The surveillance team has checked out the area and are confident no-one is watching the house. But, to ensure they have a cover story, Tracy has been allocated a high-end Mercedes sports car.
This way, if the kidnappers call and say the police are involved, the family can say it is a friend of Diane’s visiting her. After all, the police don’t drive expensive sports cars.
Tracy has received a call from PC Rachel Nason who is acting as the family liaison officer. She has informed Tracy about Gordon returning home to be with his mum.
After being introduced to Gordon and spending some time chatting with him, it becomes obvious to Tracy he is regarded as the black sheep of the family.
He appears more interested in himself. However, she can see he has a genuine concern over his sisters.
Her observation from what she has seen is Gordon has expensive tastes. So it might be worth getting the team to check him out. You never know what you might discover.
Chapter Forty-One
Trentbridge police station major operations room is a hive of activity. Two officers are going through all the footage from the various cameras at Birmingham airport.
Two more are trying to trace any vehicles that have been seen outside or close to the Mitten family home over the past few weeks.
A laborious task that takes up a lot of police time but CCTV is one of the most powerful tools at their disposal. Also pretty good at convincing juries of someone’s guilt or innocence.
Two more specialist officers are still trawling through the girls’ social media.
The police have to deal with various cases involving kidnapping: ransom demands, vendettas, which often involve criminal gangs fighting amongst themselves, or people smuggling, which usually involves someone visiting a foreign country and then their family is contacted and forced to pay for the victim to be released.
From time to time the police have to deal with hoax kidnappings. These are where it usually involves a young male travelling abroad who runs out of money and has strict parents and he doesn’t want to ask them for money. So he makes up a story saying he’s been kidnapped and to secure his release the parents must send funds, usually less than $2,000, through a money transfer company.
The most common type is between family members, usually involving a child in a custody battle. This often happens when the courts have given custody to the mother.
The husband and wife are from different ethnic backgrounds and the father has moved back to his native country. It can be the father, or maybe someone like his brother, collecting the child from school under the pretext of a doctor’s or dentist appointment and then using false documents to fly the child out of the country before the mother is even aware they are missing.
By the time the mother is able to raise the alarm and has realised her ex-husband is responsible for the abduction, the child is already in a country where the laws are in favour of the father.
Chapter Forty-Two
Diane Mitten wakes at six with a start. It’s her fiftieth birthday but the last thing on her mind is celebrating.
If the kidnappers are to be believed, in fifteen hours they will call and ask her to decide which of her daughters she wants to save and which one she will let die. Even the thought makes her feel physically sick and shake with fear.
The police are trying their best and working hard to find the people responsible but nothing they have told her so far gives an indication they are getting close.
Maybe there is some sick person who wants revenge? She knows the girls attract a lot of attention from men. But why kidnap them and threaten to kill one of them?
The police think it could be about revenge.
Is it possible her husband is hiding something? Surely he wouldn't risk their daughters’ lives? If he's done something wrong, Diane will stand by him as long as both the girls come home safely.
She knows Gordon isn’t as innocent as he makes out. He seems to attract the wrong type of friends. Could it be he’s mixed up in something dodgy?
And why haven’t the kidnappers asked for a ransom? If it was just about the money she could understand.
This could be the worst birthday present anyone has ever had. One of her beautiful daughters killed. Or both of them!
All she wants in the world is for her daughters to be home and safe. That would be the best birthday present ever.
Chapter Forty-Three
Eden Gold is inside the incident room at Trentbridge police station facing the team working on the kidnapping.
“Once again, thank you for all the hours you’re putting in. We’ve covered all the people who attended the fiftieth anniversary party, family and friends, everyone who works for their business and anyone who might have been in the house in the past twelve months. Unfortunately, the motorbike rider who delivered the package was a dead end. Someone left it at the company’s offices and paid in cash. Nobody there can recall what they looked like.
“So far we haven’t been able to come up with any names or a reason for a grudge against the family. So we are hoping it’s more of a possibility this is about the money and a tactic to scare the family so they pay up when the time comes. We can’t put out a public appeal because the kidnappers told the family not to involve the police.
“Let’s go through their bank accounts and credit cards. It’s a longshot but check if social services have ever been involved with the family. Check with their former schools and the places they have worked. We can’t afford to relax on this. So keep going over everything you have.
“If the threat is real we’ve got just twelve hours left before the kidnappers’ deadline expires and we’ll be looking at one, possibly two cases of murder.”
Chapter Forty-Four
It’s 9am. Erica
