by A L Fraine
“Sir?”
“Detective Dyer, what can I do for you?”
“I think we might have another missing person’s report that’s related to our case.”
“Oh, really?” Jon asked. “Tell me more.”
“A taxi driver went missing yesterday,” Dion began.
“Oh, yeah. I heard that on the news this morning. How does that relate to a child kidnapper? It’s hardly our guys MO.”
“That’s true.”
“Do we have a name for the taxi driver?”
“Remus Popescu.”
“And how does this guy relate to our case?”
“He works for TooFro, the same cab company that Darryl works for.”
“Oh, does he? That’s interesting and a little too close to home.”
“Those were my thoughts too,” Dion replied.
“Alright, find out what you can. I want everything on him, okay?”
“Will do, boss.”
16
“Damn it,” Nathan cursed under his breath as he stared at the screen and the information on it. It hadn’t taken long for him to track down the parents of Kendel Darby. The case was well documented at the time, and they had clear records of it. But when he came to hunting down where Kendel’s parents were now, he hit a sudden and frustrating dead end… literally.
They were dead.
Both parents had died in a car crash just months after Kendel went missing. The Darby’s car had hit a tree at speed, killing both people instantly. It was out in the countryside, and there were no witnesses to the actual crash. Instead, they were found by a passing vehicle. The report on the incident was short and to the point, and apart from the suspicious timing, there was nothing to indicate there was any foul play. Instead, it seemed like the incident was treated as a suicide.
Nathan wasn’t convinced. It was all a little too neat and tidy for his liking.
Beyond his parents, Kendel didn’t have much in the way of a family, and in fact, the only other family member, an uncle, died later that same year from a heart attack. Again, the timing seemed convenient.
After his parents died, the investigation into Kendel’s disappearance wound down, and he was never found. It was just another unsolved missing person’s case to add to the already tall pile.
But the circumstances were suspect, and Nathan wondered if perhaps Kendel himself had manufactured the whole thing. There was no proof of that, but something wasn’t right.
His investigations into the Darby family left him feeling frustrated. He’d felt sure he was onto something. It was as if someone had dangled some bait in front of him, only for them to whip it away at the last moment, like a cruel joke.
Looking over the report of the parents’ deaths again, hunting for some kind of clue, he saw they were laid to rest in a local cemetery. For a moment, he dismissed it and moved on before returning to that piece of information a moment later.
Why not? He’d come this far, he figured he might as well see it through to the end.
Grabbing his coat, Nathan left the SIU office behind and made the short drive to Leatherhead and the cemetery there.
He found them, eventually, laid side by side in the lush, well cared for grass, and there, laid on top were two bunches of flowers, one on each grave.
Nathan raised an eyebrow. Who would leave flowers on their graves? Their family was all dead or missing… Unless they weren’t.
17
Owen read through the email he’d written, carefully checking it for obvious typos and other errors that would give away its true intention. He worked hard on these things, and doing it right was indeed an art, and like any artist, he was proud of his work.
The crappy emails from Nigeria or India that were filled with typos from an email address that wasn’t even remotely similar to the company they were trying to imitate, gave people like him a bad name.
No, these things took time, patience, and skill, and he was one of the best. Modest too, he thought, smiling to himself, before saving the email to his drafts, ready for use later.
Sitting back, Owen switched over to another window and browsed through the front page of Pornhub and admired the inventive camera angles that these film-makers came up with.
Just as he started to get aroused, his phone buzzed on the desk.
Dragging his eyes away from the bouncing woman on the screen, he checked out the caller ID.
Jake.
Owen raised an eyebrow. He’d not seen too much of him since their time in the slammer, but he’d been good to him, and he owed Jake a favour.
With a grunt and a sigh, Owen picked up the phone and answered it.
“Jake, my man, how’s it going?”
“Alright, I guess,” he replied, but he didn’t seem convinced.
“You don’t sound alright.”
“Neither would you if you’d just been attacked on your doorstep.”
Snorting, Owen smiled to himself. “Speak for yourself. I’d love to give someone a beating. Speaking of which, I’ve got Naughty Housewives of Suburbia on pause for you, so what’s up?”
“Charming as always, Owen.”
“It’s got me this far in life.”
“Well, pull your pants back up cos I’ve a favour to ask you.”
“Fine,” Owen replied and swung away from the screen. “What’s up?”
“A while back, you got me some information on Darryl Kay, remember?”
“Yeah, of course. What of it?”
“Well, that’s the guy who just attacked me.”
“Fucker. Want me to send some guys around?”
“No, no. I just want to know as much as possible on him. Anything you’ve got. I want to know what he’s up to, where’s he’s been going, his work, everything.”
“Alright, sure. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks, man. Quick as you can please.”
“I know. Leave it with me. I’m on it.”
“Cheers, catch you later.” The line clicked off.
Owen squinted his phone for a moment with a quizzical expression, and then shrugged and returned his attention to the monitor. He could spare a few moments to finish himself off. It can’t be that desperate.
