by D. S. Butler
‘You’ve called her?’
‘Yes, multiple times. She’s not picking up, and neither is Leo.’
DS Grace glanced over at the window. It was dark, and the snow was falling fast. ‘The weather is pretty bad. They could have had an accident. Have you checked?’
‘No, but I can do that now,’ Sophie said. ‘And then I’m going to put a trace on Karen’s phone.’
‘Okay.’
Sophie got to work filling out the forms needed for the trace and contacting the officers required for approval, all the while muttering under her breath at the frustrating paperwork.
Who’d have believed it? Sophie loved paperwork. Usually, nothing made her happier than keeping her records in perfect order. Rick would laugh if he could see her now.
Where were Rick and Morgan? They’d probably be at the pub by now. She decided to call them as soon as she’d finished with the trace.
She checked the time. The superintendent often worked late. She might still be in her office.
Maybe Sophie would be teased for overreacting tomorrow, but it was a chance she had to take.
‘I’ll be back soon.’ She stood up. ‘I’ve put requests in for both phones.’
‘Both phones?’ Grace queried, raising her eyebrows.
‘Yes, Karen’s phone hasn’t been working properly, then she left it behind at a crime scene, so DI Morgan lent her an old one. I think she’s got both of them on her, so I traced them both.’
‘Okay, good.’
Sophie left DS Grace and Ray and raced up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. Pamela, the superintendent’s assistant, was not at her desk. Sophie felt deflated when she saw the lights were off in the superintendent’s office too.
Did she dare phone the super at home? No, she was better off trying Morgan again first. She turned away and walked straight into Assistant Chief Constable Fry, who’d just exited the gents’ toilets.
‘Oh, sorry, sir,’ Sophie said.
‘No trouble. Were you looking for the superintendent?’
‘Yes, I was. She doesn’t seem to be in her office, though.’
‘No, you just missed her. We were finishing up a meeting when she had a call to say her son had been injured at his karate club. Dislocated his shoulder. Can I help?’
Sophie hesitated. Could she tell the assistant chief constable? She’d look ridiculous if Karen walked in the station safe and sound in the next few minutes.
She pushed her curly hair back from her face and looked up at Fry. He was offering to help, and her gut told her Karen was in trouble. So what if she was the butt of the station jokes tomorrow? It was better than not doing anything now and regretting it later.
‘Actually, sir, I think you might be able to help,’ Sophie said, and began to fill him in. It took her a couple of minutes to explain everything to Fry’s satisfaction.
Finally, he looked at her with a grave expression and said, ‘Let’s go downstairs and talk to DS Grace. As you may know, I’ve been supervising the corruption investigation under Chief Constable Grayson.’
‘I do, sir.’
‘Karen hasn’t been out of contact for long.’
‘No, sir. It’s just we can’t get in touch with her, and she was supposed to meet DS Grace half an hour ago.’
How could she make him understand? She couldn’t explain it was just a sense something was wrong – small things that didn’t feel right, which on their own could be explained away, but together . . .
Why would Leo lie about his wife unless it was a way to make him blend in, seem harmless? Picking up groceries on his way home from work was a perfectly normal reason to leave the pub and offer Karen a lift.
Maybe Leo had left the note on Karen’s desk. Was he gaslighting them? Trying to make people think Karen was losing it, that she couldn’t be trusted?
But Leo? Could he be responsible? He was so affable, so pleasant, so normal. If Karen was right and DCI Shaw was killed because he knew something about the corruption network, then Karen’s life might be in danger too.
But why would Leo be involved? Money, she supposed. It always came down to money and power.
‘I’ve initiated a trace on Karen’s phone, sir. I’m still waiting for authorisation, but hopefully we can locate her from her phone signal.’
‘Right. Has anyone called in at her house?’
‘Not yet, sir. I could ask a uniform to do so.’
‘Yes, that’s a good idea. Have you spoken to her boyfriend? Mike, is it?’
‘Not yet. I didn’t want to worry him.’
‘Call him. Do you have his number?’
‘I do.’
