Little Girl Gone

by Stephen Edger

  The doubt flickered again. ‘What about the email messages? What about Simon?’

  It was a fair challenge, and given the lack of apparent progress Trent’s team had made with tracing the source of the emails, he could only guess at the cause.

  ‘For all I know, you could be the one sending them … or you’ve paid someone to do it for you.’

  This time fury fired in her eyes. ‘You think …?’ She turned away from him, scanning the floor for something and then strode to her handbag, lifted it, and pulled something out. She thrust it towards him.

  His brow furrowed as he read it. ‘What the hell is this?’

  ‘That’s where I was on Tuesday morning. That’s why I was in Fleet.’

  He studied the business card. ‘A private investigator?’

  She sighed. ‘I’ve suspected your cheating for a couple of months, and I was hoping an investigator could follow you around and put my suspicions to rest one way or another. I knew if I confronted you about it without proof you’d say it was all in my head. I figured you might know all of the private investigators in Southampton, given your job, and I found this woman on the internet.’

  He stepped backwards. ‘You hired a private investigator?’

  ‘I was going to, but then she told me how much it would cost and I knew I couldn’t afford to do it without you finding out.’

  ‘Why now, Alex? If you’ve suspected for so long, what made you decide to see her this week?’

  Alex pulled a pregnancy testing stick out of her bag next. ‘Two lines. I was going to tell you tonight … I’m pregnant, Ray.’

  He took two steps backwards. ‘How …? With whom?’

  ‘You and me a few weeks ago: our drunken fumble. Remember? And it is yours before you ask. Unlike you, I’ve never been unfaithful. I found out last week, and I panicked. I didn’t think I’d be able to raise a baby on my own, and I needed to know whether you were loyal. When she quoted the price, I told her I’d think about it and let her know, and then hightailed it out of her office. And then … Carol-Anne was abducted, and the world spun on its head again. I have no idea what the police have discovered in Fleet, but I can tell you, without a doubt, it isn’t our daughter, and it has nothing to do with me.’

  The ice cubes rattled in the tumbler as Ray raised the glass to his lips, grimacing as the bourbon burned the back of his tongue and numbed his throat. Alex had asked him for space and time, and he had agreed to leave her alone upstairs, having first removed anything he thought she could use to do herself further damage.

  Sitting alone in the darkness of the lounge wasn’t what he’d intended, but the outside light had drifted so quickly and he hadn’t been bothered to close the curtains and switch on the lights. He could hear movement through the ceiling, so at least he knew she hadn’t done anything stupid. Probably packing his stuff into a bag if she had any sense, although he hoped she wouldn’t insist he move out.

  The ice rattled again as he lowered the glass to the coaster and checked his phone. Jodie had phoned three times before leaving him a message asking him to call her. He hadn’t known how to explain what had happened and had simply sent her a message saying he had some personal shit to sort out and would be back in touch in the morning. It was a lousy way to treat her. His philandering ways had been exposed in the worst possible way, and he was now hoping his wife wouldn’t throw him out.

  He heard Isla approaching and quickly drained his drink. He’d relayed what Alex had told him about the appointment in Fleet to her, and although it was outside of the investigator’s published hours, it wouldn’t be too difficult for the team to check that Alex had indeed been there at the time she had indicated.

  ‘Ah you’re still here? Good,’ Isla said as she entered the room and caught sight of him. ‘Is Alex upstairs?’

  He nodded, avoiding eye contact.

  ‘Well, you’ll be relieved to hear that the bones discovered in the nature reserve are that of an elderly male, rather than a child. After what you told me that probably isn’t a surprise.’

  ‘Do they know who he is yet?’

  ‘The grave was shallow and from all accounts limbs have been separated from the body and most likely dragged away by foraging animals. It would seem he has been in the ground for a considerable amount of time, so your wife is in the clear as far as that goes.’

  ‘Hopefully that means Trent will focus on the likelihood that my daughter is being held by someone then?’

