‘It was about half past five by then. It was still hot, so Laura changed and went out into the garden for a while. She didn’t come back for her evening meal at half past seven. That’s when
the Vernons began to panic.’
o r
Fry admired the way he had all the details in his mind and could produce them without effort. Hitchens obviously had the sort of brain that was much valued in the police service these days. Many coppers could not have repeated the information without reading it from their notes.
‘Parents alibi each other?’
‘Yes.’
‘But she was seen talking to a young man before she disapO ^ O I
peared, wasn’t she?’
‘Very good, Diane. Yes, we found a lady who was out
40
o!! ectin<7 wild flowers on the ecW of the scrubland at the
i-J O
top of the Baulk. She’s a WI member and is helping to create the decoration for a well dressing at Great Hucklow. She was embarrassed about admitting it, can you believe it? She thought we might arrest her for stealing wild flowers. Her children had told her it’s a crime against the environment. But the well dressing was obviously important enough to turn her to evil vvavs. Anyway, she came forward and identified Laura Vcrnon from her photograph as the girl she saw. She couldn’t describe the boy, though. Too far away.’
‘And now a trainer.’
‘Yes, that’s all we’ve got so far, but it looks hopeful. We’ve got Ben Cooper on the spot there — he was with one of the search parties. Ben’s got good judgement.’
‘I’m sure he has.’
‘Oh, you’ve met Cooper, have you? He’s only back from leave today.’
‘No, but I’ve heard the others talk about him.’
‘Right.’ Hitchens said nothing for a few minutes, negotiating a crossroads where heavy lorries thundered by at regular intervals, dusting the roadside verges with a coating of lime. Fry tried to read his thoughts, wondering if she had said something wrong. But she was sure of her ability to keep any emotion out of her voice. She had practised long and hard, and now, she felt, she only ever sounded positive.
‘How’s it going then, Diane? Settling into the CID room OK?’
‘Fine, sir. Some things are done a bit differently from what
‘ to ^
I’ve been used to, but nothing I haven’t been able to pick up
on pretty quickly.’
‘That’s good. Dave Rennie treating you all right?’
‘No problem,’ said shee. She noted that she had become ‘Diane’
since getting into the car alone with the DI. She liked to keep
a track of these things, in case they had any deeper meaning.
Maybe she could manage without the ‘sir’ in return, and see if
it struck the right note — a closeness of colleagues rather than
a senior officer with a junior. But no further.
‘Not finding Derbyshire too quiet for you after the West
Midlands?’
41
‘It’s a nice change,’ said Fry. ‘But I’m sure E Division has its own challenges.’
Hitchens laughed. ‘The other divisions call it “E for Easy Street”.’
Fry had already been informed by her new colleagues that Fdendale had been chosen over Bakcwcll or Matlock as E Division Headquarters for purely alphabetical reasons. It was one of the oddities of the Derbyshire Constabulary structure that the territorial divisions were all based in towns that began
o
with the right letter — A Division in Alfreton, B Division in Buxton, C Division in Chesterfield and D Division in Derby.
So it was inconceivable that E Division should have been based in Bakewell or Matlock. It would have been an outrage against
o o
corporate neatness. In fact, if there hadn’t already been a town called Edendale, some PR person in an office at County HQ would have had to invent one.
‘But I was thinking of the social life,’ said Hitchens. ‘Edendale
o ‘
isn’t exactly the night spot capital of Europe. A bit tame after Birmingham, I expect.’
