by G D Sanders
‘I was asked to do a piece linking the Lucy Naylor and Kimberley Hibben abductions. I thought Kimberley was my best bet. It was easy to befriend her. She’s not in a good place at the moment and appreciated someone to talk to, a little bit of tender loving care. She liked the sound of more cash than she’d seen in her lifetime just for telling a story that’s from way back in her past. What you’ve read is pretty much what I got.’
Ed made a mental note that the Kimberley Hibben case had not been Saunders and Potts’s finest hour. ‘What about Teresa Mulholland? Did you trace and interview her?’
‘No, she and her family moved out of the area a year after the abduction.’
‘Where are they now?’
‘I haven’t been able to trace them.’
Ed disguised her disappointment. ‘Go on.’
‘I used The Chronicle’s files to read what was written at the time. Only a fraction of what was in the file went into the article published in 2002.’
Rebecca waited while Mike put down the coffees and resumed his seat.
‘Teresa came from a respectable churchgoing family, her father made a small fortune as a solicitor and they lived in a substantial detached house in Nackington Road. On Friday, 8 March 2002 she was on her way home from a Bible study class when she was snatched around 6 p.m. in sight of her home. Five weeks later she was found by a Mrs Siddenham, unconscious but alive and well, in the porch of St Mary’s. According to Siddenham, six weeks after Teresa was found, the family went abroad for a holiday. The father came back after a couple of weeks but Teresa and her mother remained on the continent.’
‘Are the Mulhollands still abroad?’ asked Mike.
‘No. As I told your colleague, when mother and daughter returned a year later they were not back in Canterbury for more than a couple of weeks before the whole family moved away. Siddenham happened to meet Teresa in the street one morning. She said she was well and going to train as a teacher but she said nothing about the family’s imminent departure.’
‘In today’s Virgin Births article you don’t say very much about Teresa but you imply that all three cases are linked.’
Rebecca smiled. ‘I need material for a follow-up. Teresa’s story will be better when I can get the details directly from her mouth.’
‘Your article implies that Teresa and Kimberley were not sexually molested but both were pregnant. At the moment you only have Kimberley’s word for that.’
‘Come on, Detective Sergeant, why else would the Mulhollands go abroad? My guess is that she had an abortion in a private clinic on the continent.’
Ed drank some of her coffee but Rebecca ignored the one Mike had put in front of her.
‘In your article you also imply the third victim, Lucy Naylor, will be found unharmed but pregnant. What do you know about Lucy?’
‘Probably less than you but my piece will bring the national, perhaps international, press to the Naylors’ door. If Lucy is returned and the family have the press dogging their footsteps for a week or two I reckon they’ll be only too glad to talk to a sympathetic young reporter from the local paper.’
Mike stopped scratching the side of his nose. ‘I thought you’d left The Chronicle.’
Rebecca turned to face him with a smile. ‘I’m sure I’ll be able to finesse that issue should it arise.’
Cynical bitch, thought Ed as she brought the interview to an end. ‘Thank you for your cooperation, Ms Hawthorne, I’ll be sure to mention it to the Chief Superintendent. We shall probably want to speak to you again. Give DS Potts your contact details and let us know if you plan to leave town.’
38
The following morning, Ed was at her desk early, checking CCTV tapes. She was making a final note when Sergeant Williams called from the front desk to say Maxine Anders was on the line.
‘Thanks, Barry, put her through,’ said Ed, keeping any sense of puzzlement from her voice. It was only two days since they’d questioned Stephan Anders’s wife; why should she want to speak again so soon? ‘Mrs Anders, this is Detective Sergeant Ed Ogborne, how may I help?’
‘I must speak to you.’
‘That’s not a problem. Come to the Station. Any time in the next hour would be good.’
‘But it is a problem. I’ve been steeling myself to do this ever since you came to the house.’ Maxine’s voice sounded tense but determined. ‘Not the Station, somewhere else – I want to speak privately and in confidence.’
‘We can speak privately outside the Station but I can’t guarantee it will be in confidence. If your information is relevant, I’ll be obliged to share it with my colleagues. Subsequently, we may require you to make a formal statement.’
