by Anne Bone
‘We have a sighting of Shona leaving school at three o’clock, and instead of turning right to go home, she was seen turning left. We think she was on her way to visit her friend Marjorie who is off school ill. She mentioned to one of her classmates that she wondered why Marjorie wasn’t at school, and maybe she would call and see why. According to Marjorie’s parents, she never arrived and they had no knowledge that she was missing until her father, Danny, called last evening.’
A knock at the door interrupted the briefing. A young officer arrived carrying a tray with two mugs of coffee and a plate of butteries covered with thick butter. Tim helped himself to one and took a bite, using the time to chew while Jane poured milk into her coffee.
‘So, were there any sightings of her on her way to visit her friend?’
‘Not one, but there is a wooded area between the school and Dove Bell, that’s the housing scheme where her friend lives, and we are focusing our search in that area. But, so far nothing at all has surfaced.’
‘Tell me about the family. Seems a bit odd that they didn’t notice their ten year old child hadn’t come home from school.’ Jane had been thinking this since she left Aberdeen. It seemed an awful long time before they reported her missing, especially given it was dark nights.
‘Dad, Danny, is known to us, done a bit of fighting in his early years but nothing more than a couple of fines. Got a bit of a temper on him, as has his wife, Pamela. Both enjoy a bevvy, and we have had calls regarding disturbances at the house. Reports are they are as bad as one another. Once the officers attend they can be settled down reasonably quickly, and without too much of a fuss. Pamela has form too; she’s a couple previous convictions for theft and fraud, but to be fair these were a while ago. Most recent was a breach of peace when she had a fall out in the local with another woman. Seems Pam had been getting over friendly with the woman’s husband, and when she was told to back off, she retaliated. The breach is still to be heard yet, but likely she’ll get a fine.’
‘And they have five kids then. Any concern from social work?’ asked Jane, obviously expecting that given this profile there would be more.
‘I had a word with the senior at the local office and, yes, they are known to them as well. Low key stuff, a few anonymous calls claiming that kids have been left on their own. The social workers followed these up and gave advice and guidance, apparently. Not sure whether it had much effect. The senior social worker told me that while there have been a few issues, most recently, Sam had been involved in some vandalism in the street, and had been reported to the Children’s Panel, so they had had to do an initial report on him. They had been impressed apparently, not by his parents, but by the lad himself. He was quite sensible and seemed to get it that if he came to their attention for anything else, then he would be in front of a Panel. They were less impressed by the mother, and the state of the house, described as disordered and mucky, but not enough to warrant any action. To sum up they are described as a family who were offered support, but who declined, but they reckoned that it would only be a matter of time before they came to their attention again.’
Jane nodded. ‘I take it that all the procedures have been followed,’ she asked, taking another mouthful from the mug and replacing it on the desk.
‘Yes, of course, just because we are out in the sticks, Jane, doesn’t mean we don’t know how to follow procedures. I haven’t forgotten what they taught us at college all those years ago.’ He grinned at her. ‘Apparently the house proved to be a challenge to search. The lads told me that there would have been plenty of places the lass could have hidden, namely, the piles of clothes that were littered throughout, and it took some time to empty the built-in cupboards in the bedrooms. But nothing at the child’s friend’s home either. Those parents weren’t so helpful and the mother even requested a search warrant, but was advised very helpfully by her husband not to be so bloody stupid. We didn’t expect to find anything, but as that was where she was apparently heading, we didn’t have an option other than to search the house.’
‘Well, I think it is about time I met with the parents,’ she told him, draining the last dregs of the mug ‘just to get a feel for them and see what they have to say for themselves. Do you want to drive me, given you’re out in the sticks, as you say!’
‘That would be an honour,’ he joked, as he put his jacket on and opened the door to his office.