  Isla shrugged. ‘I don’t know what it all means to be honest. I’ve never known a case quite like this one.’ She nodded at his glass. ‘Do you mind if I join you?’

  He passed her his glass, shaking his head, and watched as she carried it to the drinks cabinet, poured an equal measure for them both and handed his back to him.

  ‘My ex-husband was a bourbon man too,’ she said, sniffing the glass. ‘The smell still brings back pleasant memories.’

  ‘Why did the two of you split, if you don’t mind me asking?’

  She took a sip. ‘We were never meant to last; or at least that’s my outlook now, as I near my twilight years. We were young and in love: a terrible combination. I thought he would learn to be better and he thought I would learn to adjust to his mannerisms.’ She shrugged again. ‘Turned out we were both wrong. After my son was born, I decided I wanted to do something worthwhile with my life and applied for the police force. I was young enough to be in decent shape, and old enough that I had some life experience. Bundle that up with the fact that I’m a woman and my application was accepted. I think I used my newfound responsibility as a springboard to avoid my shaky marriage. I applied for overtime whenever it was going, leaving my ex-husband and his overbearing mother to raise our son. Not that I shirked my parental responsibility, but it was easier not having to worry about school runs, the PTA and packed lunches. It’s no wonder Luke despises me so much.’

  ‘So being in the police didn’t cause your relationship to go tits up?’

  ‘No, it was virtually over before I started. Even so, I have no regrets. My ex-husband is remarried with stepchildren he adores, and we’re still on good terms; he still sends me flowers every year on my birthday.’

  ‘Something tells me Alex won’t be quite so forgiving of my failings.’

  Isla considered him for a moment. ‘Do you want her to? Forgive me for speaking out of turn – and this is based solely on my interactions with you since Wednesday – neither of you strike me as being particularly happy with how things are. I appreciate I’ve probably met you at the worst time of your lives, yet I sense the two of you haven’t been happy for some time.’

  He couldn’t argue, and he didn’t have an answer for her question. What was making him feel most guilty wasn’t that he’d been caught, but the feeling of relief that it was now out in the open.

  The ringing doorbell stopped him responding to the question, and as he opened the door and saw a tearful Noemi on the doorstep, he wasn’t sure what to do. Closing the door behind him, he joined her outside. The rain had now passed and a gentle breeze blew around them.

  ‘She hasn’t killed you yet then?’ Noemi said, forcing a pained smile.

  He reciprocated the gesture. ‘Not yet. How are you?’

  ‘I feel awful. Sophie came out when she heard us arguing. I told her what happened, and we’ve been sat in my car talking. How is Alex?’

  ‘Wearing a hole in the bedroom carpet with her pacing I think. She wants time.’

  ‘What has she said? Has she asked how it happened? What did you tell her? You’d better not paint me as the villain of the piece.’

  He raised his arms in a calming gesture. ‘Hey, why would I?’

  ‘It’s what most men would do: blame it on the woman. You know I never intended for what happened, and you need to tell her that.’

  Ray put his arm around her, resting his chin on her head, as she snuggled into his shoulder. He’d screwed up both of their lives and would be paying penance for the rest of his.

/>   ‘Has she kicked you out?’ Noemi mumbled. ‘I’d offer to let you stay at mine, but … it might not look right.’

  ‘She hasn’t thrown me out yet. I’ll probably sleep in Carol-Anne’s room for tonight at least. I’ll have to try and find a hotel for tomorrow night and then work out a plan thereafter.’

  She looked up at him, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘Tell me one thing: do you regret it?’

  He could see the look of longing in her eyes, striving for validation that what they’d shared had been more than just lust. Before he could answer, a scream from inside had him rushing through the door, finding Isla and Alex hovered over the laptop.

  ‘What is it? What’s happened?’ he shouted.

  Neither woman could respond, as Alex turned the laptop around so he could see the screen.

  49

  Alex threw her arms around Ray’s neck, his infidelity temporarily forgotten as she craved to be held and assured that everything would be okay. Behind them the video of Carol-Anne singing to herself played on a loop on the laptop screen.