‘Listen to what I have to say first. Where can we meet?’
‘Deakin’s at 9.30?’
‘I’ll be there.’
Ed arrived and joined a distressed Maxine Anders at a remote corner table.
‘What do you want to tell me?’
‘There are rumours that the abducted girls were pregnant. Is that true?’
‘You shouldn’t believe all you read in the papers.’
‘It’s not just the papers.’
It’s a small world, thought Ed. She remained silent, waiting for Maxine to continue.
‘I love my husband very much. When we met at university you could say I was infatuated, swept off my feet. It was a coup de foudre. He felt the same. I would have gone anywhere with him, done anything for him. I have done things, things I would never have imagined myself doing.’
‘What has this to do with our investigation?’
‘From the first we both knew we wanted to be together, to have children together. We tried immediately after graduation, but it didn’t happen. We had tests and discovered Stephan would never have children of his own.’
‘How is this relevant to the abductions?’
‘The girls were pregnant. Stephan couldn’t have done that.’
‘Your husband’s medical records are confidential.’
Maxine’s eyes had reddened. She was close to tears. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out an envelope.
‘Stephan got this confirmatory letter. I keep all important documents. Here’s his alibi.’
Ed glanced at the letter. ‘It’s not an alibi for the abductions but it’s suggestive. Thank you for telling me. I’ll share this information with my colleagues but I don’t think we’ll need to take it further.’
‘You must believe me. He didn’t do it. Stephan is not that kind of man. I can’t bear you should think he abducted those girls.’
When Ed returned to the Station, the team were in the CID Room ready to discuss progress.
‘Where are we with our suspects? Mike?’
‘The Anderses’ computers show Stephan and Maxine belonged to swingers’ clubs. They attended sex parties but, as far as we can tell, no hardcore S&M, more partner swapping and voyeurism.’
Nat looked at Jenny across the desks and smiled. ‘There were several shots of the sexy Maxine in her schoolgirl gear.’
Jenny looked at Ed and raised her eyebrows.
‘There’s nothing interesting on Carlton’s computer,’ continued Mike. ‘We found lots of stuff on running. Everything else is to do with art. I didn’t realize you can take virtual tours around all the major art galleries these days. That must be great for—’
‘Thanks, Mike,’ said Ed firmly. ‘It’s important to have background information but we can forget Alex Carlton and probably Stephan Anders too.’
Mike looked surprised but his half-formed ‘Why’ was interrupted.
‘How come?’ asked Nat peevishly.
Jenny looked expectantly at Ed. ‘You’ve uncovered new evidence?’
‘For Carlton, yes, but for Anders the evidence, such as it is, came from his wife, Maxine.’
‘What have you got on Carlton?’ asked Mike.
‘He’s got a cast-iron alibi. He was nowhere near Wincheap at 22.00 on Friday, 15 June, when Lucy was abducted.’
‘Why didn’t he tell us that himself?’ asked Nat.
‘Because it hadn’t occurred to him there would be evidence to prove it. He runs alone and, when he got back, his wife was asleep.’
‘If he didn’t know, how did you find out?’
‘Carlton’s like the rest of us, Nat. We don’t always know what’s best for us, do we?’
Ed gave Nat a moment to ponder her remark before launching into an explanation.
‘Our prime aim is to identify the perpetrator but part of that process involves trying to narrow the field, eliminating people by establishing alibis. So I—’
‘We’ve had precious little luck with alibis,’ cut in Nat.
Ed flashed him a needle-eyed look but otherwise ignored him.
‘I got the idea from the caretaker. Podzansky keeps a record of his fishing and, it occurred to me, many joggers keep records of their runs.’
‘And so …’ said Nat.
‘I thought Carlton might have a record of his run for the day Lucy was taken.’
‘But we agreed that Podzansky’s record could have been faked,’ said Nat. ‘The same could be true for Carlton’s record.’
‘But for Carlton the evidence isn’t his running log, it’s CCTV along his route. If I could pick him up on CCTV at the time Lucy was being snatched, we could eliminate him.’
‘Right …’ said Nat with dawning appreciation.