Half an hour later, Owen walked outside and waved at the driver of the TooFro car parked outside his block of flats. The driver returned the wave, and Owen climbed into the back.
“Vali, my man. How’s it going?”
“It go good, Owen,” he replied with a thick, Romanian accent. “What can friend Vali do you for today?”
“I need some info. Anything you can find out about Darryl Kay.”
“Darryl. This same Darryl as last time, yes?”
“Yeah, but I need more. Anything and everything you can get. Dirty secrets, debts, who his friends and enemies are, the works.”
“Oh, I not know about that, but, I ask friend Remus. He know Darryl. He might know something. Is that all?”
“For now,” Owen replied. “Cheers.”
“Aaah, yes. Cheers to you too, yes? I call soon.”
“Perfect.”
18
“So he was lying to us,” Jon stated as he looked at the report and the enclosed map.
Kate was sitting opposite him, her legs crossed, her chin supported by her hand. She looked a little frazzled and there was a nasty bruise on her cheek from the earlier scuffle, but she was still focused and alert. It had been a long day, and it appeared that Jake had lied to him about more than just the drugs that Jon had found evidence of.
“Well,” Kate replied, “maybe. All this shows is that his phone was somewhere in Epsom, in the vicinity of the town centre, at the time of the kidnapping. As for where Jake himself was, I don’t know. We’ll need to hunt through hours of CCTV footage in the area to try and confirm if Jake was the one carrying that phone around or not.”
“And Sherryl?”
“Her phone was most likely at home. It’s on the next page.”
Jon turned the page
to see the report for Sherryl. “Okay. So either Jake is out around town that morning, doing something, or maybe Sherryl is and is covering for something that Jake is doing.”
“That’s about the size of it.”
“How accurate is this map?”
“Well, that’s what we’re trying to figure out. Technically, with the margin of error that we usually work with, he could possibly have been on Milo’s road or in the town centre while his phone stayed tethered to that mast.”
“So, it could be Jake?” Jon asked.
“Could be, but I’m not sure we have enough to say it’s definitely him.”
“No, probably not. His defence would pull that apart in moments. We need more.”
“I agree. Which means I need to stare at some CCTV video for a few hours.” Kate groaned.
“See, who says police work is boring drudgery?”
“Not me,” Kate replied. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing.”
“Pilgrim!”
Jon looked up to see DS Arthur at the door. “Rachel, what’s up?”
“We’ve just had a walk-in. Connie Young, she wants to see you.”
“Connie?” He looked over at Kate, who frowned with similar curiosity.
“Travis’s mum,” Kate said under her breath.
“Where is she?” Jon asked.
“Interview room two, she’s a bit of a mess. Seems quite shaken up by something.”
“Alright, thanks. We’ll check it out. Come on Irish, looks like you’re spared the thrill-ride of watching people shopping for hours on end. Rachel, can you take that over?”
“Oh joy,” Rachel said, deadpan.
“Please, contain your excitement,” Jon replied.
“I’ll do my best. I’m horny just thinking about it.”
Kate smirked as Jon pulled a face.
“Well, why don’t you bring Dion over to help you,” Jon suggested.
“Sure, why not,” Rachel replied. “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.”
“Just try to keep your hands off each other while you do it, yeah?” Kate remarked. “Don’t get too excited.”
“I’ll break the thrilling news to Dion,” Rachel answered and walked away.
“Any ideas?” Kate asked.
“On Connie? Nope. Let’s go and see what she has for us.” Jon led them out of the office and around to the interview suites on the ground floor below. An officer stood outside number two and let them in.
Connie jumped as they entered. She’d been sitting at the table, chewing her fingernails. A book had been set on the table before her. It was covered in stickers and bits of paper that had been glued to the outside of it.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” Jon said and raised his hand as she began to stand. “No, please, stay seated.”
“Oh, okay,” she replied and took her seat. Her wide eyes flicked around nervously as she went right back to biting her nails.
Jon and Kate took their chairs opposite, and he glanced at the book. It looked like some kind of notebook that had been personalised by the owner, and if the stickers of cars, emojis and women in bikinis were anything to go by, he guessed it most likely belonged to Travis. “How can I help you?”
Connie glanced around the room and then at the door, looking utterly terrified.
“You’re safe here, Mrs Young,” Kate said. “No one can get you. I promise.”
She nodded. “Um, okay. Thank you.”
“That’s okay.”
“I’ve had reporters banging on the door, you know. I saw them pull up outside my block just after Travis left, but I didn’t think they were for me.”
“But they were.”
She nodded as she gazed across at them, her eyes betraying her, showing the toll all this was taking. “They’re… insistent.”
“They can be,” Jon agreed.
“Why did you come here?” Kate added. “Is it something to do with this?” She pointed to the book.
Connie nodded.
“What is it?”
“I found it,” Connie replied.
“When?” Kate pressed.
“After you left. He was outraged that you’d come to the flat.”
“Travis?” Jon clarified.