  ‘Who’s doing this to us?’ Alex wailed.

  Ray didn’t answer, angling her so he could read the message that had been sent with the video.

  Simon Says …

  One day to go and still you delay,

  Someone will die come what may.

  If you love your daughter,

  Do what you ought to.

  I’m sharpening my knife,

  Kill him to save her life.

  He was rubbing his hand in circles on her back, but that wasn’t what she wanted. Pulling away from him, she turned her back and pulled the laptop close to her chest.

  As soon as Ray had returned to the room, Isla had left, dialling the office and demanding Trent come and see the latest message for herself. That had been twenty minutes ago, and voices in the corridor confirmed that Trent and team had arrived.

  On the surface, the video message wasn’t sinister at all. Carol-Anne had been able to sing a selection of nursery rhymes to herself for some time, but ‘Ring a ring a roses’ wasn’t one Alex had ever taught her. So while the video provided hope that Carol-Anne was not only alive, and well, it also meant that whoever had her was in control, and Alex didn’t doubt the threat to Carol-Anne’s life was real.

  Yet, as sinister as the recording was intended to be, Alex didn’t want to stop listening to her beautiful child’s sweet angelic tones.

  As soon as Trent entered the room, though, the first thing she did was to seize the laptop and stop the video.

  Alex wanted to speak out and demand she put the song back on, knowing she would be ignored. The fact that Trent had managed to get into Ray’s head and have even him doubting her mental health and motivations told Alex all she needed to know about the detective inspector.

  Alex continued to watch Trent speaking quietly to Isla, glancing over to her and Ray every few seconds, like she was still trying to assess their level of involvement in the whole sordid affair.

  ‘Okay, okay,’ Trent said, before peeling away and approaching the two of them. ‘This message is in response to something you sent?’ she asked, staring straight at Alex.

  Alex looked away. ‘I-I-I was just trying to get his attention.’

  ‘Who told you to engage with the kidnapper?’ Trent pressed.

  ‘Nobody, it was my idea.’

  ‘What did you hope to achieve?’

  ‘I don’t know. I just …’

  Trent looked at her notebook. ‘You wrote: “Prove to me that Carol-Anne is alive and well, and I’ll do what you ask. I need more details. Where is Jack? And how will you return Carol-Anne when the deed is done?” Why did you ask these questions?’

  ‘I wanted proof that she was still alive—’

  Trent wasn’t buying the act. ‘Do you intend to carry out what Simon has asked? Because if you’re conspiring to kill Jack Whitchurch I’ll arrest you here and now.’

  Ray put a protective arm in front of Alex. ‘Now just wait right there. She’s told you why she sent it.’

  Trent ignored him and focused on Alex. ‘Why did you say you’d go through with the act?’

  ‘I was stringing him along, I didn’t mean it.’ Alex wasn’t sure she believed the words herself as they tumbled from her lips, yet she hoped she was putting on a convincing act.

  ‘Why did you ask him where Jack was? If you only wanted to string him along, why ask that?’

  ‘I thought it would make me seem more serious. I promise you: I’m not a killer. I just wanted proof that she was still alive.’

  ‘I don’t believe you, Alex.’

  ‘I saw a clairvoyant earlier,’ Alex said, lowering her eyes. ‘He said Carol-Anne was dead, and I-I wanted proof that he was wrong.’

  ‘The one thing I told you at the outset of all this was not to engage with this person. By emailing him you have given him the power and attention he craves. I have no doubt now that the messages are from the same person who has your daughter. Still, we have no way of knowing whether this video was made today or on the first day he took her. Forgive my bluntness: you haven’t helped matters at all.’

  ‘Hey, ease off,’ Ray warned. ‘She made a mistake, let’s not keep going on about it. Tell me you’re closer to tracing where these messages originate, or who’s sending them.’

  ‘The perpetrator is using a Virtual Private Network to protect their location. When we traced the IP credentials, it flagged up in Belgium the first time, and then Azerbaijan, and God knows where this one is from.’