Mike was showing signs of a growing interest while Jenny was looking at her boss with undisguised admiration.
‘I got his training routes and times for the evening Lucy was taken. The CCTV tapes for the evening of 15 June show Carlton was well clear of Wincheap. He was running a loop from Canterbury West up to the University, out to Sturry and back into the City. I got him on CCTV in several places. There’s no way he could have abducted Lucy. At the time she was taken, Alex Carlton was near the level crossing in Sturry.’
‘Sounds like a solid alibi to me,’ said Mike.
‘For the record, Mike, perhaps you and Jenny could double-check the tapes.’
‘You also said you had something new on Anders,’ said Jenny.
‘I’ve just had a chat with Maxine Anders. She wanted to give her husband an alibi.’
‘But she was out late with her girlfriends,’ objected Nat.
‘She was and her evidence doesn’t give Stephan a cast-iron alibi but it strongly suggests he wasn’t the abductor.’ Ed paused. Nat opened his mouth to speak but she motioned him quiet with an upraised hand.
‘It’s a sensitive medical issue. I don’t want it to go further than this room. I don’t think we’ll need to use it but it’s enough to stand down our work on Stephan Anders.’
‘Why should we drop Anders? What’s the evidence?’
‘I’m coming to that, Mike. Maxine showed me a medical report. Her husband’s sterile. He can’t father children. We’ve reason to believe the abductor impregnated Teresa and Kimberley, so, unless he’s using another man’s sperm, which I doubt—’ Ed glanced in Nat’s direction but avoided catching his eye ‘—it can’t be Stephan.’
‘That’s good enough for me,’ said Mike.
‘The king of the swingers fires blanks,’ observed Nat with a smile.
Any response to Nat’s comment was prevented by the sound of Ed’s telephone. It was Addler with a summons to her office.
Ed’s knock was immediately followed by a muffled ‘Come!’ The Super indicated her visitor’s chair and shuffled some papers.
‘You’ll be pleased to hear that the documents have arrived confirming your position here as Detective Inspector. The promotion is effective from the first of June.’ Addler reached for her fountain pen, checked the cap was properly in place and returned it to the pen tray on her desk before redirecting her gaze to Ed’s face. ‘DI Ogborne, congratulations are in order. Let’s hope this news coincides with a fresh impetus in your investigation.’
‘Thank you, Ma’am.’ Hiding her annoyance that Addler should think a promotion would improve her performance, Ed continued, ‘As for the investigation, I can assure you that I and the team are giving it our full attention.’
‘As you should, Ogborne, as you should. Missing local schoolgirls attract a great deal of media and public interest. These are cases we need to solve quickly yet you’ve had three weeks and it seems you’ve made little progress.’
Ed sought to counter the rebuke by reminding the Super there were other colleagues who’d not covered themselves in glory. ‘And the missing records, Ma’am, has anything come to light?’
‘I’ve instigated an inquiry. You’ll hear as soon as I have something.’ Addler reached again for her pen. ‘If that’s all, DI Ogborne …’
‘Thank you, Ma’am. Actually, there was something else, two advances I was planning to report to you later today.’
Visibly annoyed at being wrong-footed, Addler responded brusquely. ‘Why wait? Tell me now.’
‘I was waiting for Mike and Jenny to double-check some CCTV but I’m confident they’ll confirm my observations.’ Ed paused, waiting for Addler to request a confirmed report as soon as it was available, but the Super was riled and impatient.
‘So? Tell me, what are these advances you claim to have made?’
‘I believe we can drop two suspects from our inquiries. Alex Carlton can be seen on a training run through Sturry at the time Lucy was abducted: he’s in the clear.’
‘And?’
‘The second isn’t an alibi as such. We have reason to believe Teresa and Kimberley were pregnant when the abductor released them. I’ve seen evidence that Anders is sterile so he couldn’t have impregnated them. He’s not completely in the clear, but I judge it sufficient to stand down our investigation of Stephan Anders.’
‘So, one eliminated and one out of the picture, at least for the moment. How many does that leave?’
