Sign of Evil

by M A Comley

  Carla came into the room to rescue her from the mundane chore a little while later. “I’ve just received a call that you’ll want to hear about.”

  Sara frowned. “Go on.”

  “I’ve had a Diane Watson on the phone.”

  “Who’s she? Stop stringing it out longer than necessary, Carla.”

  “It’s in connection with the appeal, well, sort of.”

  Sara opened her upturned hands. “And?”

  “And… she got our number from her friend’s room.”

  “Carla, can we hurry this up please?”

  Carla swallowed. “Her friend, or should I say, flatmate, is Davina Harding.”

  “Now, you’ve grabbed my attention. What about her?”

  “She’s gone missing. Didn’t come home last night.”

  Sara shot out of her chair and paced in front of her desk. “I knew it was wrong of her to go before the damn cameras. Bloody idiot. Sorry, I shouldn’t say that, not when the young woman has gone missing, but bloody hell, this sort of thing boils my piss. Why do people persist in putting themselves in danger like this?”

  “Would there be any point in me telling you to calm down?”

  Sara closed her eyes and inhaled and exhaled a few deep breaths. “Sorry, I shouldn’t let it affect me personally, but sometimes, people infuriate me.”

  “I can tell.” Carla chuckled. “I told Diane we’d pop round to see her.”

  Sara tore her coat off the rack and marched past Carla into the incident room. Carla trotted behind her and grabbed her jacket off the back of her chair.

  “We’ll be back soon, hopefully,” Sara shouted over her shoulder. She was in that much of a rush she bumped into DCI Carol Price at the top of the stairs.

  “Whoa, slow down. What’s going on?”

  “Sorry, Ma’am, we’ve got another possible abduction. We’re just on our way out to interview the woman’s flatmate now.”

  “Another one. Any news on the first girl?”

  “Yes and no. Sorry, I really need to go, can I drop by and fill you in later?”

  “Yes, okay. Make sure you do. I take it the public hasn’t proved to be much help with this investigation?”

  “Again, let me share the details with you when we get back, if that’s okay?”

  “Suits me. Good luck.”

  “Thanks.” Sara flew down the stairs at breakneck speed.

  They arrived at Diane Watson’s flat in record time. The young woman was obviously watching out for them and opened the door before Sara had the chance to knock.

  “I’m so glad you’re here and taking this seriously. At first, I had my doubts about calling you, but I started driving myself crazy and figured it would be better to ring you. Oh God, I’m going on, my mother is always telling me to take frequent breaths, but I can’t help it. Come in, do you want a drink? I’ve had to have a brandy to try and calm my nerves.”

  “No, it’s a little early in the day for us, thanks for the offer, though. Can we sit down somewhere?”

  “Oh my, I’m sorry. Yes, come into the lounge.”

  She showed them into a room decorated with a lot of what could only be described as fairy lights. Sara wondered if they had been put up at Christmas and forgotten about. “Why don’t you tell us what you know and we’ll go from there?”

  “I stayed at my boyfriend’s last night, well, I was supposed to. We had a row and I returned home early. I was disappointed not to see Davina here when I got back. Shrugged it off, thinking that she was possibly out with her brother. I must have fallen asleep on the sofa, it’s been a hectic couple of weeks at work, so it was to be expected, then the falling out with Dan, well, it sapped all the energy out of me.”

  “I see. When did you realise Davina was missing?”

  “This morning. I checked her room, her bed hadn’t been slept in. She always tells me when she’s going to see her brother, but she hadn’t mentioned it.”

  “Does she have a boyfriend?”

  “No. She’s in between fellas, got stung badly by the last one, so she’s been a little wary of them for a while.”

  “And you’ve tried contacting her?”

  “Yes, I rang her mobile, but it keeps going into voicemail. She never turns the damn thing off, another reason for me to be concerned. It’s just that, what with this other girl going missing and her speaking out in the press about it, I warned her not to. She thought it would be free advertising for her business.”