Jane was comfortable with Tim: she had known him since they were cadets together, and when they were going through college they were an item for just over a year. They had split up once they had become fully-fledged officers and went their separate ways. ‘So, how are you?’ she asked him. She was aware that, very sadly, Tim’s wife of five years had passed away from cancer a couple of years ago. It was a blow, she knew, as it had been a tumultuous time for them both after she had been diagnosed with cervical cancer, which also rendered their hopes to have children redundant.
‘I’m doing not bad considering,’ he replied. ‘It’s been hard, but then life has to go on as they say. How about you? I heard you got hitched yourself a year or so ago.’ He turned to glance at her as he negotiated the road.
‘You obviously haven’t heard the force gossip then,’ she answered, ‘Sean and I separated four months ago. It just didn’t work out and to tell you the truth I don’t think I am a marrying type. I am, as he would often tell me, married to the job. By the way, can you suggest a local hotel or B&B where I can get a room while I am up here?’
‘Absolutely not,’ he told her, ‘I have two spare rooms, come and kip at mine. I insist. I know what it’s like when there’s a big job on, and you can come and go as you please. Also, I can keep an eye on the job as they say.’
She smiled at him, he was a kind man and, given their long association, she told him that she would gladly accept his offer, knowing it was a genuine offer, with no strings attached.
They arrived in Benview Close, where there was a flurry of activity. Not only were there high numbers of police officers present, but members of the public and, more irritatingly, several journalists. The latter were plainly in the process of getting the gen on the family by speaking to neighbours. ‘I suppose we will need to organise a press conference,’ she told him.
‘Think it’s all in hand. The corporate press officer was on the phone earlier and is setting something up for later this afternoon. You’ll have had lots of experience facing them.’ He parked the car in a space a few houses away from number twenty.
It was easy to see which house the family lived in given the description of the untidy house. The front garden was the same, and stood out with its unkempt grass that may have at one time been a lawn. In amongst the grass were items of broken toys strewn haphazardly, obviously never moved after they were no longer of use. The front door was wide open and there appeared to be a number of people in the house. They stood and knocked; a woman appeared and asked who they were. Tim gave his name and introduced Jane. The woman turned and bellowed at the top of her voice, ‘Pam, its more Bobbies who want to speak to you.’ She turned and asked them to follow her.
They were ushered into the sitting room where two women sat. Pam was prostrate on the sofa, her black mascara had run several hours ago by the look of it, and now she had panda eyes. She looked rough. ‘Have you come to tell me you’ve found my lass?’ she asked.
‘I’m afraid not, Mrs Cameron. My name is Chief Inspector Jane Lewis and I am the Senior Inquiry Officer. I would really like to speak to you and your husband, if he is around that is.’
‘He’s out searching with your boys,’ she informed them. ‘But sit yourself down, do you want a brew?’
They refused the offer of a brew and sat on the seats that were vacated by the two other women who, they supposed, were either members of the family or friends. Pam informed them they were her best friends who had come to support her. Jane asked them if they would mind leaving them alone with Pam. They mumbled when they left the room saying they would go and sort
the kids out.
Jane needed to hear Pam’s account of what happened yesterday. She started off asking whether there had been any arguments when Shona had left for school yesterday.
Pam bristled, ‘What do you mean? There was na’ arguments at all, she went off happy enough. I hope you’re not suggesting that she wasn’t a happy kid, because she was perfectly happy. So I’m sure that she hasn’a run off.’
Jane watched the woman. She did seem on the defence, but she also realised what a stressful thing it was for a child to go missing. ‘We just have to ask the questions, Mrs Cameron Often kids who go missing, run off, so we just need to know how things were in the house.’
Pam sat up and reached for her packet of cigarettes. She removed one, put it to her lips, lighting it expertly with her lighter. She drew on the glowing cigarette before answering. ‘They were all fine. She got up, had her breakfast, got dressed and was away to the school as usual. No problem at all.’
‘Okay, thank you for that, and can you tell me, when do you normally expect her to come home from school?’
