Ugly Duckling

by Malcolm Allen

  'Fuck me John you nearly gave me a heart attack!' it was Greg.

  'What are you doing here? I thought you were on you're way back to Scotland.'

  'I didn't feel easy about leaving Liz when she was ill, so I've changed my flight and came over to see how she was, when I saw the front door open I thought something might be wrong.' Greg explained 'What are you doing here?'

  'Pretty much the same Greg.' John shook his head 'I think you're right, some thing’s wrong, she's not here and I can’t raise her on the phone, Have you been to the lab?'

  'I dropped by on my way here, she's not there' Greg replied

  The feeling of dread in Johns stomach was getting tighter and tighter it almost felt that he was unable to breath and he could feel the sweat beginning to form on his forehead bringing with it memories of the crash, his head was spinning.

  'John are you ok?' Greg took John by the arm and guided him to a kitchen stool 'I'll get you some water.'

  John drank the water and after a moment or two the feelings began to pass, 'Shit, I haven't felt like that since' he stopped and looked at Greg 'you know.'

  Greg did know and he also knew in that moment that Liz wasn't going to be working with him in Scotland. 'Where could she have gone?' he asked.

  'I don't know Greg, She may have just gone to the chemist to get some jollop, but I've got a horrible feeling we need to find her fast.' he washed his glass and placed it onto the draining board to dry, he turned to face Greg 'Do you want a lift back to the station?' he offered 'I think we need to speak to Ian, unless you've got to shoot off.'

  'I'm not going anywhere till we find her.' Greg said.

  ***

  Ian had just finished the morning briefing when he saw John walk in, he could tell from Johns expression that something was wrong, and that was backed up further when he noticed Greg behind him 'Morning J.D how was Liz?'

  John signalled to Ian and opened his office door 'In here please Ian.'

  The three of them sat around John’s desk as he explained to Ian what had happened the night before at the pub, and this morning at Liz's house, Ian sat and listened to it all until John had finished.

  'That really doesn't sound like her J.D are you sure she hasn't tried to phone either of you this morning.' John and Greg both took their phones out and checked, nothing.

  John looked at Ian with a worried expression 'That feeling I had Ian, I've only ever had that once before, I know something's wrong. Get a patrol car to knock every half hour will you, just in case she's gone shopping or something stupid, I want this given priority.' Ian agreed but knew as well as John did that Liz wouldn't go shopping if she was ill. 'And contact the Lab, if she turns up there I want to know about it straight away, so I can give her a bollocking!' the expressions he used were only trying to cover up the amount of anxiety he was feeling. 'Greg, Why don't you take a uniformed officer and go back to the house, have a professional look over it, see if you can spot something.'

  'Do you think She's been abducted J.D.'

  'All I know at the moment Ian is that I've got a horrible gut feeling, she's not at home or at the lab, as far as I'm concerned at the moment she's missing.'

  Greg left for the house to have a look around and wait.

  Ian contacted the patrols to be on the lookout and the lab, then waited.

  John waited.

  ***

  By 3pm Greg had returned to the station, he'd had a look around the house as John had asked him to do but found nothing, there was no sign of forced entry, no sign of a struggle, no blood traces or alien footprints, nothing to suggest that Liz had been forcedly removed from her home, she also had not shown up at the lab as they were all hoping, nor had any of them received a text or phone call from her.

  'This is fucking ridiculous!' the strain was beginning to show on John 'She can’t have just vanished off the face of the fucking planet.'

  Ian tried to calm John down. 'She'll show up.' he said 'try not to get uptight, we'll find her.'

  'Dead in a fucking ditch!' was John's response, he punched a filing cabinet relieving some of the tension, then turning to Ian, calmer he said 'You're right Ian, I've got to try to focus, its Liz but we need to conduct ourselves the same way as if it was anybody else.'

