The Missing Children

by M A Comley

  Her concerns drifted to what she was about to walk into at work that morning. DCI Sandra Davis had sounded strained when she’d arranged the meeting the previous evening. Kayli had wracked her brains to think what either she or her team had done wrong in the past few weeks, but came up with nothing. Look, there’s no point getting worked up or speculating what-ifs. I’ll find out in an hour or so, anyway.

  Kayli shivered as she got out of the shower, feeling colder than when she’d got in, not warm and revitalised like she usually did after her morning shower. She brushed her teeth and applied the lightest of makeup before she returned to the bedroom to find Mark fast asleep and snoring gently. She pecked him lightly on the cheek, searched the drawer for her hairdryer, and went through to the small spare room of their two-bedroom terraced home to dry her waist-length black hair. She had no idea why she dried it when all she did was tie it in a ponytail every day anyway. Ten minutes later, she slipped back into the bedroom, gathered her work clothes, and went downstairs to put the kettle on.

  After downing a quick piece of toast and a cup of coffee, she left the house and drove through the ever-increasing heavy traffic around Portishead. Her commute to work usually took twenty minutes, but that morning it took her thirty minutes to wade through. Kayli raced up the stairs, bid the team good morning in the incident room, then ran along the corridor to the DCI’s office. She arrived with a minute to spare and blew out a relieved breath in front of Fiona, the DCI’s secretary.

  “Only just made it, Inspector.”

  “Tell me about it. Damn traffic. Shall I go through?”

  Fiona held up a finger, telling her to be patient, and picked up the phone. “DI Bright is here to see you, DCI Davis.”

  Fiona nodded and motioned for Kayli to go in. She rapped the door with her bony knuckles and turned the handle.

  “Ah! There you are. Only just made it. Take a seat.”

  “Have I done something wrong, boss?”

  Davis’s brow raised, and she tilted her head to one side. “I don’t know... have you?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Sounds like you’re annoyed at me, and that’s why I asked.”

  “No, never annoyed at you, Kayli. This lot”—she swept her hand over the paperwork scattered across her desk—”is another bloody story. I wanted to have a chat to see how you’re getting on, that’s all. Nothing to be alarmed about, really.”

  “I’m doing well. The team have achieved all the targets set for them at the beginning of the year, and I’m delighted about that. Not sure how that compares to the rest of the station’s performance. Maybe you can enlighten me?”

  “Not as good as you, apparently, hence all this damn paperwork. You know what? You’re the only one in this entire building who truly knuckles down to work when they’re here. The others treat this place as a joke half the time. I never hear you laughing when I pass by your office, though.”

  “Thanks, I think I should take that as a compliment. You know me—I like to give my all when I’m at work, and I think I’ve instilled the same work ethic into my team too.”

  “No complaints from me in that department. What cases are you dealing with at present?”

  They spent the next fifteen minutes going over the three open cases the team was currently investigating, which included a man who had murdered his wife after he caught her in bed with his best friend. Another case had to do with a new gang who were intent on marking their territory by trying to wipe out the head of the opposing gang ruling the estate. Finally, the third case involved an old lady who had killed her husband who was riddled with cancer. The doctors had refused to give him sufficient painkillers to deal with the pain, and he’d resorted to pleading with his wife to end his life. No longer capable of seeing him suffer, she had agreed to end the pain and the indignity of the godawful disease.

  “All these cases are nearing their conclusion then?” Davis asked.

  “Hopefully, they should all be wrapped up in the next week or so, unless something else crops up in the meantime.”

  “Good. Well, I couldn’t be more delighted for you and your team. I just wish there were a yearly bonus scheme that compensated those who do outstanding jobs. It might kick the others up the arse then. Sadly, we’ll have to plod on, but fear not, your name is mentioned more times than any of your colleagues’, positively of course. I couldn’t be prouder of the way you tackle your workload. In case I don’t say it enough: you’re a top-class inspector.”

