were watching Frost suspiciously and reminded him of a cornered animal with nothing to lose and ready to fight back.
Somehow I don't trust you, my love, thought Frost as he gave her his warm and friendly smile.
'I want you to get these bastards,' said Stanfield. 'They've stolen my wife's jewellery and fur coats, they've subjected my daughter to hours of terror and they've blackmailed me into giving them 25,000.'
'Not your day, sir, was it?' said Frost.
Stanfield opened his mouth to reply when he noticed Liz Maud who had followed Frost in. 'Who the hell is she?'
Liz took the warrant card from her handbag and handed it to him. He looked at it and gave a contemptuous sneer as he handed it back. 'A bloody woman
sergeant! I'm not being fobbed off with second best, am I?'
'No,' said Frost. 'I'm second best she's class. And it's her case.' Stanfield's snort showed what he thought of this. He hadn't invited them to sit down, so Frost dragged the other armchair over to the fire and offered it to Liz while he sat on the arm. 'Ask the gentleman your questions, sergeant.'
She opened her notebook. 'Tell me everything that happened.'
'I've already told that police officer.' Stanfield nodded at Simms. 'He wrote it all down.'
'We can't read his writing,' said Frost. 'So tell it again.'
'My wife and I went up to London to see a show The Phantom of the Opera.'
'Just you and your wife?' interrupted Liz. 'Not your daughter?'
'As she was bloody abducted while we were away, it's obvious we didn't take her.'
'I know you didn't take her,' said Liz through clenched teeth. 'I'm wondering why.'
'If I'd booked the tickets myself, I obviously would have included Carol. Friends of ours had two tickets but found they couldn't go, so they passed them on to us. Satisfied, darling?'
She gritted her teeth at the 'darling' and nodded.
'We left just after four yesterday afternoon, drove up to London, saw the show, had a meal, and came home.'
'What time did you arrive back?'
'A little after three in the morning. I parked the car, Margie went upstairs to switch on the electric blanket and found the bedroom had been ransacked.'
'Perfume, make-up, dresses, just thrown anywhere,' said his wife. 'I screamed for Robert. He charged up and made for Carol's room to see if she was all right.'
'The bastards had got her,' said Stanfield. 'My first thought was to phone the police, but I couldn't find the cordless phone it should have been by Carol's bed.'
'They threw it out of the window,' said the girl. She spoke almost mechanically, staring straight ahead. Her mother put an arm round to comfort her.
'Anyway,' continued Stanfield, 'I couldn't find it so I went to use the phone in here.' He pointed to a phone next to the TV set. 'A note and a photograph were propped up against it.'
'We've seen them,' said Liz.
'Then you know what the bastards threatened to do if I called the police. I had no choice. I did exactly what they wanted. We sat in here, staring at each other until the bank opened. It was the longest bloody night of my life. I drew out the money, chucked the case out in Clay Lane, then roared back here to wait. We were going mad with worry and then your two officers brought her back.'
' 25,000? You had that sqrt of money in the bank?'
'Yes — I run a used car business. Most of my suppliers insist on hard cash.'
Liz then turned to the girl, who had been staring down at the floor all the time her father was talking. 'Right, Carol. Can you tell me what happened to you?'
Carol drew Simms's greatcoat tighter around her and Frost realized she was naked underneath. Her voice was not much more than a whisper and they had to strain to hear what she was saying. She had gone to bed just after midnight and was just dropping off when she heard the sound of breaking glass from downstairs. She thought it might be her parents back early, so she clicked on the bedside lamp. Almost immediately the lamp went out. Then she heard men's voices from inside the house. She fumbled in the dark for the cordless phone and dialled 999, but nothing happened. The phone was dead. Heavy footsteps pounded up the stairs…
'I jumped out of bed and tried to wedge a chair under the door handle, but he burst in on me and there was this light in my eyes and the knife…' She started to shake. Her mother held her tighter.
'Take your time, love,' said Frost.
'I opened my mouth to scream, but he jabbed the knife at my throat and said if I made a sound he'd slice through my vocal cords. I must have passed out.' The recollection made her shrink back inside the greatcoat. 'The next thing I remember was being bumped about. I realized I was in the back of a van, being driven at speed. I was blindfolded and I was cold. They'd thrown a sack over me, but I was freezing. I tried to get up, but a hand pushed me down and a man's voice said, 'I think she's with us again.' They pulled the sacking back.'
'They}' queried Liz.
'There were two of them in the back with me. They pulled the sacking back and they… they did things…'
'The bastards,' exploded her father.
'What things?' asked Liz.
The girl shook-her head. 'I'm not going to talk about it.'
'Did they rape you?' asked Liz.
'No.'
'How many of them were there?' said Frost.
She switched her gaze to him. 'Four. Two in the back with me, the other two in the front.'
'And all men?'
'I only heard men's voices.'
'How old would you say they were?'
She shrugged. 'I don't know late twenties, early thirties.'
'And you didn't recognize any of the voices?'
'No.'
Liz waited patiently for Frost to finish. 'I'd like a doctor to examine you, Carol.'
'No.'
'If they raped you, there are DNA tests that would help us identify them.'
'They didn't rape me, I told you… I'm not going to talk about it any more.'
'Ah right,' soothed Liz. 'What happened then?'
'The van stopped and they changed places… the other two men came in. I pretended I'd passed out, so they didn't do anything much, just sat and smoked. After what seemed such a long time, someone banged on the side of the van and called, 'We've got the money.' The van drove off, then it stopped and I was pushed out. By the time I'd got the blindfold off, it was out of sight. A car came… but it wouldn't stop… and then the police car picked me up.' She wrapped the greatcoat around her like a cocoon.
'I really would like a doctor to take a look at you,' urged Liz.
'No!' She screamed the word out. 'I'm all right. Just leave me alone.' With an abrupt shrug she shook off her mother's arm. 'Just leave me alone.'
'She's upset,' said her mother.
'That's right,' exploded Stanfield sarcastically, 'explain it to them. They wouldn't bloody know otherwise.' To Frost he said, 'Right inspector, you've had a nice sit-down now go and catch the bastards.'
'Just a few more questions,' said Frost. He smiled at the girl. 'You heard breaking glass. You switched on the bedside lamp and tried to dial 999. The lamp went out and the phone was dead '
'Because they'd switched off the current,' said Stanfield, as if explaining to an idiot.
'Exactly. Between the time you heard the sound of glass breaking, which was them getting into the house, and the phone going dead, how much time elapsed?'
'I don't know… seconds…'
Frost nodded. 'They were bloody quick, weren't they? They knew exactly where the meter was.'
'It wouldn't take a bloody mastermind to work that out,' exclaimed Stanfield. 'Most people have their meter