  Sara frowned. “Her business?”

  “Yes, she’s a mobile hairdresser, hence why she never switches off her phone. She gets dozens of calls, maybe a slight exaggeration there, in the evening. When you’re self-employed, you don’t get a minute to yourself, do you?”

  “I can imagine. When was the last time you had any contact with her?”

  “Yesterday afternoon. I rang her at about three, asked her if her tactics had worked and she was over the moon with the result. Said she had a few appointments that she needed to chase up that afternoon. She was grateful for the extra work the stint on TV had brought in as business had been drying up lately.”

  “Did she tell you where the new appointments were?”

  “No, she didn’t go into detail. Please, I have a bad feeling about this. She’s usually uber-reliable and to have her disappear like this, it’s got me thinking, and not in a good way.”

  Sara smiled, doing her best to put the young woman at ease. “Don’t worry, we have a few more questions we need to ask before we get the ball rolling.”

  Diane chewed on a nail. “What sort of questions? I’ve told you everything I know. You need to get out there and try to find her. If this person has kidnapped her… oh God, I dread to think what he’s going to do to her. Have you found the other girl yet?”

  “No, we’re still trying to trace her. Maybe you can tell me a little about her ex-boyfriend?”

  “What can I tell you? He was a wanker with a capital W. I hated him, and the way he treated her was bloody appalling. Didn’t have a decent bone in his body from what I could tell, but Davina was smitten with him. Couldn’t see anything wrong in him until she found him in bed with one of her so-called friends. I could see it coming. He made my skin crawl, the way he kept eyeing me up when he came around here. She couldn’t see any wrong in him, no matter what I said.”

  “Does he have a name?”

  “Steve Abbot, he lives a stone’s throw from here at Dawson Road, number four, I think it is, you might want to check on that.”

  Carla scribbled down the information in her notebook.

  “When was the last time Davina had any form of contact with him?”

  “Back in November, it was his birthday. She foolishly took a present around to him.”

  “Is she in the habit of giving her exes presents after breaking up with them?”

  “No, she’d already bought it for him and rather than see it go to waste, she dropped it off.”

  “And how was her visit received?”

  “He rejected her at the front door. She came home here in tears, threw the present in the bin and swore herself off men for life.”

  “He sounds a heartless sort. Any form of contact between them since? A phone call, chance meeting perhaps?”

  “No, nothing that she’s admitted to. I think she was well shot of him and realised that she’d be better off without him in her life after he refused her present. She was upset for a few weeks, but I gave her a good talking to, told her to stop dwelling on the past and look forward. Someone nice will come along, sooner or later, they always do, right?”

  Sara nodded, recalling how her husband Mark had drifted into her life when she had been least expecting it. “How likely do you think her disappearance has anything to do with the ex?”

  “I don’t know, one minute I think he’s behind it and then I find myself disputing it the next. I wanted to tell you about it, so you have the information to hand to deal with it as how you see fit.”

  “Excell
ent, we’ll definitely delve into it. And what did her brother have to say?”

  “About Steve?”

  “Sorry, no, I meant about her going missing. But okay, what was his perception about her ending things with Steve?”

  “He was eager for them to break up, he hated the bloke for the way he treated Davina. I rang him this morning, he said she hasn’t contacted him for a few days, presumed she was busy. He saw her on the news and was dubious as to whether she’d done the right thing or not as well. He’s mortified she’s gone missing. Said he was going to get out there to search the streets for her.”

  “Therefore, there wouldn’t be any point in us showing up at his house to question him. Do you have his phone number?”

  Diane left her seat and picked up her mobile from the small coffee table. “Let me see. Here you are, Patrick Harding.” She angled the phone for Carla to take down the number.

  Carla nodded. “Thanks, I’ve got it.”

  “We’ll reach out to him once we’ve left here. I take it they’re close to each other.”

