Only a few miles away, a distraught mother was counting on their every action, and Kay was determined that she wouldn’t let down Annette Victor.
‘Any news on whether Robert Victor is home?’ she said.
‘No.’
Kay swallowed, thankful that at least Annette had the support of Hazel Aldridge while the televised appeal went out.
‘Here we go,’ said Sharp, and took a sip of water.
The ceiling lights dimmed at the back of the room, turning everyone’s attention to the Kent Police logo behind Kay and Sharp.
A silence filled the space.
The DCI took his cue from Joanne, who counted in the seconds to the live broadcast, and then began to speak.
‘My name is Detective Chief Inspector Devon Sharp, and I’m joined today by Detective Inspector Kay Hunter.’ Introductions made, he launched into the prepared press release.
As Kay listened, she kept her eyes on the crowd, peering through the flashes of cameras and phones at the hushed throng of media professionals.
Despite a healthy animosity towards some of them, she recognised they would do all they could to spread the word about Alice, even if their end goal was different to hers.
For some of the reporters, the little girl’s disappearance would be viewed as a godsend to the end of what had been a quiet news week.
For others, especially those with children of their own at home, it would serve as a harsh reminder that danger could lurk within any community, and that they would do anything to find the girl.
‘Any questions?’
Sharp’s voice cut through her thoughts, and Kay dug her fingernails into her palms.
‘Why was Alice on the boat?’ said a male voice from the back of the room.
‘It was a family outing,’ said Sharp. ‘Alice was accompanied by her uncle, Greg Victor. At some point late yesterday, Mr Victor was attacked, and we believe Alice was either taken, or left behind on the boat before she wandered off on her own.’
A cacophony of voices bounced off the ceiling tiles, and Sharp pointed at Jonathan Aspley for the next question.
‘What can you tell us about Greg Victor?’
‘Nothing at the present time,’ said Sharp. ‘That is a separate investigation. Our focus is to find Alice. She’s five years old, alone, and scared. I’d ask all of you to keep your questions in relation to her, please.’
‘Have any ransom demands been made?’ said a female voice to the left of Kay.
‘We haven’t been informed by the family of any ransom demands,’ said Sharp, ‘but kidnapping is a line of enquiry we are pursuing until we have information that lends itself otherwise.’
‘What can people do to help?’
Kay breathed a sigh of relief at the question from a male reporter she recognised from the Kent Messenger.
‘Thank you, Mark,’ said Sharp. ‘We urge all residents who live near the River Medway between Tonbridge and Maidstone to check their properties for any signs of Alice. She may be wandering, trying to find her way home, or confused and lost. Check your outbuildings, garden sheds, garages, for any sign of her as soon as you can. If you have a boat on the river, go and check that, too. It’s not cold at this time of year, but we don’t know what clothing she had on when she went missing, and she certainly hasn’t eaten for twenty-four hours.’
Kay watched as Sharp directed his eyes at the nearest camera before speaking again.
‘Alice will be a very scared little girl, and we need to bring her home to her mother and father as quickly as possible.’
Ten
Kay yawned as she turned off the A20, and smiled at a patrol car that shot past in the opposite direction as she recognised the two occupants.
Her eyes caught the clock on the dashboard display – half past eight.
She was due back to the incident room at seven in the morning to relieve Sharp, but doubted she’d sleep. Having left Headquarters only fifteen minutes ago, she’d already glanced at her mobile phone on the passenger seat twice while stopped at traffic lights, willing a call to come through that would tell her Alice had been found safe.
Bleary-eyed, she weaved her way along a side street and then indicated left, savouring the warmth that blew through the open window and fluttered her hair.
Nearly twelve hours had passed since her phone had shrilled from its position on the bedside table, jostling her awake and delivering the news that a body had been found in the river.
She exhaled as the car crackled over the gravel driveway outside the house and braked to a standstill behind Adam’s new four-wheel drive, the back window emblazoned with the name and phone number for his veterinary surgery.
Easing herself from behind the wheel, she staggered across to the front door.
It swung open before she had a chance to insert her key in the lock and her partner, Adam, enveloped her in a hug.
He held her for a moment, neither of them speaking.
She inhaled the musky scent of his soap, burying her face against the soft cotton white T-shirt he wore over faded jeans, and curled her fingers into the thick wavy black hair at the nape of his neck.
Adam pulled away with a sigh, before leading her into the hallway and closing the door.
‘I saw the press conference,’ he said. ‘No news?’
‘Not yet.’ She reached out and squeezed his hand. ‘I have to find her.’
‘I know.’
Three years ago, Kay had suffered a miscarriage after a wrongful allegation had been made against her at work, and the stress had torn her apart. Finding out she would never have children had been the final cruel blow, and if it wasn’t for Adam at her side, she knew she would have never recovered physically.
The emotional scars remained for both of them.
‘Come on through to the kitchen,’ he said. ‘I figured you wouldn’t want to eat much in the circumstances, so I’ve made soup. You can take the leftovers to work in the morning.’
Kay’s shoulders began to relax as she followed him through to the back of the house, the blue and purple hues of a late summer sunset glowing through the kitchen window above the sink.