  ‘So, what, you’re giving up?’

  ‘Of course not! We’re continuing to trawl through the local video coverage we’ve got, looking for out-of-place vehicles leaving the vicinity, and you know how painstaking that can be.’

  ‘If nothing is done before tomorrow’s deadline, this man is going to kill my daughter,’ Alex wailed, pulling herself clear of Ray and storming from the room, hurrying up the stairs and slamming the door behind her. If only they’d listened to her when the first message came, maybe Carol-Anne would already be home. How much time had Trent wasted assuming she was guilty of harming Carol-Anne?

  The bedroom door burst open and Ray rushed in, closing it behind him. ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘No I’m bloody not! What if Simon carries out his threat? What if he kills Carol-Anne and we never get to see her again?’

  ‘I know how you feel, and I too wish there was something we could do to—’

  ‘There is. You could man up and take care of this Whitchurch.’

  ‘What are you saying, Alex?’

  She glared at him, grinding her teeth to cover what she really thought of him. ‘If you really loved this family you’d have found Jack’s location on day one and killed him.’

  He grunted disbelievingly. ‘Are you out of your mind?’

  Her eyes remained fixed on his. ‘Do you really think it’s a coincidence that he targeted us? The wife of a policeman who can get close to Jack and kill him? I can’t believe it’s me having to suggest this.’

  Ray narrowed his eyes. ‘I can’t believe you are even suggesting this. What the hell has happened to you?’

  ‘You’ve abandoned our daughter, Ray! You abandoned me when you unzipped your trousers and screwed Noemi, and now you’ve turned your back on Carol-Anne.’

  ‘I haven’t turned my back on our daughter.’

  ‘Then why aren’t you out there killing that monster to get her back?’

  Ray glanced nervously at the door. ‘You need to lower your voice. If Trent hears what we’re discussing she’ll have us both cuffed.’

  ‘Do you know what? I don’t even care anymore. I said from the outset that I’d do whatever it took to get my little girl back, and if you haven’t got the balls to do it, then I’ll bloody well do it myself.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Alex! What about the baby?’

  She hadn’t realized her hand had been gently rubbing her abdomen since she’d made it to the top of the
stairs. She didn’t answer his challenge, feeling helplessness flowing over her.

  ‘We have no clue who’s behind any of this,’ Ray continued evenly, ‘and whether he’d even return her if Whitchurch died. For all you know, you could kill him and then Simon could still kill Carol-Anne. We’ve talked about this before, Alex, and I know you’re desperate, but this line of thought is ludicrous. You’d probably be arrested and charged before you even got fifty feet from him, and then what? Even if you did do what Simon asked, and he did live up to his side, what good would it do? You’d be in prison and you still wouldn’t get to see Carol-Anne.’

  At least she’d know her daughter was safe, even if she only got to see her under watchful supervision.

  ‘And how exactly would you do it, Alex? Have you even thought about that? You won’t even kill spiders when they leap at you in the shower. How the hell are you going to be able to kill another human being?’

  She opened her mouth to answer, but she hadn’t thought that far ahead. ‘I’d find a way.’

  His voice was rising again. ‘Oh yeah? It’s not like the US where you can walk into your nearest supermarket and just buy a gun. You could always stab him, I suppose, but it can be hard work pressing a blade through human tissue, especially if he’s wriggling around and fighting for survival. Or then there are a number of poisons out there. With less than a day to go, how are you going to get your hands on one of those? And of course making him ingest the poison would be challenging too. But then maybe—’

  ‘Enough, Ray!’ she said, deflated. ‘You’ve made your point.’

  Placing his hands on her shoulders, he shook his head. ‘I’m not sure I have, Alex. I appreciate that the idea of killing Jack Whitchurch seems the easy answer – particularly given his criminal history –the practicality of it is a lot tougher. I need you to promise me that you’ll stop thinking like this.’

  She was struggling to focus on his face through the fog of tears. ‘It wouldn’t have to be us who killed him though, Ray. You must have come into contact with killers before: people who can be paid to kill?’