Seven Days(84)

There was a seriousness in his tone which she was not expecting. She was expecting joy and happiness and laughter. She stopped walking and turned to him.

‘What is it?’

‘Let’s wait until we get to the car.’

‘Martin. What is it? Tell me.’

His eyes flickered right and left, before he caught her gaze. For a moment she wondered if he was going to confess to something. An affair, maybe.

‘DI Wynne called. You remember her?’

‘How could I forget. What did she want?’

‘She said they think Maggie has been held captive. They found the room.’ He took a deep breath. ‘It was in Mr Best’s house. Under his garage.’

It was a good job he was holding her. Whether it was the sedative or the news or a combination of both, she stumbled and he had to catch her.

‘Best?’ she said. ‘He took her? But – but he ate with us. He was my teacher.’

‘I know. It’s almost unbelievable.’

‘Are they sure it’s him?’

Martin nodded. ‘They seem to be.’

Had his friendship all been a sham, then? It was hard to believe, but then she remembered the book he had been reading that time at the hospital. The Collector. It had struck her as odd at the time, but now she understood what had actually been going on. He had been toying with her, stringing her along for his own amusement.

Sandra felt something drain away from her – belief in the goodness of other people, maybe – as well as a rising anger – at Best, but also at herself. How had she missed it? How had she let him get away with it?

‘Should we have known?’ she whispered. ‘Could we have seen it?’

‘I don’t know,’ Martin said. ‘But we can save that for later. Wynne said Maggie escaped and called 999. They traced the call to Best, but by the time they got to his house, he was gone. Maggie too.’

‘So what are they doing?’

‘Looking for them.’

‘Oh, God. Is she alive?’

‘They think so.’

‘But with Best?’

‘Yes.’

‘Our little girl,’ Sandra said. ‘She’s alive, Martin.’

‘I hope so.’

‘I know,’ Sandra said. ‘I always knew. We have to go home. She might get away from him again. We need to be there.’ She stared at Martin. Why did he look so worried. ‘Martin. You know what this means. She’s alive! Our daughter’s alive!’

‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But she’s with Best. And until she’s back with us, I won’t be celebrating.’





Wynne


Every airport, ferry terminal and other kind of border crossing was alerted to the possibility that Best might be trying to leave the country with Maggie Cooper and a toddler, either male or female, one or more of them with significant injuries.

They were also alerted to the fact it might only be Best and Maggie.

Or Best alone. In that case, they were looking for a man in his sixties, travelling alone.

And there were plenty of them. She pictured him on the Eurostar to Paris, settling into his seat with a cup of coffee and a newspaper, one more businessman in a suit making his way to a meeting.

Leaving Maggie Cooper in an unmarked grave, her child beside her.

No. He had dumped the car and left in another vehicle. He had a destination in mind and it wasn’t abroad. But they had no idea where it was. They had found no records of any property he might have had. Of course, it could be in another name, a fake identity, and finding that could take a long time. Time they did not have.

The truth was, Best could be anywhere.

She banged her desk in frustration. DS Chan looked at her.

‘I know,’ he said. ‘I can’t believe we missed him. We were so close.’

‘It’s more than that,’ Wynne said. ‘It’s the whole thing. I was involved in this at the beginning, and I went to Best’s house. He was known to be interested in school girls, taking photos from his window, that kind of thing. We searched his house – without a warrant, I bullied him into it – and we missed her. I went in the garage. His car was there, parked over the fucking trapdoor.’

‘You couldn’t have known,’ Chan said. ‘He must have excavated that room himself.’ He shook his head. ‘He must have been planning this for years, getting ready for the right opportunity.’

‘I should have known,’ Wynne said. ‘If I’d only taken more time.’

‘No,’ Chan said. ‘There was no link to Best. It’s not your fault.’

‘It feels like it is. And now we – I – have missed him again. I’m starting to think it’s not meant to be.’ She picked up her phone. ‘Time to call the Coopers. Give them the bad news.’





Martin


The phone rang as they were pulling into the house. Martin put it on speakerphone.

‘DI Wynne,’ he said. ‘Is there any news?’

‘I’m afraid not.’ She paused. ‘We did find Best’s car. It was on the Sparkedge industrial estate. He’d abandoned it.’

Sandra leaned forward. ‘Was there any sign of Maggie?’