I said, no problem. Where are you working?’
‘I’m the new Detective Inspector – at least, I shall be as of tomorrow morning.’
A startled look crossed Drakes-Moulton’s tanned features but he quickly assumed an air of pleasant surprise. ‘Congratulations! This calls for a celebratory glass of bubbly.’
‘I’m still drinking my red wine.’
‘Shall we say dinner this evening?’
‘Tomorrow I start the new job. I need a good night’s sleep and an early start.’
‘So, it’s not a no then? I can look forward to your company later in the week.’
‘I’m expecting a busy week …’
‘Busy people must organize their time.’
‘… and a busy day tomorrow. Time for that cab.’
Back at her hotel Ed was disinclined to do anything strenuous. She selected three of the art books from her car. The books had been her grandfather’s. Egon Schiele was the artist he’d admired most. Ed remembered evenings at home, sitting beside her grandfather’s chair. He would slowly turn the pages, pausing at images which brought tears to his eyes. The semi-clothed chalk-and-gouache women; the angular portraits in heavy oil, distortions emphasized by outlines in confident black; the drawing of his pregnant wife Edith rendered without sentimentality just hours before she died. ‘Edina.’ Her grandfather would say her name before speaking. ‘It was the Spanish Flu, the pandemic of 1918. Three days later Egon followed her on 31 October. He was just 28 years old. Think what wonders he would have given the world had he lived as long as Klimt.’
Ed would see tears wet his eyes and wondered if he were speaking to her or to his wife, her grandmother, from whom she took her name.
Her grandfather’s tears would begin as tears for the brilliance of Schiele, a brilliance he could not match, then the tears became tears for his own lost youth, for the Ringstrasse, the Secession and the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, which he had been forced to leave. The tears became tears for the loss of tolerance; tears for his flight from Vienna to London; tears for his English wife, Ed’s grandmother, whose surname he’d adopted. He had the courage to acknowledge early that he would be no Schiele, the courage to accept that, despite his ideas and passion, his lot was to teach. He had the courage to let the tears come and not to turn away. When his granddaughter sat with him the tears would become tears of love. ‘If you cannot be the best, Edina, do your best for others.’
Edina Ogborne, her grandmother, had died before Ed was born. Inspired by her grandfather, Ed was determined to be the best and to do her best for others. On leaving university she joined the Metropolitan Police. She’d just started the graduate training programme when her grandfather passed away. The doctor said it would have been swift and painless. Ed remembered the tears. She knew that her grandfather’s death had been long, starting in Vienna and accelerating when his wife died 23 years ago. Ed cried for his passing and consoled herself with the requiem masses which had been his favourite music. Two years later she cried again for her mother and her father, lost in the space of three months. Alone in the family home, she’d been content to live with her memories.
In the room at the hotel in Canterbury, Ed was about to begin a new stage in her life. Tomorrow she officially started her new job. Soon she would have a new apartment, a home that would truly be her own. With that thought she fell asleep.
18
Jenny and Nat looked tired. Coincidence, or was there something going on between them? thought DI Brian Saunders as he watched the Canterbury CID team gather in the Incident Room. Mike, slumped in his chair, was no longer the man he’d known when they’d joined the force. Not long now and all this would be Ogborne’s concern. He’d be out of it, off to Maidstone. With that thought he joined the others at the table.
‘Lucy Naylor’s been missing for 40 hours, Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning. We didn’t have much to go on yesterday. Are we any further forward today? Mike?’
‘Close friends and family are not going to occupy us for long. Lucy has no aunts or uncles. Grandparents are retired. Jenny and I will visit them tomorrow. As for her friends, we’ve checked with the Naylors and the Shaxteds. Lucy and Debbie don’t have any special friends apart from each other. Definitely no boyfriends.’
‘That’s in line with her laptop,’ said Saunders. ‘It appears she’s not active on social media.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ said Jenny. ‘Her parents said they discouraged it.’