She frowned.
A large cage had been placed in the middle of the lawn. A box-like structure took up one side of it, and a long low trough had been set down next to a large ceramic bowl.
‘Rescue chickens,’ said Adam, before she could ask. ‘Three of them. The farmer went broke, and abandoned the whole lot. A neighbour raised the alarm late yesterday. I’m just keeping an eye on them before they get rehomed by a family over at Barming.’
‘What’s wrong with them?’
‘Dehydration, mostly, which is why they’re hiding in the shelter, I expect. They’ll be fine now that they’re out of the place they were being kept in. I’ll monitor them over the next week or so to make sure they haven’t picked up any avian diseases, and then they’ll be good to go.’
Kay noticed his top lip curl. ‘How many were rescued in total?’
‘Forty. The others didn’t make it.’
She ran her hand over his back. ‘But some did.’
‘Yes.’ He managed a smile.
‘Will they lay eggs?’
‘I doubt it. Not after what they’ve been through. They’re all being kept as pets, as far as I know. There were a lot of regulars at the surgery who wanted to help when they heard the battery farm had gone out of business.’
Kay moved to one of the bar stools next to the central worktop and shoved her bag to the far end as Adam placed a glass of wine in front of her before returning to the stove.
An aroma of a rich vegetable broth hung in the air, and her stomach rumbled despite the anxiety that gripped her.
‘What time are you out in the morning?’ he said.
‘Sharp needs me there by seven at the latest,’ she said. ‘He and Carys are working overnight.’
She watched as he reached into a drawer for a ladle and filled two large bowls with soup before setting one down
in front of her, and passed her a spoon.
‘Thanks,’ she said, tearing a slice of bread in half and dunking the crust in the hot liquid. ‘This smells great.’
Although Adam had been right about her stomach flip-flopping with nerves over the investigation, she relished the opportunity to spend some quiet time with him, to take a moment from the onslaught of the amount of information she was having to process, and to recharge before returning to the incident room.
She scraped the last of the soup off her bowl with her spoon, and sat back on the stool.
‘That was fabulous, thanks.’
‘There’s more if you want it?’ Adam raised an eyebrow.
‘I’d better not. I won’t sleep if I’m stuffed.’
She smiled, not wanting him to worry, and pulled her phone out of her bag.
There were no new messages.
‘You’re not going to sleep anyway, are you?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’
Adam pushed the empty bowls away, and took her hand. ‘At least rest.’
‘I’ll try.’ Kay ran a hand through her hair and tried to blink away the tiredness that seized her.
In her mind, the image of Alice’s face haunted her thoughts, and she bit back the fear. She had a job to do, and she would do all she could to reunite the little girl with her mother.
Whatever it took.
Eleven
Gavin Piper slurped the second large cappuccino he’d ordered since six o’clock that morning, and stared at his computer screen.
Half an hour ago, he’d handed a steaming takeaway cup of hot chocolate to Carys before sending her home. His colleague had looked exhausted, her tiredness exacerbated by the lack of progress in locating Alice overnight.
After leaving the incident room the previous evening, he’d headed straight for the gym around the corner from his flat, taking out his frustration with a brutal boxing session that had left him exhausted.
He still hadn’t slept, and his appetite had disappeared.
He hit the refresh icon at the top of the email provider’s website URL for the seventeenth time in the past fifteen minutes, his other hand hovering over the speed dial on his desk phone while his foot tapped the floor.
He scowled as a soft stress ball hit the back of his head and then landed next to the keyboard.
‘If you don’t stop tapping your foot, the next object to hit your head will be the cricket ball Sharp keeps in his office,’ said Barnes.
‘Sorry. Can’t help it.’ Gavin turned away from the screen to find the older detective glaring at him. ‘I just want to find her.’
Barnes’s eyes softened. ‘We all do, Piper. We all do. I take it there’s no news from the boat hire companies?’
‘Not yet. I’m waiting to hear back from a family-run business at Yalding. They should be in by now. Their website says they’re open on Sundays.’
Barnes checked his watch. ‘It’s six forty-five. What time do they open?’
‘Eight.’
‘Give it another half an hour and call them again. And maybe give the caffeine a miss for a few hours.’
‘Okay.’
‘What about the other side of Maidstone? Wasn’t there a boat hire company there?’
‘There’s a small operator just past Allington lock. They’re not in until tomorrow, but I’ve left messages on the mobile number on their site.’ Gavin held up a folder. ‘Carys did a search and found their details on the Companies House website, so if I don’t get an answer from them by nine o’clock, I was going to go over to the address listed to see if I can find someone to talk to.’
‘All right. Sounds like you’ve got it under control,’ said Barnes. ‘Well done.’
Gavin swivelled in his chair as the door to the incident room opened and Kay strode in, mobile phone in hand and her hair tied back in a no-nonsense bun.
‘Morning. Any news?’ she said as she reached Barnes’s desk.
‘Nothing yet,’ said the detective sergeant. ‘Sharp is in his office. I tried to get him to leave an hour ago, but he wouldn’t hear of it.’