‘She comes out of the school at three, and takes about ten minutes to walk home. That’s if she doesn’t dawdle, or hang around to play with her pals.’ She drew another mouthful of smoke down into her lungs, ‘You know what kids are like, and they don’t always do as they are supposed to.’
‘So, can you explain to us, why you didn’t raise the alarm with us before eight thirty last night? If she was due home, say at three fifteen, that’s over five hours later.’
Pam sat herself up and glared at the two visitors, ‘I have four other bairns who come and go all the time and our Shona would often stay out, as I say, and play with her pals. I thought she had been home and gone out again.’ Her tone had become defensive. It wasn’t that she was feeling guilty for not realising she was missing, they just didn’t understand how busy the house was. ‘So, instead of sitting here questioning me, why are you not out there bloody looking for her?’
‘We have, as you know, Mrs Cameron, lots of people out looking for her, but we just need to get some background details. You’ve given my officers a photograph I understand, but it’s not a recent one. It would be helpful if you could provide a more recent one. From what I am given to understand she was just six years old in the one you provided, would that be right?’ Jane was becoming slightly irritated by this woman who, in her view, wasn’t being entirely helpful.
‘It’s the only one we got,’ she told them. ‘We dinna have the money to get photos done. So it will have to do.’ She settled herself back on the sofa again, and began to cry, ‘My poor wee lassie, where are you?’ She mopped her tears with the sleeve of her jumper.
Jane and Tim realised that they were not going to get much from this woman, and prepared themselves to leave when they heard more voices in the hallway. The door opened to reveal a tall man, who looked tired and stressed. ‘Danny, these are the police bigwigs,’ Pam told him as a way of introduction.
Danny came in and went over to shake the hands of the two officers. He looked shattered and sat down on the end of the sofa, moving his wife’s feet so he could make room. ‘Is there a brew?’ he asked her, ‘plus I could do with a sandwich or something.’
She didn’t move, apart from sitting up slightly so she could issue her orders at the top of her voice, ‘Sam! Get your father a brew will you, and bring one of those sandwiches the woman from down the road put in.’
‘We’ve not had any joy,’ said Danny, ‘I’ve been out with some of my work mates, combing the park, but no sign of her and nobody has had sight. You think she’s been taken, don’t you?’
Jane felt two pairs of eyes boring into her as she drew breath. ‘We always consider abduction when it’s a child of Shona’s age. We are still undertaking a detailed search, especially in the woods, the ones that are on the way to her friend’s house.’ She lowered her tone, ‘I can imagine that this is a terrible time for you. I will allocate a liaison officer to support you.’
‘What we need,’ insisted Pam, ‘is all of you lot out there looking for her, not sitting around ”supporting us”, so, no thank you, I dinna want a copper sitting here watching me.’
Danny interrupted, ‘Now, Pam, come on, they’re doing their best.’
Jane, realising that Pam was brewing up for an argument, diverted attention by asking, ‘Tell me about Shona. What is she like?’
It wasn’t Pam who answered, but Danny. She saw the softness in his eyes as he described his girl, ‘She’s a bonny lass, small for her age, people take her for a kid much younger than she is. She’s nearly eleven, but looks like nine. She’s a lass who likes to hold her own, probably because she has had to with two older brothers. She’s funny, always capering and likes to be heard. If anyone’s got her then they will hear her, she’ll fight I tell you, she’ll fight.’
The door opened and Sam entered carrying a mug of tea and a plate of sandwiches. He gave them to his father, who was evidently very hungry and crammed one straight into his mouth.
‘Hello, you must be Sam,’ said Jane as she introduced herself. ‘You are doing a grand job by the look of it, making tea for everyone.’
He looked at the woman but didn’t smile. He was fed up making tea and sorting out the kids, and he was worried about his sister. He didn’t like having all this fuss and his mum’s friends were nothing more than a pest, not helping, just filling their faces with the goodies that one of the neighbours had sent in for them. He was totally knackered and had hardly had a seat since last night.
‘You look knackered, lad,’ his father observed, ‘go and get a lie down, you’ve been up most of night as well.’