‘So we’ve nothing much from her computer but maybe Ed will get something new from Lucy’s school tomorrow.’ Saunders turned to DC Borrowdale. ‘How about records, Nat, did you find anything?’
‘Local sex offenders are into small-scale stuff. None have gone for anything like abduction, but—’
Saunders was already asking his next question.
‘Similar cases?’
Nat brightened. ‘I’ve got something there. Four years ago, a girl called Kim Hibben went missing. Six weeks later she turned up apparently unharmed. I wasn’t on the Force then. I’ve called for the file, should have more tomorrow.’
‘Do you remember the Hibben case, Mike?’
‘Kimberley Hibben, yes, we had our suspicions but no one was ever charged.’
‘Messy business, wasn’t it? No medical report and she told us next to nothing.’
‘Missing for weeks, then one evening her boyfriend carried her into her parents’ house. It was drinks all round.’
Potts seemed to be enjoying his opportunity to expand. With the older information, his memory matched that of the young Jenny. It was the newer stuff that slipped his mind. He appeared to be getting into his stride so Saunders let him continue.
‘Too many drinks. The boyfriend stayed the night. Nobody reported Kimberley was back until the next day. She refused a medical examination. Said she’d had sex with her boyfriend the night of her return. She claimed it was the first time. So—’
Finally Saunders cut in.
‘So it’s unlikely a medical report would have told us much. There were no obvious signs of injury and she said she hadn’t been hurt. We suspected the boyfriend with Kimberley’s connivance but there was no evidence. Let’s wait for Nat to go through the file and we’ll discuss it tomorrow when Ed’s with us.’
‘Why’s she not here now?’ asked Jenny quickly before Nat could put the question more forcefully.
‘Sorry, I thought you all knew. Officially Ed doesn’t start ’til Monday. She was due to see the Super at 16.00 Friday. Addler stood her up and called her in 08.00 Saturday. By then Lucy Naylor was missing. I guess Ed joined us yesterday because she wanted to be in at the start of the case and maybe she didn’t want to put anybody’s back up.’
Jenny may have forestalled Nat but Mike roused himself with a look of anger. ‘If that’s what she wanted she’d have done better not to take the transfer.’
Nat joined him. ‘She should have stayed in London with her precious Met.’
‘Okay! That’s enough.’ Saunders turned on the young DC. ‘I’ll overlook those remarks but I’d better not hear anything like them again. Remember DS Ogborne will soon be Detective Inspector and your commanding officer. From what I’ve seen, she’ll be a bloody good one. Her ideas on Lucy’s abduction have been spot-on and remember what she did to McNally last night. Canterbury’s lucky to have her.’
Saunders looked round the table. He should be touched by the anger they directed at Ogborne because it reflected the support they felt for him. Despite himself, he still wasn’t comfortable revealing he was pleased to be moving. Well … if he couldn’t do that, at least he could stand up for Ogborne.
‘Leaving London wasn’t Ed’s choice and she knew nothing about my move to Maidstone until she got here. I’ve been in the Force a long time and I can live with what’s happened. You’ll have to live with it too and the sooner you accept it the better.’
There was silence.
‘Actually the change will be earlier t
han I thought. I start in Maidstone Monday fortnight. Wednesday the 27th will be my last day. Ed will take over immediately I leave.’
Saunders looked round the group. They’d known he was moving to Maidstone but they seemed surprised he was going so soon. Quickly, before they could react, he gathered his papers and, with a mumbled ‘I shall miss working with you’ he left the room.
19
The clothes Lucy had been wearing when he grabbed her were washed, ironed and safely stored away. As he emerged from his private room, she was finishing a late supper.
‘I’m going to empty your pails.’
‘Can’t I do that?’
‘No. Bring your tray to the slot, then put the handcuff on and let me lock it.’
Reluctantly Lucy came to the slot in the wire mesh and passed him her things. Then with the handcuff around her wrist she let him lock it.
‘Listen to some music while I empty your pails. The music will distract you.’