  Kayli’s cheeks warmed. “Gosh, you’ve never praised me like that before, boss. Are you sure you’re not sickening for something?” she joked, trying to hide her embarrassment.

  “Shoo! Go, before I rescind my praises. Credit where it’s due. Maybe I’m at fault for not praising you enough or valuing your worth in the past.”

  Kayli’s eyes widened. “I could always do with a raise, you know, what with the wedding coming up next year. All extra funds gratefully received, as my mum always says.”

  “How are the plans coming along? Has Mark found a decent job yet?”

  Kayli rose from her seat. “Nope. He’s hopeful he’ll have some good news on that front by the end of the day.” She shrugged. “If that’s all, I better get on.”

  Davis nodded. “I was just about to suggest the same. Keep me informed regarding your ongoing cases, and let me know when you’ve completed them.”

  “I will.” Kayli left the office, smiled at Fiona, and walked out into the corridor. She breathed easier as she retraced her steps back to the incident room.

  The room fell silent as she entered. Kayli’s eyes narrowed as she sought out her partner. “Something wrong that I should know about, Dave?”

  “You might need to take a seat first.”

  Fearing something dreadful had happened to a member of her family, she sank into the nearest chair and placed a hand over her heart. “Go on, hit me with it.”

  “We’ve had a call from a couple of kids at a derelict property. It’s not good, boss.”

  Kayli gestured with her hand for him to speed up.

  “In the cellar, they found the body of a child in a hessian sack.”

  Kayli jumped to her feet. “What? We need to get over there ASAP. When was this?”

  “Around eight o’clock last night. The kids were messing around at a house.”

  Kayli frowned and scratched her head. “Messing around? Is that your way of telling me they were about to make out? Why are we just hearing about the case now?”

  Dave shrugged. “Who knows what kids get up to nowadays, and I haven’t got a clue if they’re old enough to be making out. It’s our case now because everyone else is up to their necks in work.”

  Kayli shook her head, clearing her thoughts a little. “So are we... grr... it really doesn’t matter. Let’s get over to the crime scene and see what we’re dealing with. The rest of you, I want you to put an extra effort in to tie up all the open cases within the next day or two so we can give the new one the attention it’s going to need. No one likes the death of a child to deal with, do they?”

  The two detective constables on the team, Donna Travis and Graeme Chance got down to work immediately. Dave pulled his jacket off the back of the chair, then he and Kayli rushed out of the incident room.

  Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the cordoned-off scene in Tyler Street.

  “This place is the pits,” Kayli said as they slipped into their protective suits and shoes. “In my day, this part of town used to be the area where newlyweds bought properties because that’s all they could afford to get on the property ladder. Some of these places need demolishing. Agh... okay, don’t get me started on how the council in this county are letting down their communities.”

  “I hear you. People are crying out for decent homes around here, but maybe we should leave that conversation for another day.” They showed their ID to the constable guarding the house before Dave lifted the tape, they both ducked under it and walked into the derelict shell of a house. />
  “Why would kids come here? The walls are crumbling, and it’s hardly what you would call safe.”

  Dave raised an eyebrow. “Are you messing with me, boss? Why do you think?”

  She shook her head. “That’s gross. Maybe it’s me getting old or something but the thought of getting it on with a boyfriend in this cesspit...” She shuddered. “Well, would you?”

  “Umm... I never had a boyfriend at school.”

  “You’re such a frigging comedian, you know perfectly well what I meant. In the cellar, you said?”

  Dave grinned and pointed off to the left. They picked their way through the rubble and litter to an opening that led to a doorway. “Down here.”

  “Have I ever told you I have a phobia about confined spaces?”

  Dave looked at her as if she were nuts. “You sure pick your moments to tell me breaking news like that. Want me to go down there and report back to you?”

