Silent Graves

by Sally Rigby

  ‘Nothing useful, guv, as we didn’t look as far back as that.’

  ‘No problem. Ellie, I want you to look into all cases of missing teenage girls from the late 70s to early 80s. We may have to identify our bodies by a process of elimination.’

  ‘Yes, guv,’ Ellie said.

  ‘I can help with that,’ Brian said.

  ‘Okay. The rest of you, anything come up regarding the farm?’

  ‘The farm has been owned by the same family for over a hundred years, going back through the generations,’ Doug said.

  ‘Yes, Gibson mentioned they’d farmed there for a hundred and fifty years.’

  ‘More recently, they’ve had to remortgage the farm itself.’

  ‘Interesting. Gibson said they’d had some financial difficulties, and that’s why they went down the route of using the land for housing. He hadn’t mentioned them remortgaging farm, only that he applied for a mortgage for the development, which he referred to as being a financial backstop. This suggests it was more than that.’

  ‘It seems unlikely that the family would be involved in burying the bodies,’ Doug said.

  ‘What makes you say that?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘If it was somebody at the farm who knew the bodies were there, they would have chosen different land to develop, or moved the bodies prior to all the excavation.’

  ‘It’s something to consider, but it’s way too early to discount them. It could have been someone who’s no longer around. Or someone who had worked for them back then. Frank, I want you to look into all family members, past and present. Right now, Anthony lives in the main farmhouse with his wife, their fifteen-year-old twin sons, and his father.’

  ‘I’ve already established there are no police records relating to Gibson or his family,’ Frank said.

  ‘Keep digging, find out about who lived there before Anthony as he only took over twenty years ago. Meena, I want you to look into all employees going back at least fifty years. I’d like to have that information before we interview Gibson again.’

  ‘Yes, guv.’

  ‘As soon as you have any significant information, let me know,’ she said to all of them. ‘I’ll be in my office if you need me.’

  She returned to her desk and stared at her computer screen. It would take time to get used to the different atmosphere from having new people on the team. She’d only been seated for ten minutes when she saw Ellie heading in her direction.

  ‘I’ve got something,’ the officer said as she opened the door. ‘Two sixteen-year-old girls from Lenchester were reported missing in May 1980.’

  ‘And what happened to them?’

  ‘That’s the strange thing. Nothing. They were reported missing, and that’s all there is on record. No update on whether they were found. It’s very poor record-keeping.’

  ‘You’ll probably find all the information you need in the paper files. Only the basics would have been put into digital format. We’re talking decades ago, remember. You’ll need to locate the original files and see what else is in there.’

  ‘I’ll need a requisition form completing before the records department will release them to me.’

  ‘I’ll email it to them straight away. Knowing records, though, it will take a while before we get access to them. Assuming that they’re all in the correct place following the move, and what’s the betting they aren’t?’ she said grinning.

  ‘I’m with you on that,’ Ellie said, nodding.

  ‘Without knowing anything more than they were reported missing, we should work on the assumption that the bodies could be them, so find out what you can about the disappearances. Were there any other teen girls reported missing at the same time?’

  ‘There were some, but they were either on their own or eventually found. This was the only report of two girls going missing together, not just around the same time, they were best friends and just disappeared one day.’

  It was certainly pointing to them, but without DNA evidence it would just be supposition.

  ‘Let me have their names and families’ contact details. I’m assuming you’ve already got them.’ She knew how Ellie worked.

  ‘I’ll text them to you. The girls are Jayne Kennedy, parents Nancy and Don. Anita Bailey, parents Gwen and Toby. Both families still live in the area.’

  That was a bonus.

  ‘Good work, Ellie.’

  They returned to the incident room, and Whitney wrote their names on the board. ‘Ellie’s found records of two missing girls from 1980. The files are sparse to say the least and we’re going to requisition the originals from archives. Brian, first thing in the morning you and I will visit the families. We need some DNA to test. We can test the parents or, if they have kept anything, something belonging to the girls themselves.’