The DI’s lips pursed, and in that moment, Gavin saw the strain she was under.
‘Guv, I’m waiting for a phone call back from the boat hire companies but do you want me to grab you a croissant or something for breakfast?’ he said.
‘Thanks – but don’t worry.’ Kay raised a thermos flask she’d been carrying. ‘Adam’s determined I won’t pass out from starvation today, so I’ve got enough soup in here to feed the five thousand. And you wouldn’t believe the size of the breakfast I’ve just had.’
She managed a smile, and put her bags on her desk before knocking on Sharp’s office door.
Gavin turned away as his desk phone began to ring, and cleared his throat before answering. ‘DC Piper.’
‘Gav, it’s Harriet. I’ve just heard back from the underwater search team.’
He beckoned to Barnes before putting the CSI lead on speakerphone. ‘What’ve they found?’
‘Well, I suppose it’s a bit of good news – there’s no sign of Alice in the River Medway. They’ve worked their way between Teston Bridge and Tovil since yesterday morning, including the weirs and lock. They took a break between ten o’clock last night and four o’clock this morning, but along with what we’ve managed to ascertain from our searches along the Medway Path, there’s nothing to suggest that she wandered off on her own. Neither did she fall or get pushed into the river. There’s no sign of her.’
‘So, she was taken by someone,’ said Barnes, running a hand over his chin.
‘That’s what I’m thinking,’ said Harriet. ‘But I’ll leave that to you to investigate.’
‘What about forensics from the boat?’ said Gavin.
‘Still working through them. We got traces of fibres in the decking – it might be old and unrelated to our victim or his killer, but I’ll confirm that once we’ve taken a closer look. As for fingerprints and other trace evidence, it’s going to be a day or so before we’re able to give you the full picture. We’ll update you piecemeal as we find anything of use.’
‘What about the weapon?’ said Barnes. ‘Has that been found?’
‘No – not on the boat, or in the water. The divers are packing up now.’ Harriet covered her phone and spoke to someone in the background before returning to them. ‘Have you heard from Lucas this morning?’
‘Not yet,’ said Gavin. ‘He was hoping to get a chance to do the post mortem this afternoon so we’ll let you know what transpires from that.’
‘Okay, thanks. I’ll call you as soon as I have anything new to report once we’ve assessed our findings.’
His mobile phone began to vibrate on the desk as he replaced the desk phone in its cradle, and he snatched it up.
‘Hello? It’s Frank Hutchins from Nettlestead boat hire near Yalding. Is that Detective Piper?’
‘Yes, yes it is.’ Gavin shoved his keyboard out of the way, flipped open his notebook to a new page, and checked his watch before recording the time and date and underlining it. ‘I’m hoping you can help me.’
‘Does this have anything to do with the missing girl?’
‘It could have a bearing on that investigation, yes.’
‘In that case, what can I do to help?’
The man’s voice was cheerful, and Gavin sensed an underlying eagerness to answer his questions.
‘I have to ask that what we discuss is treated as confidential,’ he said, in an attempt to rein in Hutchins’ clear penchant for gossip.
‘Of course, of course.’ The boat yard’s owner sounded suitably chastened. ‘Mum’s the word.’
‘Thanks. Do you have any bookings for boats in the name of Greg Victor? I’m interested in dates between the beginning of last week and the end of next in particular.’
‘Hang on. I’ll check the calendar. My daughter usually deals with this side of the business – it’s all done electronically through our website, so it takes me a
while to find my way around.’
Gavin muted the phone as Kay emerged from Sharp’s office and headed towards his desk.
‘What’s happening?’ she said.
‘Just got a call back from one of the boat hire companies,’ he said. ‘And Harriet called.’
He started to tap his foot as the seconds dragged out, then stopped as Barnes glared at him.
The detective sergeant began talking to Kay in low tones, bringing her up to date with Harriet’s assertion that the missing girl hadn’t toppled into the water.
‘Hello?’
Gavin’s attention snapped back to the caller. ‘I’m here.’
‘I’ve got nothing in the diary in the name of Greg Victor.’
‘Okay. What about any boats that were hired last week, but weren’t collected? Did you have any bookings where customers didn’t turn up?’
‘Let’s have a look.’
Barnes raised an eyebrow.
‘He’s looking,’ said Gavin.
‘At this rate, it’d be quicker if I took a car over there and looked myself,’ the DS growled.
Gavin shook his head to silence him as Hutchins came back on the line.
‘No, all our boats were picked up as planned. And they all came back, too.’
‘Any missing from the yard that weren’t booked?’
‘No, all accounted for. We have security gates on the lane that leads to the yard, and CCTV cameras along the river side.’
‘Could we get a copy of that CCTV footage to help us eliminate any activities through that stretch of water?’
‘Of course. I’ll pass on your phone number to my daughter and ask her to liaise with you to get the footage over.’
‘All right. Thanks for your help.’
Gavin’s shoulders sagged as he ended the call and turned to face Kay.
Sharp hovered at her side, his expression grim.
‘Nothing?’ he said.
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