  While Kayli debated her answer, her stomach did a thousand somersaults and her heart rate escalated. She swallowed the acid burning her throat and shook her head. “I’ll see how I go. You first. I’ll bolt if I have to.”

  “Bloody women... scared of a few cobwebs and dark, damp surroundings,” Dave mumbled as he turned his back on her and descended the steps carefully.

  Kayli let him go a few steps ahead of her before she took the plunge to follow him. To her relief the cellar was anything but dark and confining as the Scenes of Crime officers had flooded the area with lamps.

  Pathologist Naomi Stacy was attending the scene. She glanced up at Kayli and Dave as they approached. “Hi, we were delayed getting here, caught up in a major incident overnight. This is a particularly nasty one. I Hope you have a strong stomach this time of the morning.”

  Dave groaned and shook his head, then he surprised Kayli by making the sign of the cross. She’d never witnessed him do such a thing at any other crime scene. Not that we’ve dealt with that many murdered children before, thank God.

  “Jesus! One question—why? What is she? Six or seven at most?” Kayli asked, the bile resurfacing in her throat.

  The child was black and naked, very slim, almost too thin, leading Kayli to think that she had possibly been abducted and held captive for at least several weeks.

  “You’re right. No more than six or seven. She was found in the sack over there. Some bastard tortured her. She has bruises all over her body. Pre-empting your next question, I have no idea if she was sexually abused or not, but I’ll pass that information on once I carry out the PM this afternoon. It’s shocking... just shocking.”

  Kayli reached out and squeezed Naomi’s shoulder. Naomi had a little girl roughly the same age as the victim. “Maybe someone else should deal with this one, Naomi.”

  Naomi shook her head. “No way. I want to do all I can to catch the filthy piece of shit. I’d love nothing more than to string him up, dissect his balls and penis one at a time before forcing them down his throat. Callous shit.”

  “I hear you. I’ll join you in that,” Dave piped up. He smiled down at Naomi.

  Kayli suspected he’d harboured a crush on Naomi for a while, even though he was engaged to Suranne. Maybe “crush” was a little over the top. Perhaps he was just full of admiration for the pathologist, but Kayli had been trying to find the right time to broach the subject with him for a few months.

  Kayli sighed heavily. “Let’s do what we can to find the shit first. I think there will be a queue outside his cell once he’s arrested.”

  “I think you’re right. We’ll ensure the CCTV camera in the cell is conveniently broken that day too,” Dave said, his fists clenching at his sides.

  “Why put her in the sack? Was she kept in there during her ordeal or disposed of after she had died?” Kayli asked, her eyes drawn to the child’s body once more.

  “Hard to tell at this point. My team will let you know once they’ve obtained the answers.”

  “We’ll need to know if she was being held here or if her body was dumped after her death. Can you do that, Naomi?”

  “We’ll do our best. She was probably being held somewhere else and was dumped here. Maybe their intention wasn’t to kill her. Perhaps things got out of hand, and the poor mite’s heart just gave up,” Naomi said, tears moistening her stunning blue eyes.

  “Why don’t you take a breather? Get some fresh air for a moment or two,” Kayli suggested, her own eyes pricking because of the hurt resonating in her friend’s expression.

  Naomi shook her head. “Her right arm is broken—whether that happened pre or post-mortem, I’m not sure at this point. A quick assessment tells me that she also has a couple of busted ribs. She was treated no better than a caged dog on one of those dog meat farms in Vietnam. Sickening.”

  “Any form of identification on the girl?”

  “Nothing, no jewellery and none of her possessions or clothing were found either in the sack or lying around here.”

  “Looks like a trip to the Missing Persons Department is in order when we get back to the station. Anything else you can tell us, Naomi? Any skin under her fingernails pointing to the offender’s DNA? I know I’m expecting a lot, and in reality, I don’t think there’s likely to be any sign of that.”

  “Hard to judge right now. I’ll know more once I’ve carried out all the tests this afternoon. Sorry I can’t furnish you with more at this point.”