  'That's right J.D we can’t just go stomping around, it'll get us nowhere.' Ian was himself on the verge of throwing things in frustration but knew if he started it'd make John 100 times worst 'what did Liz say when she phoned the pub.'

  Greg answered 'Phil told me she said she was ill and would see us later.'

  'And Phil told me she sounded really rough, he could hardly hear her' John added.

  'Ok then, Should I get somebody to bring Phil in, see if he remembers anything else, background noise, something like that?' Ian volunteered.

  'Good Idea, do that Ian and will you get someone to get us all some coffee, something to eat and some paracetamol please.' Johns head was thumping

  Ian went to the door 'No problem' he left to make the arrangements.

  'Did Liz mention anything else to you Greg?' John asked 'about where she was going or what she was doing.'

  Greg thought for a moment or two 'No, I don't think so, she told me she'd been invited for coffee, that's about all.'

  John thought for a moment, she'd mentioned coffee to him as well, but he didn't know where she was going; he needed to find that information out and made a mental note to himself to do just that. 'Why would anybody abduct her?' he said 'She's not that rich so I don't think it would be for money, what else? Maybe they think she can get drugs.' he was thinking out loud rather than talking to Greg 'that's always assuming she's still alive.' he noticed the expression on Greg's face and quickly added 'and we've no reason to believe she's not.' he tried to give Greg a reassuring smile but in his heart he knew the longer it went on there was less change of finding her alive.

  Greg also knew the statistics 'I guess it's your job to consider all the options.' he said

  John scratched the back of his head as if he didn't want to hear what he was about to say 'Well, Yes. I do have to consider all the options, Greg. And sometimes they're not very pleasant, but unfortunately that's the nature of criminals, they don't always play nice. But at the moment we must work on the assumption that she is alive, and that we'll find her.' he looked Greg square in the eye's 'Believe me Greg, I'm not going to loose this one, I will find her.'

  Ian came back into the office and handed John a large envelope with a computer printed address label on it, 'This arrived for you. It was left outside the front door'

  John carefully opened the envelope and peered inside, he removed the contents which were a large glossy photograph and a sheet of A4 paper, the photograph was a picture of Liz and Jenni Gagged, lying on a bed. John instantly passed it to Ian and grabbed the A4, it was a note that read

  “Dick.

  Your wife who was a complete Bitch took away my two legs,

  She unfortunately died, so I can’t repay her,

  But now I have the love of your life, Jenni. And your friend, Liz.

  One for each leg.

  Wheeler.”

  After waiting all day for news John didn't hesitate 'Wheeler, that fucking little scrotum!' John was red in the face with rage 'Get me a raid team ready, I want to go in 30 minutes if wheelers got them we're going to get them back.'

  'Do you think they'll be at his house?' Greg asked

  'I don't know Greg but there's no point politely knocking on his door to ask even if they're not there, there'll probably be something that tells us where he's taken them.'

  Ian had been frantically calling people to get the team ready 'Ok J.D the team will be ready to leave in 45 minutes.'

  '45 I said fucking 30, tell them to get their fingers out this could be life or death! Ian you come with me, we'll sit outside and wait for the others to turn up, Greg you stay here, We'll keep you informed I promise, if you want you could call Leon, his numbers on my desk, ask him to come over.' he looked ar
ound for Ian, 'Come on Ian, lets go!'

  John didn't waste any time getting to Wheelers apartment block, speeding through the streets of Bournemouth with Ian gripping the door handle so tight his knuckles turned white 'Can’t you just slow down a bit' He pleaded with John 'This damn cars like riding in a go-kart.' But John wasn't listening he wanted to get to his destination as quickly as possible, if Wheeler made a move he wanted to be ready, they heard on the radio that the team had assembled and were on their way, so arriving at Wheelers address John parked up, deciding it better to wait than storm in alone. They didn't have long to wait, within minutes the team arrived, lights and sirens going full blast. 'I suppose we forgot to tell them a stealth approach would have been better.' John commented as he and Ian left the car and walked across to the rest of the team. Wheelers apartment was on the third floor of the block so making sure all stair cases and lifts were covered the group re assembled on the landing outside wheelers front door, one person living on the same floor briefly peered out of their apartment, but seeing what was happening outside decided it was better to go back in and lock the door. John stood with Ian towards the back of the group and the signal was given, with three hefty thumps with the “persuader” battering ram, the front door conceded its grip on the frame and they were in. the usual dash around all the rooms followed with shouts of 'Clear!' as each space was checked for occupancy, there was no sign of anybody being there.

