by Helen Phifer
‘I can’t see that there is anything different I would have suggested. This is all as it should be.’
He nodded. His shoulders, which had been tight, relaxed a little. He didn’t care about getting in trouble, but he cared deeply if he’d made bad decisions that could have cost Charlie her life, and Macy’s too.
‘So what are we doing now? Is there anything that needs to be done that we haven’t already?’
‘How long has Macy been missing?’
‘Approximately thirty-eight hours.’
‘How long was Charlie missing before her body turned up?’
‘We think she went missing around six p.m. and was discovered approximately twenty-three hours later, around five p.m. the following day.’
‘Then why do you think Macy hasn’t turned up?’
‘It’s possible that the offender tried to help Charlie, and that maybe somehow the injury was accidental, which was why he left her in such a public place.’
‘Then why take another girl? If he felt bad about hurting Charlie, why take another so soon?’
‘It didn’t work out how he’d imagined and a chance encounter with Macy was too good an opportunity to miss. It’s likely that Macy ran straight into him in the dark alleyway, and if that’s so then he must live locally to both Charlie and Macy. If that’s true, he can watch the investigation from the window of his house.’
‘This Vincent Jackson, he also lives in the same area and has previous?’
‘Yes, we took his car away to be forensically examined, but nothing has come back from that yet. Vince has also been questioned twice, and his solicitor said unless we had some concrete evidence other than circumstantial, he did not want to see him brought in a third time.’
‘But he’s the only substantial suspect that we have?’
‘At one point, I did think that Charlie’s dad might have somehow accidentally hurt her when he was supposed to have picked her up and panicked, but after he almost strangled Des in broad daylight yesterday, and we brought him in, he admitted he’d been evasive with our questions because he’s having an affair and cheating on the woman he left Charlie’s mum for.’
Claire nodded. ‘Sounds like a great guy, does Brett.’
Ben smiled. ‘Charlie had a scratch on her arm that her mum said she didn’t have before she left the house. I’ve sent Amy and Morgan out to scour the area for overgrown gardens, anything that could explain how she got that injury. Claire, I don’t know what else to do. I know we’re sitting on a ticking time bomb and every second is another threat to Macy’s life.’
Tom stood up, and he began pacing up and down the small room. ‘Let’s bring Vincent in again. This time we’ll get CSI to go over his house with a fine-tooth comb. Does he have access to any lock-ups, garages, buildings that we may have overlooked?’
‘I don’t think so, sir. What will we do with his mum? She’s elderly and has dementia.’
‘Grab a PCSO to come and sit with her whilst we search. Is she allowed to be home alone, or does she need full care?’
‘I think she’s okay for a little while. She was okay whilst we had him in custody yesterday.’
‘If not get on to adult social care, see if someone can arrange for her to go to a safe place.’
Ben nodded. As much as he wanted it to be Vincent – he fit what they were looking for – he had a feeling that Vince was purely in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was no way he could hide two young girls in a house with his mother and not get caught. He didn’t want to waste time following a lead that was futile and not going to help them find Macy, but he also knew they had to prove to the public that they were doing everything they could, and by targeting Vince it looked like they were.
Claire looked from Ben to Tom. ‘I’m happy with that if you are. What about the riverside? There’s lots of fields and the woods on the opposite side, could he have a hidey-hole in them where she may be hidden? I think we need to extend the search from the immediate area and spread outwards. We can ask Mountain Rescue to help with the woods and the riverside. We have to expand. If we’ve tried everything locally and are getting nowhere then we have to face the possibility that whoever has her has access to somewhere out of the public view, enough to hide a child without anyone hearing and seeing. Is that okay, Ben?’
An uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach told him that no, it wasn’t okay. They were moving the search way out of the area, the area, which he hoped was the right thing to do. What else could they do, though? There had been no evidence to say that either girl had been hidden away in plain sight.
‘So, we’ll get an arrest team in place and bring Vince in again and rip his house apart from top to bottom. At the same time, we’ll have dedicated search teams scouring the riverbanks and woods. Is there any chance that Macy could have wandered off herself? I mean it’s rare, but sometimes the most obvious reasons are overlooked. Charlie’s killer might not have taken Macy. This could genuinely be a missing girl who has wandered too far and injured herself.’
‘Yes, that’s a possibility, Claire. We have to take it into consideration.’
She smiled at him. ‘Now, I’ll get the coffees in whilst you get the cogs moving, Tom, and arrange the search teams.’
She grabbed her jacket off the back of the chair and her purse from her bag, then walked out of the room and the station.
Ben went back into the office where Des was watching her from the window.
‘She had enough of you already, boss?’
‘No, she’s gone in search of coffee.’
‘Can’t say I blame her. Morgan’s brews are pretty awful. So, what’s happening then?’
‘I don’t know, Des; I think I’ve just been sideswiped. They’re getting Mountain Rescue in to search the woods and the riverside.’
‘We did that when Charlie went missing, pulled out all the stops, helicopter and the lot.’
‘I suppose it’s the next step; we don’t seem to be getting anywhere fast.’