  Chapter 6

  Whitney opened the email she’d just received from the pathology department and sighed. The missing girls weren’t in the DNA database. She wasn’t surprised as DNA wasn’t collected so routinely all those years ago. She stood, intending to head into the incident room, and caught sight of Brian taking off his coat and hanging it on the coat stand. She glanced at her watch. It was after nine. Her eyes met with his and she beckoned him to her office.

  ‘Morning, guv,’ he said, closing the door behind him.

  ‘I expected to see you earlier than this. Had you forgotten we’re going to go visit the families?’

  ‘No, I hadn’t but we can’t go too early. We have to give the parents time to get up and dressed.’

  ‘We don’t operate strict office times, as we often work late, however you were the last person to arrive this morning. It doesn’t look good for a sergeant. I expect you to be in first in the future.’

  ‘Sorry. I had something to deal with. It won’t happen again.’

  She wasn’t going to pry into his private life. He’d confide in her if he needed to and unless it affected his work, it wasn’t her problem.

  ‘Okay. We’ll leave at ten. When you go into the incident room ask Meena to come in to see me.’

  She’d speak to her first before going in to see the rest of the team, to allow Brian a chance to sort himself out.

  ‘Is there anything wrong?’ he asked, holding the door handle.

  ‘No. Should there be?’

  ‘I worked with Meena at Willsden and was surprised to see her assigned to this team.’

  ‘Why?’ Was there something she should know?

  ‘She’s conscientious and does whatever is asked of her, but that’s about it. From my experience, you should know that she seldom shows initiative. I was sold this position based on it being a high-profile team with you at the helm. Senior management recognise you as a case solver. It’s going to be my stepping-stone to promotion.’

  He was sold the position. That was the first she’d heard of it. And why wasn’t she given the choice whether to have him on the team? Whose ear did he have?

  ‘We can’t all be high-flyers within a team, or it wouldn’t be very effective. I’m sure Meena will be fine with the right guidance … which I’m trusting you will give.’

  ‘Yes, guv.’

  ‘Thank you. I understand that coming into a team where two thirds of the members know each other isn’t easy, but it will soon settle, for everyone.’

  ‘Yes, guv. I’ll send her in.’

  She watched him go over to Meena. Whatever he said, she glanced at Whitney appearing panicked. Then she hurried over and knocked on Whitney’s door, even though she could see Whitney was looking at her.

  ‘Come in. Close the door behind you.’

  The rest of the team were watching. It was going to take time to get used to the goldfish bowl she’d found herself in. There was the option to keep the blind closed, but that would separate her too much from the team. She’d work it out.

  ‘Is there a problem, guv?’ Meena asked, standing by the desk her fists balled by her side.

  ‘Sit down. I wanted to ask how your first day went yester
day, that’s all. It’s just a friendly chat.’

  The officer visibly breathed a sigh of relief and sat on the chair in front of Whitney’s desk. ‘It’s all new, but it seemed okay. There’s a good atmosphere and I like the other team members, but …’ her voice tailed off.

  ‘But?’ Whitney pushed.

  ‘I was just surprised to be on the same team as the sarge. He doesn’t think I’m good at my job.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘It was the impression I got at Willsden from odd remarks he’d made.’

  ‘That’s in the past. Remember, you’re a part of my team, now and I judge people from what I observe myself, and not what others tell me. I’m sure you’ll do well here. Frank, Doug and Ellie have worked together for a long time. They all have excellent abilities and bring something different to the team. Stick with them and you’ll be just fine.’

  ‘Thanks, guv,’ Meena said, giving a smile of relief as she stood and returned to the incident room.

  Whitney watched her make a beeline for Doug. She sat beside him, and they began talking.