  John entered the room, 'OK boys thank you!' he turned to Ian, 'Well she's not here, let’s have a look round to see if there's any clue as to where he would have taken them.'

  They searched the apartment thoroughly looking for any sign of somewhere Wheeler might have gone, they found pornographic publications, pornographic films, pornographic photos in fact the apartment was filled from floor to ceiling with porn, but nothing that would help them locate his whereabouts, Ian signalled to one of the others and Wheelers computer was removed and loaded ready to be examined at the station. John looked out of the window directly opposite was Jenni's apartment, curtains drawn with no sign of anyone being in, 'Can we get someone to go and knock on that door,' he pointed at Jenni's 'just to make sure.' Ian dispatched two of the team to go and check. Looking around the apartment it struck Ian that the whole place had been converted for a wheelchair user, low worktops, higher plug sockets, everything.

  'How would somebody in a wheelchair manage to abduct two healthy women?' he asked

  'I've always said there was sod all wrong with him Ian, that bastard can walk as good as you and me, its just an act to get benefits.' Ian took another look around, unsure at Johns explanation, but what other explanation could there be?

  'No answer over the road sir.' the two officers had returned from Jenni's

  'OK thanks' John had one last look around then said 'Come on Ian, let’s get back to the station, leave these to finish off.'

  Roger watched all the comings and goings and smiled.

  Back at the station Leon had arrived and was carefully looking over the note, reading and re-reading, shaking his head and sighing, when John and Ian entered the office he simply looked up and said

  'It's not Wheeler.'

  John stopped in the doorway and glared at Leon 'what do you mean it's not fucking Wheeler, his put his name at the bottom.'

  'Seriously John, I'm convinced it’s not Wheeler.' John continued to glare at Leon, Some sort of fucking psycho babble no doubt, he thought.

  John held his glare for some moments then his expression suddenly lifted as he decided to humour Leon 'Right, I'm going for a piss Leon, perhaps when I get back you'll explain.'

  Ian walked over to Leon and looked at the note 'For Christ's sake don't upset him Leon, we're all treading on eggshells here, if you're not sure, keep it till you are.'

  'But I am sure Ian, look at it, it's obviously not Wheeler.' despite his words there was a small doubt in his mind, after all, profiling wasn't an exact science.

  John re-entered the office, sat at his desk with his fingers interlinked looking directly at Leon, he waited a few moments before eventually saying 'Well Leon' he was quite calm 'Are you going to explain?'

  Leon paused for a moment, was he sure? 'Look John' he began 'I can only tell you what I believe to be true, there is a margin of error as always with this type of thing.'

  'Leon' John interrupted obviously irritated 'this is no time to cover you're arse the way you normally do, have you got something to tell me or not?'

  Leon considered his position for a moment, if he was wrong John would never trust him again and that would put an end to his consultations for the police, however if he suspected something that later proved to be right and didn't tell John that would also put and end to his police work, he had to be right, but his training and years of experience told him that he was, so he braced himself 'Whoever composed this note was not Wheeler.' he blurted out. 'Look at it John!' John took the note from Leon and read it. Leon carried on 'Knowing what I know about Wheeler from his file and what you've told me, this was not written by him. Look at it line by line.' he started to dictate the note.

  “Dick.” 'He never addresses you as just Dick, it was always D.I Dick.'