‘Is she bringing coffee back for you and me, or should we get out of here and go find our own? Hadn’t you better break the news to Morgan and Amy? They’re still out hunting for overgrown gardens.’
‘Come on, we’ll go find them.’
Ben didn’t know what the niggling feeling in the pit of his stomach was and whether it was purely down to the fact that they still hadn’t located Macy, or the fact that his investigation had just been taken over by someone else.
Thirty-One
The sound of the key turning in the locked door startled Macy. She hadn’t even realised she had drifted off to sleep again. Why was she so sleepy? She wasn’t normally. The door opened and he stood there for a few moments in the shadows; this room was so gloomy and dark. Her mouth went dry and her heart was pounding in her chest as she wondered if this was it: had he decided it was time to do something horrible to her? Well if he did she was ready. The small scissors were still tucked down the back of her pants; somehow she would get free and use them on him if she had to.
Opening the door, he walked inside and flicked on the light, causing a muffled screech of panic from Macy as she scrabbled around trying to escape.
‘It’s such a shame. You are like a caged bird, so delicate and beautiful. Your hair is the loveliest golden colour. I would have liked hair as soft and silky as yours.’ He lifted a finger to his lips. ‘Shh. We don’t make loud noises in this house; Mother doesn’t like it. Little girls should be seen and not heard. Haven’t you ever been taught that?’
She stared at him, wide-eyed, shaking her head. He smiled at her and closed the door behind him. Turning off the bright light, he crossed to the other bedside table and put the lamp on.
‘Do you like to play games? I adore playing games. My favourite is Cluedo. If you’re a good girl we can play that one tomorrow. I thought we could have a nice, quiet game of Scrabble to pass the time. I’ll untie your wrists so you can play, but if you do anything silly then I’m going to have to tie
you back up again, and that would be such a shame to ruin what could be a pleasant way to get to know each other. Nod your head if you understand me and agree.’
Her head moved up and down fast.
‘Good, that’s very good. Have you ever played Scrabble?’
She looked at the green box in his hands and shrugged.
‘That’s okay, it’s really easy. We both get some of the little cream squares with letters on and you have to make words up with them. For every word you get points. I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it.’
He took the tray he’d brought her sandwiches up on. ‘You didn’t eat. Why? You’ll make yourself ill if you don’t.’
Then he looked at the gag in her mouth and let out a shrill giggle. ‘I’m so silly, I forgot to take that off. No wonder you couldn’t eat. You must be so hungry; can you ever forgive me for being such a bad host?’ He leant forward and removed the silk scarf from her mouth. She began to sob. He patted the top of her head.
‘It’s okay, don’t cry. I’m afraid the bread has gone a little bit hard, but you can still eat them, can’t you? I can’t waste them; it’s a sin to throw away good food.’
He offered her a drink from the glass. The paper straw he’d put in had gone all soggy and he plucked it out and threw it into the bin. Lifting the glass to her lips, she took some huge gulps of the orange juice then smiled at him. He blotted the sides of her mouth with a piece of paper towel then lifted up a quarter of a sandwich for her to nibble on. She did, small bites at first then bigger mouthfuls until she’d eaten everything, even the stale crusts.
‘My, you must have been very hungry.’
‘Thank you, I was.’
‘Oh, you have a voice. That’s nice, I was beginning to think you might be mute. You have a very nice voice.’
Macy smiled at him. He smiled back.
‘Good, that’s very good. Should we play then? I’m afraid I’ll have to gag you again. I really don’t like to but we can’t let Mother know that we’re having fun. She would be furious if she thought that we were enjoying ourselves.’
A tear began to roll down the corner of her eye and down her cheek.
‘Oh, don’t be sad. This isn’t for long; you won’t have to stay like this forever. I’ll untie your hands so you can play, and if we enjoy ourselves, next time I’ll free your hands and mouth.’
He leant across her as he carefully placed the band of soft material inside her mouth. He didn’t tie it quite as tight as earlier – she had red marks on the corner of her mouth where the material had bit into the soft flesh. They played the game, and a couple of times she smiled when he praised her and laughed. After an hour, he must have forgot all about his mother, he was so absorbed in having fun. He jumped up. Grabbing the box, he threw all the letter tiles in it and the board and, placing the lid on it, he scrambled to the bedroom door. Realising he hadn’t tied her hands up, he rushed back, managing to tie one hand. Leaving one hand untied he rushed out of the door, closed it softly and locked it behind him.
Macy had watched, bewildered, as he’d jumped up so violently and tipped the game back into the box. She hadn’t heard anything, but realised when he’d shouted he was coming that his mum must be home. She had been shaking and scared, at first, when he’d brought her here, but now she didn’t feel so afraid. He hadn’t hurt her like she’d thought he was going to; in fact, he’d been kind to her. She knew he wasn’t right in the head; everyone knew this who lived around here. The older boys called him names and she used to feel bad for him. Well she did until he kidnapped her. At least she knew where he lived and it wasn’t far from her house. She just needed to be able to get loose and then she’d climb out of the window and down the drainpipe in the middle of the night. Boy would she run home as fast as she could. Her mum was going to be raging with her for being away so long. She would be grounded until she left senior school but she didn’t care. She’d never wanted her mum this badly in all her life, and then there was poor Max. She hoped he’d gone home when she’d fallen over and not run away. She would never be the same again if something happened to him because she’d been selfish and wanted a bar of chocolate.