‘Four, Ma’am, two teachers, Grieves and Leaman, Podzansky, the school caretaker, and Drakes-Moulton, a local estate agent.’
At the last name, Addler twitched. ‘Important people in this town, Ogborne. I want them cleared and the perpetrator arrested, fast. It’s taken you three weeks to sort out two, for your sake, I hope it doesn’t take six to clear the remaining four.’ The pen was back in Addler’s hand and she was pulling a document towards her. ‘If that’s all, Ogborne …’
‘Yes, Ma’am. Thank you, Ma’am.’
Leaving the Super’s office, Ed wondered if Addler really believed the perpetrator wasn’t one of the four remaining suspects and decided it must have been a slip of the tongue. At that moment, her mobile buzzed: it was Brian Saunders, determined to be the first to offer his congratulations. When she got back to the CID Room, Mike was on the phone. He ended the conversation with an ‘okay’ and glanced towards the door, which opened to reveal Jenny and Nat with a cake and coffees from Deakin’s.
‘Congratulations, Ma’am!’ said the two DCs in unison with DS Mike Potts half a second behind.
‘Thank you.’ Ed smiled. ‘But less of the Ma’am.’
Ed was annoyed Addler should think the promotion was her news to disseminate, but touched to see all of the team appeared genuinely happy for her. Feeling misty-eyed, she cut the small cake into four pieces.
‘I had no warning the papers would come through today so it’s short notice but, if you can make it to the pub this evening, the drinks are on me.’
39
The mini celebration went well. There’d been no further mention of Drakes-Moulton but as she walked to her hotel, Ed heard Verity’s warning voice in her head. Be careful … he always wants to have something on people. At the moment, with Nigel a suspect, she needed to be on her guard at work. It would make sense to do the same outside work. Perhaps it was time to suggest they cool it for a bit.
Ed didn’t believe for a minute Nigel was responsible for Lucy’s disappearance. If he was into young women she was sure he could take his pick; he certainly wouldn’t risk anything as crazy as abduction. She
was confident he’d be eliminated from their inquiries but, should he become aware he was a suspect, he might see evidence of their affair as some kind of insurance. Confident she could nip any possible danger in the bud, Ed decided to cite pressure of work and suggest a break until the case was resolved. Entering the hotel and taking the lift to her room she allowed a buzz of excitement to occupy her thoughts. Today she’d made Detective Inspector, and tomorrow she was moving into her new home. Tonight she must pack.
Ed arranged her two suitcases on the bed and went to get clothes from the wardrobe. On opening the door the internal light failed to come on. She shrugged; the gloomy interior wasn’t a problem because everything had to be packed. Ed began removing hangers and laying the clothes beside her cases. Turning back for more, she noticed a spot of light at the back of the wardrobe. Puzzled she reached to touch it. The spot disappeared and there was a brighter circle of light on the back of her hand. She’d seen something similar in London while on a case with the Met. Rotating her wrist, Ed caught the light on her palm and moved her hand towards the front of the wardrobe to locate the light source. Glancing at the outside of the panel above the wardrobe door she located a small circular hole all but lost within the complexities of a carving. She covered the hole in the panel with her left hand and the spot of light disappeared from inside the wardrobe.
Intrigued by this suspicious finding, Ed began to treat the room as a crime scene. She pushed her remaining clothes aside to reveal paired holes from staples, which had held wire in place. Tracing the route of the cable-holders she found another hole in the side of the wardrobe, close to a double power socket hidden beneath the adjacent desk. The desk lamp was plugged into one socket while the other, nearer the wardrobe, was empty. Her suspicion was confirmed. She was sure the hole in the carved panel had housed a spy camera.
The case in London had involved industrial espionage. It seemed unlikely that a provincial market town would be the location for business secrets which would warrant the employment of such technology and effort. Mentally, Ed chided herself for being too metrocentric. The technology was readily available and relatively inexpensive. Still, industrial espionage seemed unlikely. The camera wouldn’t give a view of the desk or the two chairs. From its position above the wardrobe door it would be pointing at the bed. Evidence for a divorce, blackmail, sex for whatever reason, seemed more likely candidates.