‘Don’t let on that we’re concerned, just ask if he’s seen or spoken to Karen. Now, let’s go and talk to DS Grace.’
As she walked back downstairs, this time with ACC Fry, Sophie called Mike. Trying not to give him a reason to panic, she infused her voice with a cheerful tone, explaining that Karen’s phone had been playing up so it was nothing to worry about, but had he spoken to Karen recently?
He hadn’t.
Feeling guilty, Sophie made an excuse and hung up before he asked too many questions.
Fry and Sophie walked into the open-plan office area. DS Grace was pacing beside Karen’s desk, and Ray sat on one of the wheeled padded chairs, pushing with his feet so he turned in a slow semicircle.
Assistant Chief Constable Fry took charge. He nodded at DS Gray and Ray, and said, ‘I understand you were supposed to be meeting DS Hart here this evening.’
‘I was, sir,’ DS Grace said as she stopped pacing. ‘But she hasn’t shown up. Her colleague, DC Jones, is worried about her. She left the drinks for DCI Anthony Shaw in the company of DC Leo Clinton. He was supposed to be driving her back here.’
‘We’ve checked, and no accidents have been reported in the vicinity,’ Ray said. ‘And we didn’t pass them on the way back. They should have travelled the same route we did back to the station.’
‘Right. Well, let’s get these phone traces organised.’
It seemed to take forever for the authorisations to come through, so Fry made a call to fast-track the process, and after that, they managed to get locations for the phones.
‘I’ve got two different locations,’ Sophie said, frowning at the screen. ‘Karen’s phone was last detected on Welton Road, near the Heath Lane turning. But the phone DI Morgan gave Karen is on Eastfield Lane. No, hang on. It’s not exactly Eastfield Lane. It looks like she’s in the middle of some fields . . . or at least the phone is.’ Sophie looked over her shoulder at ACC Fry. ‘Something is seriously wrong, sir.’
‘I agree. Did you trace Leo Clinton’s phone?’
Sophie frowned. ‘No, I didn’t think to do that.’
‘Okay, I’ll authorise it directly, and then I think you and I should go to the locations and check them out.’
‘Absolutely.’ Sophie tapped away furiously on the keyboard, setting up the trace for Leo’s phone as ACC Fry discussed Karen’s possible whereabouts with DS Grace.
Just as Sophie was finishing up, she heard Ray say, ‘I think Karen knew I was following her. She saw me at the cathedral, and she saw me lingering outside after the meeting you had with the chief constable. I was waiting to talk to you, but of course I couldn’t tell her that. I made up a stupid excuse about wanting to see DCI Churchill.’ He shot a sheepish glance at DS Grace. ‘Sorry.’
‘We’ll talk about it later, PC Watts,’ Grace said. ‘I’m more concerned with the fact that you blabbed as soon as DC Jones started asking you questions.’
He grimaced and apologised again.
‘The last signal from Leo’s and Karen’s phones are at the same location,’ Sophie said. ‘Welton Road.’
‘And you’re still getting a signal from the phone DI Morgan gave to Karen?’
‘Yes – according to this, the signal is coming from farmland,’ Sophie said, shaking her head again. ‘I don’t understand it, but that’s what the data is telling me.’<
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‘Right,’ ACC Fry said. ‘I’m going to collect my jacket, and I’ll meet you downstairs in reception, DC Jones.’
Sophie nodded and began to log out of the system. A moment later, she grabbed her coat and bag, said a hurried goodbye to Ray and DS Grace, and hurtled out of the open-plan office.
On her way downstairs she dialled Rick’s number. This time he answered. ‘Rick! Where have you been?’
‘Waddington. At the Picketts’ house. I’ve been there with DI Morgan. We’re on our way back now. Took longer than we expected. Why? Have you lot drunk the pub dry?’
‘No, listen, this is serious. I’m really worried about Karen.’
‘Why? What’s happened?’
‘I don’t know where she is, Rick. I can’t get a hold of her. She was supposed to meet DS Grace, and she didn’t turn up. Leo offered to drive her back to the station.’
‘Do you think they’ve had an accident?’