Lucy took his advice, stretching out on the bed to face the wall with the headphones covering her ears. He could hear her music as he retrieved the pails and secured the padlock on the chain-link door behind him. Out of her sight he checked the contents. One glance was enough. He crossed to his private room and wrote the date in his notebook. Things really were going well. Of course it was chance, but this was excellent timing. Pleased with the progress of his mission, he emptied the pails in a pit he’d dug 20 yards from the building and returned to spend time in the private room with his collection.
20
It was Ed’s first official day with the Canterbury squad. Back from seeing the Head of Lucy’s school, she’d found the Incident Room in darkness and switched on the up-lighters. Mike Potts was the next to arrive. Embarrassed but sincere, he thanked her for intervening at the Brewers Tap. He was still speaking when Nat and Jenny joined them.
‘No need for thanks, Mike. It’s what we do for colleagues. You were distracted. I was better placed and able to react.’
‘You talking about McNally?’ ask Jenny.
Ed nodded. ‘I was in the right spot. Nat helped me out.’
Noticing Mike Potts was looking uncomfortable, Ed changed the subject. ‘Now we’ve the missing girl to think about.’
‘Some move you pulled,’ said Nat with undisguised admiration. ‘I wasn’t shown that in training.’
‘Me neither,’ said Jenny. ‘It must be different for the Met.’
‘I picked up that move long before joining the police.’
‘How come?’
Nat asked the question but Ed felt all three of her new colleagues wanted to know. Well, Nat and Jenny appeared eager while Mike was at least still looking in her direction. After her frosty reception she was pleased to have a friendly exchange.
‘One day after school I was mugged. Three days later my father took me to self-defence classes. The instructor believed in surprise and effectiveness, not orthodoxy. It was one of his moves.’
‘Very unorthodox, but effective nonetheless.’
Brian Saunders had entered the room. Coffee in hand, he sat at the head of the table.
‘Three days since Lucy went missing and still no leads from family and friends.’ He turned to Ed. ‘How did you get on at the school?’
‘No major advance.’ Ed wished she had something more substantial for her first contribution. ‘The Head said Lucy’s a good student. Not top academically but smart. Solid and reliable were the words used. She’s aiming for university and expected to be successful.’
‘What about the friend, Debbie?’
‘Thanks, Nat, I was just coming to her.’ Ed looked at the others. Only Jenny gave a brief sympathetic smile.
‘To continue, Lucy and Debbie benefited from working together. The Head confirmed they weren’t very outgoing, tending to keep to themselves. However, she said we should be wary of letting Lucy’s young appearance and withdrawn behaviour influence our judgement.’
‘How come?’ asked Saunders.
‘Apparently Lucy’s emotionally and intellectually mature for her age. She’s a very confident speaker. She and Debbie avoid most voluntary activities, but Lucy’s a keen member of the debating society. Last year, she organized a debate on religious universals, visiting speakers, the lot. Lucy was in the lower sixth at the time, but it was voted the best event of the year.’
‘That explains the box file I found in her room,’ said Jenny.
‘Box file?’ Saunders looked across the table enquiringly.
‘Notes on various religions. They must have been for the debate she organized.’
‘I’ve just checked, forensics found nothing in the box of relevance to her abduction,’ added Ed.
‘And she’s no special friends other than Debbie?’ asked Saunders.
‘That’s what the Head said.’
Saunders turned to his right. ‘Nat, what did you get from records?’
The young DC opened a file but didn’t refer to it as he started to speak.
‘Nothing to indicate local sex offenders would get involved in anything like this, but I found a similar case from four years back.’
‘Kimberley Hibben,’ said Potts, clearly thinking this was his territory.
Saunders held up a hand. ‘Okay, Mike, you worked on the investigation. Let Nat give us the case notes, then you can expand.’
‘New Year’s Day 2008, Kimberley Hibben, 17 years old, was abducted. She was walking home from work at a local DIY superstore to her parents’ house four minutes away on the Sturry Road. The next day, her mother reported her missing at …’
At this point Nat’s eyes shifted to the notes in the file.