She heard him outside on the landing then his footsteps as he ran downstairs. She lifted a hand to wipe the tears that were filling her eyes and wondered what was wrong, then she wiggled her fingers around and smiled. He’d forgotten to tie it back up: she had a free hand and if she had a free hand, she could untie herself. The first thing she did was tug the silk scarf from out of her mouth and suck in air. She opened her mouth to scream for help then stopped: if he was that scared of his mum, she didn’t want her to be the one to see who was screaming for help in the bedroom. She might be horrible and hurt her or not let her go, so she decided to be a good girl like he asked. Her first plan was the better one: she would get loose then clamber out of the window as soon as it was dark and they had both gone to bed.
She looked around the bedroom; he’d left the small lamp on by the side of the bed. It was really old, like the kind of bedroom in one of her favourite films The Haunted Mansion. The furniture was all dark wood and had pictures of flowers carved into it. Everything was pink; she had never seen a kid or a girl leave this house only the funny man. Although if this belonged to his sister and she wasn’t like him, how would she know who she was? – she might have moved away from them both. Macy wouldn’t blame her if she had. If she had a brother like him and a mum even scarier than her own, she probably wouldn’t stick around either. She began to use her left hand to try and pick at the knots in the material he’d used to tie her hands to the bed, but it was hard work and for once she wished she’d listened to her mum when she’d told her to stop nibbling her nails until they bled. Long nails would have been really useful. Realising she could drink, she picked up the glass of juice and drank the rest of it, grimacing at the chalky, bitter taste at the bottom which tasted like some awful medicine her mum would give her when she was poorly. After some time she began to yawn. She couldn’t get the knot loosened at all and everything seemed like hard work; she was so tired. It didn’t help that things kept going a bit blurry. She yawned again and after another ten minutes found her eyes closing. She couldn’t keep them open. She decided that the best thing to do was to have a little sleep; at least when she woke up he might be asleep and hopefully his mother would be too. She would have more energy after a little rest, then she would bite the knots out if she had to. This time as her eyes closed, she lay her head on the soft pillows and fell asleep.
Thirty-Two
Morgan didn’t think she’d ever seen Ben wearing such an open expression of despair. He’d turned up with Des and told them what the plan was. She and Amy hadn’t bothered to question it: they were running out of options, she knew this, and who was to say that Vince didn’t have somewhere in the woods he could have hidden the missing girl? She hadn’t thought about the woods, and now that she was, though, her aunt Ettie’s soft, kind face filled her mind. She hadn’t spoken to her for a while, and she lived in those woods. As soon as they found Macy, she would pay her a visit. She would probably remember Eleanor Fleming’s disappearance.
‘I feel as if I’ve let Macy down. We haven’t located her and, as positive as I’m trying to be, I have a despairing feeling in the pit of my stomach that we’re too late, and he’s getting braver.’
She patted his arm. ‘What are we doing about searching the woods?’
‘Us, personally? Nothing. There’s a search team going in with Mountain Rescue. We’re still focusing on this area. I think she’s around here, I honestly do. This is just a smokescreen to make it look as if we’re leaving no stone unturned, but I have a horrible feeling it’s a bit of a wild goose chase. I understand that it needs to be done, but still.’
There was the loud slamming of doors as a large van pulled up further along the street and four uniformed officers got out. A small car parked behind them and two women got out. Ben smiled at them.
‘Vince is going to be royal
ly pissed off with the police. How are they justifying arresting him again? And who are they?’
‘Vince’s mother’s rescuers, they’ll take her to the day care centre. Claire and Tom agree that he’s the most suitable suspect. This time the house is getting emptied and CSI are going in to do a full forensic search. Oh and I’m going back to interview him this time, along with Amy, because he doesn’t like her and we’re hoping she might ruffle his feathers enough for him to slip up.’
Morgan felt deflated. She would have liked the chance to interview him, but she was only a level two interviewer and Amy was level four.
‘You can oversee the search if you want. Keep me updated if they find anything.’
‘What about his mother?’
‘Social care is taking her to spend a cosy evening at Bevan House whilst we turn the house over. If he’s innocent and we find nothing then she can come home when he’s released, although she might prefer it there. At least she’ll have company from others the same age, instead of being stuck with him all the time.’
‘Good luck with Vince.’
Ben smiled at her. There was a lot of shouting, and they both turned around to see Vince being dragged from his house kicking and fighting. It didn’t make much difference to the two officers who were marching him to the van; they towered over him and had lifted him off his feet, so he was effectively being carried to the cage, his legs pedalling into the air as if he was riding an imaginary bike, until they reached the van where he was thrown inside. The heavy doors slammed shut – the noise so loud it echoed around the street.
‘He’s not a happy bunny.’
‘No, he isn’t and, to be honest, as much as I want it to be him, and Christ knows I want this over with, I just don’t think he has the balls for it. He’s more of a sneaky, porn-watching little creep.’