  “Your wife who was a complete Bitch took away my two legs,” 'Bitch wife John, he always says Bitch wife.'

  John nodded

  Leon continued to read “she unfortunately died,” 'John he's always gloated about how he was the last one to see her alive, and the unborn baby.' He saw Johns face drop, 'Sorry.' he held his hand up in an apologetic manner 'but he sees Sonia's death as justice for his legs, he wouldn't say it was unfortunate. Then he puts.' “Now I have the love of your life, Jenni. And your friend, Liz.” 'Now I may be mistaken here, way off mark even, but when did Jenni become the love of your life? Sonia is the love of your life and if I had to put money on second I would have said Liz,' he paused and looked at Ian who nodded approvingly 'Then he signs his name, why would he do that?' He waited for John to argue, nothing came 'So, all in all. I don't think Wheeler wrote this.'

  John looked at Leon and the note, He wanted to believe it was Wheeler but Leon was right, he couldn't imagine Wheeler saying what was written, it didn't match his personality. 'So who then?' he eventually said 'And why try to frame Wheeler?'

  'I can’t answer that John' Leon was relieved that John had accepted his argument.

  'It must be someone who knows about you're history' Ian said

  'Anybody who read the newspaper would know about Wheeler and Sonia.' John replied

  Leon rejoined the conversation, feeling more confident now, 'Yes, but the Bitch part, ok its not quite right, but whoever wrote this note knows how Wheeler refers to Sonia.'

  'That's true J.D it could be somebody close.'

  John instantly looked around the room, it could be any one of them there Leon, Ian, Greg. His stare stopped at Greg 'You're very quiet Greg, Nothing to Say?'

  Greg, who had been studying the photograph looked up and saw the look in John's eye 'don’t even go there John, I'm just listening to everything that's being said and thinking, but don't start you're paranoia on me!'

  Ian quickly intercepted the exchange of looks between John and Greg by standing immediately between them. 'Come on Guy's, this'll get us nowhere, let’s just focus shall we?' John nodded his agreement.

  'So, Not Wheeler, but somebody that wants to frame Wheeler at the same time as having a go at me.' John got back to the problem in hand.

  'Are we just going to limit this to Bournemouth or should we include the entire population of the south coast?' Ian was trying to lighten the humour a little.

  John half smiled 'You're right Ian there could be a hell of a lot of people who want to do those two things.' he thought for a moment 'Leon, can we say that Liz and Jenni will be safe, for a while at least?'

  Leon considered the options, trying to recall any previous cases that had similar circumstances ' I think the trouble will be that you've raided Wheelers apartment and not found him, so if you stop
looking that might send a signal to the perpetrator, and force them to send you another message.' he looked pensively at John 'But who knows what that could be.'

  'So for the safety of the girls, its better we appear to be carrying on chasing Wheeler?' Ian voiced the thoughts of all of them.

  'I think so, yes' Leon said.

  'Right then!' John Stood 'I don't want any of this to go outside these four walls, for the safety of the girls. We'll cover this as a team, just the four of us, to the outside world it must appear that we're after Wheeler, and in the meantime we've got to find out who's really behind it all.' they all nodded agreement.

  ***

  Phil sat waiting for John and Ian to enter the room, He'd received the call from Ian asking him to come to the police station which he had done happily, but on arrival was instantly whisked into one of the interview rooms and there he waited wondering what it was that he had done. eventually John and Ian arrived 'Hi Phil, thanks for coming in, sorry about being put in here but my office is a bit full at the moment.'

  'No problem John, pleased to help if I can, but it does seem as if I'm being treated as a suspect here.' Phil looked at both John and Ian sat opposite him, 'Are you going to start the tape?'

  'No, Phil, its nothing like that I just want to talk to you about the phone call from Liz that's all. Tell you what lets all get out of here for a bit and go down the café for a coffee, would that be better?'