‘… 17.46. Kimberley was found by her boyfriend Callum …’
Again Nat glanced at the file.
‘… Woodcock, almost seven weeks later at 18.30 on Sunday, 17 February. He carried her unconscious body to her parents’ place. Nobody reported Kimberley’s return until the next day. She refused a medical examination but she appeared unharmed and in good health.’
Nat looked up before adding, ‘The case was dropped for lack of evidence.’
‘Okay, Mike, what more can you tell us?’ asked Saunders.
‘We suspected the boyfriend, Callum, with her connivance. On the Sunday she was found, he claimed he’d been watching football at the pub. Said he arrived home just before 18.30 and found Kimberley apparently unconscious and rolled in a heavyweight duvet on his garden path. He picked her up and carried her home by which time she’d recovered. Like Callum, Kimberley’s parents had been drinking since midday. They all celebrated with more drink, Callum stayed the night with Kimberley and nobody thought to report her return until Monday afternoon.’
Mike sat back, seemingly content to have made his contribution. Nat, who’d continued to look at the file, took the opportunity to speak.
‘Callum also lived on the Sturry Road, about fifty yards from Kimberley.’
‘Sorry to interrupt, Brian,’ said Ed, glancing at the DI, who nodded. ‘Kimberley was abducted and returned on the Sturry Road. What’s it like at that point?’
Mike leant forward and swung into his stride.
‘Well, the Sturry Road is normally busy, morning and evening, vehicles entering and leaving the city, some pedestrians and lunchtime traffic, but remember the dates. Kimberley was taken on New Year’s Day and returned early on a Sunday evening. At those times the Sturry Road could be deserted for minutes at a time, perhaps longer. Snatching the girl would require a bit of luck that she was alone on the street but when it came to dumping her, the abductor could simply wait for the right moment.’
‘Why did you think it was down to Callum and Kimberley?’ asked Ed.
‘I was convinced they wanted to be together. Their problem was her parents. Mum and Dad didn’t like Callum. They’d have opposed marriage, possibly already had.’
Mike was warming to his story.
‘Of course, it was all change when Callum arrived with Kimberley in his ar
ms. She’d been missing for the best part of seven weeks. Mum and Dad behaved as if the sun shone out of his arse.’ Mike reddened and glanced at Ed. ‘Sorry.’
Ed smiled. ‘You should hear the language at the Met.’ Then it was her turn to pause. She’d done it again. She must stop banging on about the Met.
‘The second reason we suspected them was Kimberley’s reluctance to give any detailed information about the time she was held captive. She refused a medical examination, saying nothing bad had happened, she hadn’t been hurt. A month later Kimberley and Callum were re-questioned. Kimberley told a WPC she was embarrassed because she’d had sex with Callum on the night of her return. We didn’t buy that. We were sure Callum had her holed up somewhere and they’d been having it off all the time she was missing.’
Mike paused but continued quickly before anybody could interrupt his flow.
‘There was a third reason. She was found in the clothes she’d been wearing when she went missing. The point is they looked fresh and clean, as if she’d just put them on.’
The case was new to Jenny. She’d been quiet but clearly listening intently.
‘Why would someone abduct a young woman, hold her for seven weeks, then return her in freshly laundered clothes?’
‘Exactly,’ said Mike, ‘that’s just our point. The clean clothes supported our view that she’d been holed up with Callum. She’d been somewhere she could look after herself. It convinced us the abduction story was a complete fabrication.’
‘Pity there was no medical,’ said Ed.
Saunders resumed control of the meeting.
‘A medical examination wouldn’t have helped. She said she hadn’t been hurt and this appeared to be the case. Had we found evidence of sexual activity she could’ve attributed this to her having had sex with Callum the night she got back home.’
‘What about drugs?’ asked Ed.
‘Okay, that’s something we are missing,’ acknowledged Saunders. ‘Kimberley said she couldn’t tell us about her time in captivity because she was either sleeping or very woozy.’