  “No problem. We’ll get cracking on this one right away. Hopefully, she’ll have a match in the missing persons database, and we’ll be able to trace the family within the next day or two.”

  “I’m just going to organise the photos, and then I’ll get this precious package back to the lab. I’ll be in touch when I can, Kayli. Good luck locating the parents. Tell them to contact me ASAP when they want to see their child.”

  “I will. Take care, Naomi.”

  Kayli rushed back up the stairs, with Dave close behind her. Not wanting to contaminate the crime scene, she ran as far away from the house as possible, and emptied her stomach over the overgrown shrubs planted at the edge of the garden. Dave carried on walking out to the car. Kayli wiped her mouth and joined him a few minutes later. “Told you I hated confined spaces.”

  “Really? I thought it was because of the state the body was in.”

  In the car, Kayli reached for the bottle of water she always carried with her in the console between them and downed half the contents. “Maybe a mixture of both. Shit! This is going to be the first child’s death we’ve investigated. Let’s hope we can do that little girl justice.”

  “We will. I have no doubts about that. Poor bugger. She didn’t stand a chance with those injuries. I hope we catch the prick soon before he tries to replace her.”

  “Crap, that’s a good point. We need to do all we can to prevent this from happening again, but how?”

  Dave hitched his shoulders. “You tell me. Damn, why us? Why did this land on our doorstep?”

  “Look, Dave, no one in the team is going to be over the moon to be dealing with a case like this, but that should make us even more bloody determined to nail this bastard, right?”

  “I agree. I still envision it being tough to sleep at night until we achieve our goal.”

  Kayli patted his knee. “I know. I feel the same way, and I don’t even have kids. No one has the right to rob a child so young of her life. We will get this depraved individual. I guarantee it, Dave.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  In a rush to get back to the station and begin the investigation, Kayli used her siren to slice through the traffic. She told Dave to return to the incident room to discuss the new case with the team while she stopped off at the Missing Persons Department on the floor below.

  Barbara Wallace greeted her as soon as she stepped through the door. “Hello, stranger. How are things going?”

  “Hi, Barb. I’m doing well. This isn’t a social call, I’m afraid.”

  “Uh oh! By the look on your face, I’m sensing you’ve found a body you nee
d to identify.”

  “Your crystal ball is working exceptionally well, as usual. I’ve just come from a derelict house where the body of a girl around six or seven was found. You’re my first stop. There was no ID on her body, so I need to see if you have any kids who have been reported missing, let’s say within the last month or so.”

  “Take a seat. I’ll pull up the files, and we’ll go through them together. Want a coffee?”

  “I’d love one. White with one sugar, thanks.”

  Barbara flicked the switch on her computer before she headed over to the vending machine in the corner. She returned and placed a much-needed cup of coffee in front of Kayli, who sipped at the boiling-hot liquid immediately. “Right, let’s see what we can find. I’ll search the local area first. If nothing comes of that, I’ll increase the perimeter until we locate something.”

  Kayli was amazed at the images filling the monitor. Barbara flipped through the files briskly, turning to face her every now and again to see if she recognised any of the children on the screen.

  A full ten minutes later, Kayli shouted, “Stop! That’s her. I’m sure it is.”

  “Jamillia Watson. She was reported missing three weeks ago.”

  “I don’t remember seeing anything on TV about her disappearance. Why is that?”

  “It was touted around. Times have changed in the media world, and the disappearance of a child isn’t classed as newsworthy nowadays.”

  “What? I can’t believe it.”

  “Maybe I’m being a little harsh. It was mentioned, right near the end of the bulletin I heard. They gave her a fifteen-second slot, from what I can remember.”

  “That’s appalling. How times have changed. I suppose all this news about Brexit and the cock-ups Trump is making are far more newsworthy at the moment.”

  “Anyway, if this is the girl, the parents are going to be devastated to hear that their daughter is dead.”