  At five minutes to ten, she went into the incident room. ‘Pathology has emailed to let me know the girls aren’t in the DNA database. It’s up to us to identify them. Brian and I are visiting the families of the missing girls Ellie found yesterday. Hopefully, that will produce something.’ She headed over to Brian’s desk. ‘Are you ready?’

  ‘Yes, guv.’

  They headed out of the station to his car. ‘We’ll go to the Kennedy house first, in Landcross Road.’

  ‘You’re clutching at straws if you think they’re going to have anything belonging to their daughter after all this time,’ Brian said.

  Spoken like a person who didn’t have children.

  ‘Don’t bank on it. When a parent loses a child, it’s life altering. I’ve heard of people keeping their dead child’s room in the exact state as it was when they’d died, for years after. Remember, if all else fails, we can take a DNA sample from the parents. One way or another, we will find out whether their children are our victims.’

  ‘Yes, guv.’

  ‘Do you have any children, Brian?’ she asked, to clarify what she’d previously thought.

  ‘No. I’m not even in a serious relationship. I’ve got more important things to concentrate on.’

  She understood the desire to be career focused. Since joining the force at eighteen, after having her daughter Tiffany, she’d put all of her energy into her career. Although … recently she’d rekindled her friendship with Tiffany’s father, who she hadn’t spoken to since she’d left school. Her daughter had no idea Whitney had met him, as she’d been in Australia for almost a year.

  Whitney hoped to see Tiffany at Christmas. Then she’d drop the bombshell. She had no idea how Tiffany would take it. Whitney had only ever referred to the conception happening one drunken night, with a waste of space loser. It turned out that Martin was anything but. Deep down, Whitney was hoping their relationship might develop into something more serious. If she had time. Which reminded her, she was going to call him later to invite him down for the weekend.

  ‘I get where you’re coming from. But remember, there’s more to life than the job,’ she said.

  ‘Not at my age.’

  ‘Well, just make sure life doesn’t pass you by. The years go so quickly. One day you’re in your twenties, and the next you’re knocking on forty, without the faintest idea where the time went.’

  ‘I take it you’re speaking from experience,’ he said, a wry grin on his face.

  ‘Something like that. We want twenty-six Landcross Road.’

  He keyed the address into the satnav and they drove to the small Victorian terraced house in the St James area of the city.

  They parked on the road outside and walked up the short path to the door. Whitney shivered and pulled her coat tightly around her. She hated the cold and couldn’t wait for winter to be over. Two minutes after she’d rung the bell, an elderly woman in her seventies answered.

  ‘Mrs Kennedy?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I’m Detective Chief Inspector Walker and this is Detective Sergeant Chapman.’ She held out her warrant card. ‘We’d like to come in and talk to you about your daughter, Jayne.’

  The woman’s eyes widened. ‘What?’

  ‘Your daughter, Jayne.’

  ‘Yes, I know who you mean, but why do you want to talk now? She disappeared years ago.’

  ‘We’d rather discuss this inside. Is Mr Kennedy here?’

  ‘Yes, he’s in the lounge. Come on in.’ Mrs Kennedy opened the door and ushered them inside.

  ‘Thank you.’

  They followed her into the lounge where Mr Kennedy was seated at one end of the black leather sofa reading the newspaper.

  ‘It’s the police, Don,’ Mrs Kennedy said. ‘They’re here about Jayne.’

  He dropped his newspaper and jumped up. ‘Why?’

  ‘Please will you sit down.’ She waited until they were both seated on the sofa before sitting on the leather chair to the side of them. She nodded for Brian to wait by the window as there wasn’t another chair.

  ‘I know it’s been many years, but we are investigating the discovery of two bodies at a farm in the area—’

  Mrs Kennedy gasped and clutched at her chest. ‘Do you think it’s Jayne?’

  ‘It’s early stages, and we don’t yet have a formal identification. All we know is the victims were both girls aged around sixteen. Records show that you reported Jayne missing at the time we believe the girls died.’

