Authors: Cath Staincliffe
‘
Damage limitation,’ said Millie, ‘that’s all I can try to do. Journalists are asking the same questions we are: is it a series, is Sammy still alive? If I can’t give them anything they still have front pages to fill, they’ve got their own agenda.’
‘
Selling papers,’ Janine said.
‘
It’s a huge story,’ Millie explained, ‘doesn’t get much bigger.’
No doubt there would be negative opinions expressed in the media about the conflation of the two inquiries but Janine felt the best way to handle criticism was head on, to be visible rather than hide away. ‘I’ll attend the reconstruction,’ she said.
Janine moved to the other board. ‘Child murder, this is not Sammy Wray, so who is it? We have as you know no recent reports of other missing children of that age in the country. One case in London, three-year-old boy, is a suspected kidnapping as a result of a custody battle but that child was only taken four days ago. Our victim has been dead for longer. Interpol have identified several missing children. So far the only one of particular interest, of the right age and gender and similar physical description is Tomas Rink.’ She indicated the photograph of the child. ‘We have requested a DNA comparison.’ If it was Tomas Rink, how had he ended up in a sewer in South Manchester? Trafficking was a possible explanation, there was an abhorrent and lucrative market in selling children to paedophiles and pornographers, though their child had not borne any obvious signs of sexual abuse. ‘With no ID for the child, we concentrate on the site.’
She h
eard a sharp intake of breath and wheeled round.
‘
Boss,’ Shap pointed to the television, on but muted, in the corner, ‘McEvoy.’
Janine saw the builder
expounding to some news camera.
‘
I thought we’d sorted this,’ she said to Millie.
‘
So did I,’ Millie said sharply.
‘
What’s he saying? Turn it up,’ said Janine.
Lisa hit the
remote and McEvoy’s Scouse twang, filled the room. ‘I’ve seen some things in my time but that … wrapped in a sheet but you could tell it was a body. He’d been there a while and I’d been working just a few yards away. Beggars belief.’
‘
Turn it off,’ Janine snapped. ‘I want him gagged. Talk to him,’ she said to Shap. It was crucial to stop Donny McEvoy from speaking to the press, his meddling could seriously hamper the investigation not only because it might directly influence public attention in the wrong way but even more importantly it could be held up as prejudicial if the case made it to trial ‘Why’s he so keen?’ she said.
‘Most exciting thing that’s ever happened to him,’ Richard said.
‘
Or did he have a hand in it? Who else apart from the builders had easy access to the site?’
‘The property developer is on a lounger in Mexico,’ said Lisa.
‘
Verify that,’ Janine said.
‘Neighbours,’ said Butchers, ‘the Palfreys and the Staffords. Staffords couldn’t get rid of us quick enough.’
‘
Wouldn’t be that hard for anyone to access,’ Richard pointed out. ‘No gates on the drive, might still be just a matter of convenience.’
‘
Well, we eliminate them all before we take this any wider. Record checks, background checks. Be thorough. We have ruled out the house at 16 Kendal Avenue as the primary crime scene?’
‘That’s right,'
Richard said, ‘no evidence the child had ever been inside the property.’
So many questions. Who was the child? Where had he come from? Where had he been killed? ‘
We’re starting afresh with this,’ she said. ‘Look at everything as though it’s completely new to you. We’ve two crimes here. Two boys. We need to find one of them. And identify the other.’
Janine was gathering papers together in preparation for the interview with Felicity. Richard came in and handed her a card to sign, for Butcher’s engagement.
‘
If that child was there when we went round …’ Janine looked at him.
Richard shook his head.
‘No word yet.’
She couldn
’t think of anything more original than ‘Good Luck’ to put in the card, she scrawled her name beneath it.
‘
Butchers has put his ‘do’ back an hour. You going?’ Richard said.
‘
Doubt it. Need to get my head round this lot. You?’ She passed him the card.
‘
Show my face,’ Richard said.
‘
Taking Millie?’
‘
Might be,’ he said.
Why did he have to be so bloody coy about it?
‘Only asking,’ she retorted, sounding more defensive than she’d intended.
Half-an-hour later he was back,
‘Felicity Wray’s in interview room one.’
‘
Thanks,’ said Janine getting to her feet.
‘
We got the data of the texts that she sent Clive Wray,’ Richard said, ‘nasty stuff.’
‘
He didn’t delete them?’
‘
Maybe he wanted some proof in case anything weird happened,’ he said.
‘
Like child abduction?’ she said.
By the time Janine started the interview proper after making introductions for the tape, Mrs Wray had already made her displeasure clear, sighing and shuffling in her seat, twirling her hair around her fingers. Even yawning.
‘
You’ve been up to your old tricks, Mrs Wray. Attacking property, threatening Clive and his family,’ Janine said.
‘
Second family,’ Felicity said.
‘
We’ve read some of the messages you sent him,’ Janine picked up the transcript and quoted, ‘“Your life won’t be worth living. Your slut and her brat can rot in hell.” This all started up again after he brought Sammy round.’
‘
What did he expect? Rubbing my face in it. He knew I resented that child,’ she said.
‘
Resented, past tense?’ Janine said.
‘
You think he’s still alive?’ Felicity said.
‘
Do you know any different?’ Janine said seriously. It was hard to believe the woman was still being so cavalier.