  “Yes, their parents are sadly no longer with us. They died from different forms of cancer a couple of years ago. Davina and her brother have been inseparable ever since. Maybe that was the wrong word to use, it’s not like they live in each other’s pocket, but yes, they’re extremely close.”

  “Close enough that Patrick might go round to see Steve, blame him for her disappearance?”

  She gasped. “Shit! I never thought about that. Please, you need to get round there, just in case. I’d hate for Patrick to get into trouble because of that scumbag.”

  “I hear you. Is there anything else you can tell us?”

  “You might want to put out an alert on Davina’s car, or is that me trying to tell you how to conduct an investigation?”

  Sara smiled. “No, that would be one of the first things we look into, but thanks for the tip. What’s the make, model and reg number?”

  “Shit, I knew you were going to ask me that. I’ve got a recent photo of it on my phone, she’s only had it a few months.” She scrolled through her photos and showed Sara.

  “It’s a silver Ford Ka. I’ve got a partial plate, Carla. TG46. That’s brilliant, it’s a start anyway.” Sara stood and Carla followed.

  Diane led the way to the front door and opened it with a sigh. “I hope you find her, and soon. Will you let me know?”

  “Of course. Thanks for calling us in the first place. Try not to worry too much.”

  “Yeah, right. I’ll be going out of my mind until I get the call to say she’s safe. Good luck.”

  Sara waved and marched back to the car. “We need to issue an alert for her vehicle ASAP.”

  “I’ll ring Jill now.”

  “You do that and I’ll call the brother, see if I can get hold of him.” As it wasn’t raining, Sara chose to make her call outside the car. “Hello, would that be Patrick Harding?”

  “It is. Who is this? If you’ve got my sis—”

  “Sir, I’m DI Sara Ramsey. It’s about your sister. I’ve just left her flatmate, Diane. She informed me that you’re out there, searching for your sister now.”

  “That’s right. I had no intention of hanging around, waiting for the police to show up.”

  “I’m sorry you feel you don’t have faith in our abilities, sir.”

  “I didn’t say that. I’m entitled to be out here, you can’t stop me.”

  “You’re right, I can’t stop you, but what I can do is ask you to rein in your emotions and think about this carefully.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “That you need to work with us and not jump in feet first. What would you do if you discovered your sister?”

  “I’d take her home with me.”

  “And supposing the person who is holding your sister, if that’s the case, has a weapon and puts up a fight to keep her?”

  “I did boxing in my youth, I know how to handle myself, Inspector.”

  “I don’t doubt that, sir, but it’s not the way to go. Let’s meet up and decide between us what the next course of action should be.”

  “You do your shit and I’ll do mine. She’s all I have now our parents are gone. I’m not about to let a crazed lunatic do unimaginable things to her, not if I can help it.”

  “That’s gallant behaviour, I can’t dispute it, but it’s the wrong way to handle the situation.”

  “In your opinion… you forgot to add that part.”

  “Patrick, I’m pleading with you, don’t do this alone.”

  The phone went dead. “Shit, damn and blast. I handled that well, not.” Sara opened the car door and slumped into her seat, defeated.

  “Jill has got the car details and is in the process of circulating the information now.”

  “I’m glad something is going to plan. I screwed up with the brother. He hung up on me.”

  “Did he say where he was?”

  “No, out and about, scouring Hereford. I’m presuming he’s searching the city centre and the surrounding area.”

  Carla wrinkled her nose. “It can’t be helped, Sara, there’s no point beating yourself up. Put yourself in his shoes. I recall you did exactly the same when Mark went missing a few years ago.”

  “Not exactly, but yes, okay, I’ll give you that one. The key to this is to find that damn car. Maybe the kidnapper lured her to meet him somewhere under false pretences. Sasha highlighted the same, if I recall rightly.”

  “Possibly. We need to check Davina’s phone records, see what shows up.”