‘We’ve checked. There have been no accidents reported, and I took the route they should have done from the pub to the station and didn’t see the car or evidence of an RTA. I’ve traced Karen’s phones, both of them, and they’re in two different locations. That’s where we’re going now.’
‘Right. Okay, hang on a minute.’ She heard a muffled noise and guessed that Rick was talking to Morgan. A moment later, his voice came back on, loud and clear. ‘We’re heading to the station now.’
‘Okay. I’m going to the locations we got from Karen’s phones with ACC Fry.’
‘Assistant Chief Constable Fry? What’s he doing there?’
‘He was having a meeting with the superintendent when she got called away. Her son’s hurt his shoulder or something. Anyway, I’ll call you later. I’ve got to go.’
She hung up and burst into the reception area, where ACC Fry was waiting by the door.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Before getting into Fry’s Qashqai, Sophie picked up a child’s toy from the passenger seat.
‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘This is my wife’s car. She’s always ferrying the grandchildren about.’ He took the toy from her and put it on the back seat.
‘Did they find your car, sir? It was stolen, wasn’t it?’ Sophie asked.
He glowered, and Sophie winced. She probably shouldn’t have mentioned it.
‘Yes, it was found, burnt out in a field. Hooligans,’ he muttered, and pulled out of the station car park.
The windscreen wipers were on full speed, but the snow was coming down at a tremendous rate, making it very difficult to make out the road ahead. Fry drove infuriatingly slowly. Sophie clutched her hands together in her lap and tapped her foot.
It seemed to take forever to get there, and when they finally arrived at the spot, there was nothing to be seen except snow-covered verges, bare hedgerows, and dirty grey snow churned up on the road.
There was no sign of Karen or Leo – or Leo’s car.
As soon as Fry brought the Qashqai to a halt, Sophie got out to look around. There were no streetlights, but the snow made the landscape seem brighter than it otherwise would have been on a cloudy night. It was quiet and still. No sounds from approaching traffic.
Maybe the car had broken down, and they’d had to walk – but then where was the car? They hadn’t passed it on their way back from the pub.
She pulled out her mobile and dialled Karen’s number. Nearby, a phone rang, a cheerful tinkling sound that seemed out of place in the snowy silence.
Sophie looked around and saw a glowing light coming from the snow at the side of the road. The phone was already half covered by a blanket of white. She pulled a pair of thin nitrile gloves from her pocket, tugged them on and snatched up the phone. The screen was cracked. She noticed another phone a short distance away. That had to be Leo’s. Holding both, she turned to look at ACC Fry.
‘Maybe they were stolen?’ he suggested.
‘But why would their phones be thrown away like this?’ Sophie asked. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’
She scanned the area. There was no sign of a crash, no footprints in the snow except their own. Unless the recently fallen snow had covered them.
There was no damage to the verges or to the hedgerow. It didn’t look like the scene of a recent accident.
The air was so cold her breath came out in steamy plumes. She tucked her hair behind her ears and tried to think what could have happened here. The phones had been discarded. Why? Had Leo wanted to make sure they couldn’t be followed? Had he thrown away the phones so he was untraceable? Maybe he didn’t know Karen still had the phone Morgan had given her.
Sophie looked around again, then went back to the car to get her bag and rummage around for evidence bags. She put the phones in separate bags. Hopefully, that was overkill, but she couldn’t be too sure. She put them on the back seat.
‘Sir, I think we should put out a local alert for Leo’s car.’
‘Do you know the registration number?’
‘I do.’ Sophie had made a note of it while waiting for the phone trace requests to be processed.
‘Let’s not jump the gun. Let’s see if we can find them at the second location.’
Sophie agreed and got back into the car.
It took them five minutes to get to the next location. Despite Fry driving at a snail’s pace, the tyres lost traction, sliding over the snow as they took the final turn into Eastfield Lane. Sophie’s stomach lurched as the car began to spin. Leo’s car was parked in the lay-by just ahead, and their out-of-control Qashqai was heading straight for it. She held her breath as Fry wrestled with the steering wheel, possibly doing more harm than good, but somehow he managed to keep control.