‘
She put you up to this, didn’t she? Trying to blame me. She was the one that lost the child. She took Clive and now she’s still persecuting me. She knows where Clive really belongs, that’s why.’
Janine refused to be drawn.
‘You are aware that we are searching your property?’ Janine said, ‘Is there anything you’d like to tell me about, anything we might find?’
Felicity
Wray gave a little shake of her head, ‘Only that it seems to be a dreadful waste of police resources.’
Felicity
Wray maintained her big show of finding the questions tiresome but Janine felt she enjoyed the attention, a chance to perform as the wronged woman, the victim in her very own soap opera.
Was she just a narcissist, interested only in her own tribulations, indifferent to the fate of a small child or the hell that the supposed love of her life was going through? Or was this self obsession of a much darker nature? Jealousy led people to commit terrible acts.
‘I’d like to ask you again, did you enter Withington Park on the nineteenth of April?’
‘
No.’
‘
Did you take Sammy?’
Felicity
Wray rolled her eyes. ‘No.’
‘
Do you know where he is?’
‘
No.’
‘
We are entering your details into a video identification parade to see if any witnesses at the park remember seeing you there.’
Felicity
Wray shrugged. ‘Knock yourselves out,’ she said.
‘What do you think?’ Richard asked her as they waited in her office while the video parade was carried out.
Ja
nine raised her hands, palms up.
Search me.
Nothing untoward had been found at Felicity Wray’s house, so far. A more detailed examination of the premises was still in progress.
‘
She’s cracked enough,’ Richard said.
‘Let’s see what we get out of the line-up,’ Janine said.
Millie Saunders came
through the incident room, and knocked on Janine’s door.
‘
Yes,’ Janine said.
There was
a look of exasperation on Millie’s face. ‘My phone’s in meltdown. Local press have got wind of an arrest. Half of them are camped outside. Is it true you’re questioning the ex-wife for the abduction?’
‘
We are,’ said Janine.
‘
Thanks for the update,’ Millie said sarcastically.
‘
We have been rather busy,’ Janine said.
‘
I should be told of all major developments,’ Millie said. ‘This is a major development?’
At exactly the same moment as Janine answered no, Richard said y
es.
Millie shook her head in disgust, gave a humourless laugh.
‘Final answer?’ she said.
‘
There’s a lot of speculation flying about at this stage,’ Janine said.
‘
Well, unless you give me something to work with, that speculation is going to be all over the airwaves as well. Or shall I put the calls through to the incident room? To the horse’s mouth?’
For one delirious moment Janine consider
ed telling Millie Saunders to bugger off. Instead she took a steadying breath and then said coolly to Richard, ‘Please brief Millie, make sure she’s up to speed on all developments. Now, and for the duration of the investigation.’ She held her hand out towards the door, inviting them to leave. ‘And Richard – no names to be released yet.’
You think he
’s still alive?
Felicity Wray had taunted her. It wasn’t likely. Though it depended on who had taken him, or more specifically what for. Janine’s gut instincts told her that while Felicity Wray had some motive to want the child out of the picture, she was an unlikely kidnapper. The way she made no attempt to hide her dislike of Clive’s new family, her jealousy, also suggested her innocence. If she actually had taken Sammy surely she would be more circumspect and not go all out to antagonise the police. However if a lone paedophile was behind the abduction he might well have got rid of Sammy Wray within the first few hours after abusing him. Rape and murder. A ring of paedophiles would trade the boy as long as they could get away with it, keeping him enslaved for years. It didn’t bear thinking about – except for the fact that it was Janine’s job to think about such horrors, to face them squarely and calmly, analytically, to examine the evidence and try and reach the truth. Her colleagues at CEOPS who concentrated solely on child exploitation and protection had been alerted.
Janine’s phone went – Lisa at Felicity Wray’s house. They had not found Sammy, nor any trace of him and there was no sign of any attempts to conceal a body, like recent digging in the garden
. Thank God. If they had found the child there Janine would never have been able to forgive herself. And neither would Louise Hogg.
Butchers had tolerated the stupid balloons and the noose above his desk as best he could but when he saw Lisa handing cash over to Shap he couldn’t let it lie.
‘
Are you doing a whip-round?’ Butchers hissed.
‘
Who pissed on your chips?’ Shap said.
‘
I told you I didn’t want any fuss. It’s just a small do,’ Butchers said.
‘
Don’t know what you’re on about, mate. I’m collecting for the lottery. We’re in a syndicate.’ Shap was a weaselly bastard, lie his way out of any situation and Butchers didn’t know whether to believe him.
Butchers
returned to his desk. He had been speaking to the community policing team who covered the Kendal Avenue area, checking out the neighbours and any known criminals. He was particularly interested to learn that Luke Stafford was already on their radar. Anti-social behaviour, police had been called to the school twice to deal with violent incidents.
‘
Luke Stafford – bit of a bad ‘un,’ Butchers told Shap. Then he compared his notes and saw something else. ‘And, he goes to All Saints – same school as Phoebe Wray.’ Fluke or something more sinister? Butchers thought about it: Phoebe Wray is half-sister to the missing boy and Luke Stafford lives next door to where the dead child was found. OK, the boss had stressed the importance of keeping the two inquiries separate but a coincidence like that at the very least needed explaining.
The
office phone rang and Shap answered it, listened then said, ‘Kim, Tony Shap here – your fiancé’s better half.’