  She didn’t want to use the word murdered yet as they didn’t know how they’d died, even though it was most likely that’s what had happened.

  ‘T-the police wouldn’t listen to us. They were convinced the girls had run away, and we kept insisting they hadn’t, but no one believed us. Did they?’ She looked at her husband who was staring directly at Whitney, his face set like stone.

  ‘Did you have any contact with Jayne and her friend Anita after they’d disappeared?’

  ‘No. The police were adamant they’d run away to London. They said they’d been seen at the station waiting for a train.’

  Whitney would investigate that. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the luxury of CCTV on every street corner all those years ago.

  ‘Is there anything else you can tell us about what happened? We haven’t yet got the files out of storage so your input could help speed up the investigation and identification of the remains.’

  ‘After the police refused to listen to us, we decided to look for the girls ourselves. We couldn’t sit back and wait like they told us to. We put notices in the newspapers and stuck up leaflets in the library and on lamp posts. B-but no one came forward. It was like they’d never existed, they …’ The woman choked on her words.

  ‘Did the police help with the search?’ Whitney asked gently.

  ‘No. In fact, they told us to stop wasting our time. They said they’d come home when they were ready,’ Mr Kennedy said, taking over as his wife silently sobbed.

  ‘Did Anita’s parents help you?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘Half-heartedly,’ Mr Kennedy said. ‘They believed the police.’

  The pain in his voice was almost tangible. It wrenched at Whitney’s gut.

  ‘Did Jayne have any money on her on the day she disappeared?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘I think she did,’ Mrs Kennedy said, after sniffing. ‘All she took with her that day was her handbag. After she’d gone and I was searching her bedroom for something to help us find her, I found her building society book and saw that a few days prior she’d taken most of the money out of it.’

  ‘How much did she have?’

  ‘Two hundred pounds. She’d been saving since she was a child.’

  ‘That was a lot of money all those years ago. Did you mention it to the police?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘No, because we thought it would stop them looking for her. But the
y stopped anyway.’ She bowed her head. ‘We kept telling them she wouldn’t have run away. Also, why didn’t she take any clothes with her? Surely if she’d planned to leave home, she’d have taken more than her handbag.’

  What on earth were the investigating officers doing? Mrs Kennedy was right, they would definitely have taken some clothes with them.

  ‘For us to identify whether one of the bodies we’ve found is Jayne, we ideally need something with her DNA on it. Did you, by any chance, keep anything of hers?’

  Mrs Kennedy glanced at her husband. ‘In the loft we have a box of Jayne’s possessions,’ he said.

  ‘Could you get it for us, please?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘I’ll help,’ Brian said.

  He left the room with Mr Kennedy.

  ‘Do you have any other children?’ Whitney asked.

  ‘Yes, a daughter, Natasha, she was three years younger than Jayne.’

  ‘Does she live close by?’ After the shock the elderly couple had just received, Whitney would have liked them to have someone with them.

  ‘She lives in Norwich with her family.’

  ‘Would you like us to contact her for you?’

  ‘No, thank you. You don’t know for sure if this is Jayne and I don’t want to worry her until we know for certain. If it is, can we have a funeral for her? It would help.’

  ‘You can, but we have to wait until the coroner has completed her investigation and given permission for your daughter to be returned to you. Will you tell me about the girls?’

  ‘Jayne wasn’t perfect and was often in trouble. But she was also loving and kind. The two girls were best friends and inseparable. Anita was the bossy one, and she often persuaded Jayne to do things I’m sure she wouldn’t have done otherwise.’

  Whitney went on alert. Had they been involved in something which caused them to lose their lives?

  ‘When you say she was often in trouble, what sort of things did they get up to?’

  ‘They were caught stealing sweets from the local newsagents,’ Mrs Kennedy said.

  Hardly worth getting killed over.

  ‘Were they punished?’

  ‘No. Luckily, they just got a warning, and the police weren’t involved.’