  Sara shot out of the car again and ran back to the flat. She hammered on the front door, and a startled Diane answered it. “Have you found her?”

  “No, sorry to get your hopes up unnecessarily. I need Davina’s phone number so we can trace her calls.”

  “Of course, I don’t know it off the top of my head, let me get my phone.”

  Sara stepped inside the house and withdrew her notebook from her pocket. Diane reappeared and called out Davina’s number.

  “I hope it helps.”

  Sara smiled. “I’m sure it will. I’ll be in touch soon. By the way, I’ve just rung her brother, he hung up on me. I get the impression he doesn’t have much faith in the police.”

  “I’m not sure. He’s a very emotional man. Losing his parents rocked his world, and Davina’s come to that.”

  “Okay, thanks for this, Diane.” She ran back to the car, started the engine and headed back towards the station. On the way, Carla rang ahead and instructed the team to get working on tracing the calls made to Davina’s phone and finding the young woman’s car on the ANPR system from the day before.

  It was a couple of hours before Sara was informed that a patrol car had located Davina’s vehicle in a quiet cul-de-sac on the other side of town. “Get SOCO over there ASAP, Carla. We need to conduct a house-to-house in the road as well, someone must have seen something. I go back to my first thought, that maybe the kidnapper lured her to that location with the intention of abducting her. Barry and Marissa, will you handle that?”

  “Of course. Shall we go now?” Barry asked.

  “Yep. Let’s keep on top of things as they happen, what with time being of the essence and all that.”

  The two officers slipped on their jackets and headed off.

  “Craig, anything at all about this limo yet?”

  “I’ve managed to trace it on CCTV. I’m in the process of following the route it took.”

  “Excellent news. Any sign of a clear registration number or is that wishful thinking on my part?”

  “I caught a glimpse of a part of it, ran it through the system, but nothing came back. Either I wrote it down wrongly or they used a false plate. My instinct is telling me it’s the latter, but I’ll keep trying. I’m nearly there, boss.”

  “Okay, let me know as soon as you can. Anyone got anything else for me?”

  The rest of the team either shook their heads or shrugged. Damn, either this git has a well-thoug
ht-out plan, or he’s a professional. “Jill, can you check the database, see if there are any similar cases we should be looking into in this area, say over the past five years?”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, boss, I already did that and drew a blank.”

  “Great. What the heck is going on and who is behind these bloody crimes?” Sara swept a hand through her hair and tugged a few strands in annoyance.

  “There’s no point getting yourself worked up,” Carla whispered. “It’s not going to help.”

  “It’ll make me feel better, punishing myself for not cracking this damn case by now. Two young women go missing, one because she probably opened her goddamn mouth to the press, and we’re no further forward. Help me out, guys, where do we go from here if we can’t trace that limo? It’s the only real clue we have that could possibly lead us to the perpetrator.”

  The team all stared at her. That was the frustrating part, the lack of clues or leads for them to tackle.

  “We need to start dissecting things, see if that helps. All we have to hand is Amber’s computer, her phone records, and we’re in the process of getting Davina’s records as well. At least, we’ve located the second victim’s vehicle. Maybe Barry and Marissa will have a bit of luck when they chat to the people living in that area,” Carla summarised.

  “And if they don’t? We’re up the creek, paddleless. I’m going to run it past the chief. I’m fearful of losing momentum on this one. I think we should work over the weekend, if you’re all up for it. What say you?”

  “I’m up for it. Maybe run a skeleton staff, some of us might already have plans for the weekend,” Carla was quick to suggest.

  “Any volunteers?” Sara asked, hopeful that at least some of them would agree, should the chief give the go-ahead on using up a quota of their overtime during these tough financial times.

  Craig never let her down, he was the first to raise his hand. “I don’t mind, boss. It’s the dead of winter, after all. I might not have been so forthcoming if there was the prospect of having a heatwave at the weekend.”