“Yes. He was furious. Shouting and banging around. He was really annoyed. He scared me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kate said, her voice soft and soothing and full of empathy.
“He gets like that sometimes. He’s got such a temper on him. It was the kidnapping, and then when his father left… He didn’t cope very well with that. He became angry, depressed, frustrated. It hit him really hard. It’s not his fault. We made him this way.”
“You didn’t,” Kate suggested.
“You don’t know that. I could have been stronger. I’ve been weak ever since he was taken. I know what my own failings are. I got scared. I didn’t want him going out anymore. I felt terrified that he’d be taken again. I just didn’t want to lose him. But I think I have. I think I’ve lost him.”
“I’m sure that’s not true,” Jon said.
“I should have disciplined him, stopped him getting so angry all the time. I should have done more.”
“I’m sure you did what you thought was right. That’s all we can ever do,” Kate replied. “No one gives you a manual on how to raise kids.”
“You were there for him,” Jon added. “That’s more than many others can say. He had his mother, who loved and cared for him, there with him every day. That’s nothing to sniff at.”
Connie nodded. “Thank you. I know you’re just trying to comfort me, but he’s not the boy that he once was. He’s changed.”
“He’s still your son,” Jon replied.
“I guess...”
“So, what happened? What made you come here today?”
She sniffed and tried to compose herself. “A few hours after you left, Travis went out. I don’t know where. I don’t ever see him with any friends. He went into town, I think, and I just had to know. You know? He’s just so angry these days that I thought… I can’t believe I thought this, but I just had to know if he was the kidnapper.”
“You think he is?” Kate asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe. But I thought that if he had taken the boy, maybe there’d be a clue in his room or something. So, I went hunting.”
“And you found this?” Kate asked.
Connie nodded. “It was hidden at the back of his wardrobe, behind some other bits. I looked through it, and, well, have a look for yourselves.”
“You’ve touched this, right?” Jon asked.
“Yes… Oh, should I not have?”
“Hold on, I’ll grab some gloves,” Kate said and left the room.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I shouldn’t have touched it.”
“It’s fine,” Jon replied. “We’ll take your prints, so we can eliminate them.”
“Okay, as long as you’re sure.”
“I’m sure,” Jon answered as Kate returned and handed Jon a pair of latex gloves. They both pulled them on and carefully opened the book, touching it by its edges and corners.
Inside, the pages were covered in scribbled drawings and writing. Some of them were complete sentences, others just single words.
There were drawings of dead and cut up bodies drawn by someone that was clearly not a gifted artist. But the images were quite clear. There were dead children, angry faces, knives, blood surrounded by angry words. A lot of it was curse words or little angry sentences. Jon read some of them.
‘Keep still, be quiet.’
‘Watch, you little fucker, watch.’
‘Aaaagh!’
Jon read the words and took in the images. They were the work of someone with anger issues, at the very least. Some of the images were filled with fear and looked like memories of the kidnapping Travis went through. Maybe they were quotes by the kidnapper himself. There were drawings of a masked man scattered through the pages. Was that the
kidnapper?
Partway through, a page had the name ‘Emily’ scrawled across the top in stark, angry letters. Below, the owner of the book had written questions, asking why she’d left him, over and over. ‘Why did she not take me with her? Why did she leave me with the killer?’
Travis was clearly angry about it.
“Okay, I think I’ve seen enough for now,” Jon said. “We’ll need to keep this and go through it carefully.”
Connie nodded. “Of course. I understand.”
“Are you alright?” Kate asked.
“I think so.”
“Thank you for bringing this to us.”
“He’s the killer, isn’t he,” she stated. “He did it. He took that boy, right?”
“We don’t know that,” Jon replied. “This is not definitive proof that he’s the killer. It’s just proof that he’s dealing with some serious emotional scars.”
“It doesn’t look good, though, does it,” Connie replied.
“I wouldn’t like to say at this point,” Jon replied. But inside, Jon was agreeing with her. No, it did not look good. Not at all. This was the diary of a young man that needed help, with the page on Emily, and the anger he had towards her being particularly damning.
“Where is Travis now?”
“I don’t know,” Connie replied. “I left before he got home. He might be back by now.” She paused for a moment. “I can’t go back. Not while he’s out there somewhere, I just can’t.”
Jon nodded. “I agree. We need to find him and talk to him. We’ll put you up in a hotel. There’s one local to us we can use. If we can have your keys, we’ll go to your flat and see if Travis has returned, and while we’re there, we’ll get you a change of clothes, okay?”
“Thank you,” she replied.
“Alright, you can stay in here for now, and we’ll move you once we’ve made arrangements.”
“We’ll find him, Mrs Young,” Kate said. “I promise.”
Jon led the way out of the room and put in the call to have someone take Mrs Young’s keys and check out the flat, while he and Kate arranged to get the diary put into evidence and recorded. Each page was photographed, and a document was put together over the next hour with copies of all the pages as they waited for a report about Travis to come in.