Before the lad had a chance to reply, Pam voiced her view that there was nothing coming over him, and she could do with a couple of those sandwiches as well. Jane noticed that Pam only had to move her body a few feet and help herself, but obviously that would be far too much of an effort. Danny turned and looked at her, and nodded to Sam to go, then reached over and took a sandwich off the plate and handed it to her.
‘So, what’s next then?’ he asked.
Tim answered, ‘Well, we are doing house to house enquiries at the moment, as well as what the Chief Inspector told you about, focusing our search on the wood. We will be speaking to the press and media later on to ask for the assistance of the public. Often someone will come up with something. I can assure you, Mr Cameron, we are doing everything we can do to find Shona,’ he reassured the man, who continued to chew on the food he so obviously needed.
Danny swallowed the food, dropped his head and, visibly emotional, spoke, his voice breaking as he did so, ‘If anyone’s got my wee lass, I will kill them, so I will.’ He looked up his gaze directly on Jane, ‘Just find her will you, please, and call me Danny?’
‘Okay, Danny, we will get off, and as soon as we have any news at all, we will let you know.’ Jane stood up and nodded at the couple before she left the room, walking behind Tim. They heard voices coming from the direction of the kitchen, and as they were just about to open the front door, a small girl raced out of the kitchen, almost tripping them up as she climbed the stairs. Another older girl was on her heels shouting, ‘Josie, come here at once.’
Jane and Tim let themselves out of the house and walked quickly to his car. Once they were inside, Tim started the car and drew away from the curb, ‘Well, what do you think of them?’ he asked.
‘Interesting,’ was Jane’s reply, ‘he seems like he cares more that she does, if that makes sense. I get the impression that being prostrate on the sofa, demanding all the attention, suits her. I know that sounds bad, but there’s something missing from her, she’s hard. Whereas Danny seems to genuinely care, and when he described Shona there was love there. I didn’t see much evidence of that with her.’
‘I agree, she seems to wear the pants, and the poor kid, Sam, seems to be the one who is holding it all together behind the scenes. I think I’ll have a word with the senior social worker again, and see whet
her they could offer any support to the kids while all this is going on.’
‘Good idea, but I don’t think that social worker would be welcomed by Pam. We also need to keep an eye on Pam, I am not sure about her at all.’
When they reached the station, they were informed by the press officer, that she had set up a room, and Jane was due to speak to the press in the next hour. Jane wasn’t looking forward to that task; they were, in her opinion, a nuisance, but a nuisance she had to put up with. It was part of the job, so she took herself off to the ladies to tidy up. She ran a brush through her hair and applied a light foundation to her face to try and cover the black circles under her eyes that had appeared as a consequence of lack of sleep the previous night.
It didn’t take long to assemble the press in the room. Two television companies were in attendance as were a number of journalists, accompanied by their photographers. Jane entered and for a moment she felt like it was déjà vu, she just hoped that this time it would end differently.
The first few questions were as expected: they wanted to know details about the time and how the search was progressing. It was one of the journalists from the Press and Journal who asked the question she was dreading.
‘Chief Inspector, you were the senior officer who led the Mary Dinnet abduction, were you not?’
‘Yes, that’s right.’ Jane felt the sweat trickle down her spine, as she watched the others’ brains whirling.
‘So, do you think that there is any connection?’ another journalist pitched in. ‘How long is it since she was taken?’
‘It was just over a year ago and, if you recall, someone was charged with her abduction who later killed himself before he could go on trial. Obviously, all lines of enquiry remain open.’ She decided she would need to take a grip before it descended into speculation that would not be helpful. ‘So, what we need is for members of the public to please check their outhouses, sheds and anywhere else where a child may have hidden. Also, we would ask if anyone recalls seeing anyone acting suspiciously in the area recently, either yesterday or before. Any information at all, no matter how small, can help us.’ She stood up signalling that the meeting had come to an end. ‘Thank you and we will keep you all updated.’
