Cold Justice (Willis/Carter #4)(8)
‘I hear you didn’t have the right documentation to take Drew on board the ferry?’ Carter said as he withdrew.
‘I didn’t know he needed a passport to cross the Channel. Since when?’
‘You wouldn’t be able to get back into the UK without a passport for the boy. He’s your son?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you have any form of ID for him?’
‘No – like I said to the idiot who stopped me – if I’d realized things had changed I would have brought it. We’ve missed our ferry. What are we supposed to do now?’
‘Apologies, Mr Mancey, we have to be very cautious these days. We can let you go now, if you wish to continue your journey. Sorry to have troubled you.’
On the way out Carter called Robbo. ‘Any luck with the searches?’
‘We have hundreds of people out there, dogs and helicopters. The public have really rallied for this. If he’d got out of the buggy by himself, I think we would have found him by now. We are definitely looking at abduction. Chief Inspector Bowie says he’ll head up a press conference tomorrow.’
‘Okay. Makes sense; they’re going to want to see some brass. I’ll have the release ready for him to deliver in the morning. What about Jeanie, has she phoned?’
‘Yes. She says she’ll see you back here. I guess we’ll all be working through the night?’
‘I don’t think you even have a home, Robbo.’
‘Yeah, yeah, don’t let my wife hear you say that.’ He laughed.
Jeanie was waiting for Carter and Willis when they got back at eleven. Willis had made Carter stop and pick up supplies for the night. The smell of kebab filled the inspector’s room. Carter shared an office with two other inspectors but they were both out coordinating the search for Samuel.
‘Any muffins?’ asked Jeanie as she joined them in the office. ‘No wonder you’re hiding in here, you two. They’re a hungry pack of wolves out there.’
‘I’ve ordered pizza for the office. It’s on its way, just Willis wanted extra,’ Carter said.
‘Here, Jeanie.’ Willis handed her a bag. ‘Carter said you’d go for a blueberry with a lemon-curd centre.’
Jeanie stood and blinked at Carter and then chuckled, embarrassed.
‘Perfect, thanks.’ She looked genuinely touched.
Carter grinned smugly. He could have added that you don’t have a long relationship with someone and not know what kind of muffin they like but he didn’t. They were both with different partners now, both had kids. The fact that they still worked together was difficult, but not impossible.
‘What are your thoughts on them, Jeanie?’ he said, opening the takeaway containers on his desk and trying to fend Willis off as he ate his chicken. ‘What kind of things are they saying to one another?’
‘There’s definitely more than a hint of blame creeping in now. Only Toby has the answers and he’s out with the fairies most of the time.’
‘Are we completely discounting her as a possible suspect?’ Willis said with a mouth full of food as she attacked her large doner kebab in pitta, extra chilli sauce and mayo.
Jeanie nodded thoughtfully as she picked at her muffin. ‘Yes, almost definitely, she had neither the motive nor the opportunity. She has nothing to gain and everything to lose. We know how hard this is for her.’ Jeanie looked to Carter for confirmation. He nodded.
‘It’s the worst possible thing you can imagine.’
‘Right then.’ Carter opened one of six files on the desk. ‘Here are the photos taken of Toby’s walk. I want us to look for people passing by who appear more than once. We need to double-check all this footage. There is no such thing as plain careless, lots of people are not the most watchful parents and they don’t have their child snatched out of their buggy. Someone must have been following, must have hovered, must have looked like they were ready to snatch.’
Chapter 4
Tuesday 4 February
Detective Chief Inspector Bowie stood on the stage at ten the next morning. Behind him was the bold blue backdrop flag of the Metropolitan Police.
‘Yesterday afternoon, between the time of four ten and five fifteen, two-year-old Samuel Forbes-Wright went missing from his buggy while out with his father Toby. Before I bring in Samuel’s parents I will give you an update on the investigation so far.’
Carter studied the audience from his seat on the stage behind the long desk. Willis stood at the back of the room. DCI Bowie looked a little more groomed than usual. Someone had bothered to tell him that just wetting his hair and plastering it back wasn’t the same as washing it. His uniform had replaced the cheap work suit: starched and pristine with shiny buttons. His watery blue eyes seemed fixed on a horizon above the press.
‘As soon as we received a phone call from Lauren Forbes-Wright telling us that her son was missing we immediately began a detailed search of the area. Hundreds of officers have been deployed. We have brought in every resource at our disposal, no expense has been spared. This includes helicopter and river-boat searches and analysing CCTV footage as we piece together the last hour of Toby Forbes-Wright’s movements with Samuel. Yes?’
‘How large is the area being searched?’
‘We are searching a substantial area of Greenwich Park and the town itself.’