He exhaled and pushed back in his seat as the car came to a stop a short distance from Leo’s. ‘That was a close one.’
After Fry edged the vehicle closer to the side of the road, they both got out of the car. Leo’s vehicle was empty.
Sophie stared out at the white landscape.
It was hard to see through the swirling snow. The stark whiteness covered everything. Nothing but fields and a copse of trees in the distance.
She looked for footsteps around Leo’s car and spotted a disturbance on the grass verge. It looked like someone had recently travelled over it, but where had they gone? Through the gap in the hedge and into the fields. That was the only way they could have gone.
Sophie pointed it out to ACC Fry, who nodded grimly.
The snow flurries made it hard to see, and the cold made it hard to concentrate. Sophie zipped up her coat, scanning the field. How would they find them in this? They needed backup. She needed to call Rick and Morgan. Get more people down here. Start a proper search.
Then, suddenly, Sophie’s gaze stopped moving across the landscape as she spotted something.
‘Wait, is that them, over there?’ She pointed.
ACC Fry stepped beside her. ‘Where?’
‘I saw something moving over there by the trees. Do you see them?’
‘Yes, I think I do. Yes, that’s them.’
‘Karen!’ Sophie shouted, but ACC Fry shushed her.
‘No. Don’t shout. We don’t know what’s going on. She could be in trouble. Let’s go after them.’
‘I’ll call for backup,’ Sophie said.
‘No, I’ll do it. They’ll act quickly if it’s the assistant chief constable on the phone.’ Fry pulled out his mobile and began to issue orders, asking for more officers on the scene.
Sophie stared at the distant figures, dark against the snow. They needed to act now. They couldn’t wait for backup. If Karen and Leo disappeared into the trees, they’d lose sight of them.
‘We’d better follow them, sir,’ Sophie said as he continued to talk on the phone.
He nodded his agreement, and Sophie moved towards the gap in the hedgerow. She tried to jump over the ditch but landed awkwardly with one foot in ice-cold water. She sucked in a breath of frigid air and then swore under her breath.
With one sodden foo
t, she pushed her way through the prickly hawthorn hedge. ACC Fry managed to follow with his mobile still clamped to his ear, and they set off down the slippery slope. Twice, Sophie fell hard on her backside, but she pushed herself up and carried on. Her right foot was so cold, she couldn’t feel her toes, but she kept moving.
ACC Fry muttered orders into his phone as they walked.
Then Sophie’s phone rang.
Karen.
Karen ran the tips of her fingers along the front of the old-fashioned phone. It was a good job it was old. She had no idea how she’d have been able to dial on a touchscreen phone while it was in her pocket.
She could try 999. Was nine at the bottom right, or was that the asterisk? She couldn’t remember, but then a thought occurred to her. The last number redial. If she pressed the large rectangular button on the left, which was the green dial button, that should eventually connect her to the previous number she’d called.
Who had that been? Sophie. Karen pressed the button three times. There was no indication that the call had connected, or been answered, but she had to hope it had worked.
Somehow they had to find out where she was, and get to her before Leo put a bullet in her brain.
‘You’re just full of talk, Leo,’ Karen said. ‘I bet you don’t know who’s behind it all. You’ve probably been following an anonymous set of instructions like a complete idiot.’
‘I know what you’re trying to do, Karen. It won’t work.’
‘What exactly am I trying to do?’
‘You’re trying to turn me against them. Make me feel like they don’t care about me.’ He laughed.
‘Well, they don’t. They won’t show you any loyalty. Think about Freeman. They just left him to rot.’
‘Freeman knows to keep quiet. If he doesn’t, an unfortunate accident will occur involving a member of his family. Look, whatever you say now, it’s not going to help. We’re not some kind of brotherhood. We’re not friends. I don’t expect them to save me.’
‘Then talk to me, Leo,’ she said. ‘Give me the ringleader’s name. Maybe I can help. Maybe we can swing this, so you don’t get the blame. Why should you go down for Churchill?’
