There was a long pause.
“You want to know what I think?”
Rob nodded. “To be honest, I don’t know what to make of it, sir. If we add Arina Parvin and Katie Wells to that list, that’s six kids in the last five years. And the satchel is a remarkable coincidence.”
Lawrence didn’t speak. There was a respectful knock and Celeste came in carrying a tea tray. Sensing the heavy atmosphere, she put it down and backed out of the room.
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
The Superintendent hated the S-word. The two most difficult cases of his career had been serial offenders.
“That’s why I wanted to bounce it off you, sir. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but we have to consider we may have a serial killer on our hands.”
“For fuck’s sake.” His voice reverberated around the office. “Why can’t it be a simple kidnapping? Why does it always have to be a fucking serial killer?”
Through the glass, heads dropped as colleagues concentrated extra hard on their tasks. Hear anything? Of course not.
“I’m not saying it is a serial killer, sir, but think about it. Six missing girls. Same age. Same county. We have to consider that they could be related.”
“They might be isolated events,” he retaliated. “Young girls go missing all the time. They run away, become drug addicts, try to escape abusive parents. What makes you think these six are related?”
“We don’t. We haven’t looked into them yet. It’s just a line of enquiry that I thought we should pursue.” The tea remained untouched.
Lawrence fell silent, his fingers drumming on the arms of the chair. Rob waited for him to say something.
“Okay, Rob. I suppose you may have a point. But our focus is on Katie Wells, not these other girls. This could still be an isolated event. Fucking hell, it’s more likely to be someone who knows the family than a deranged serial killer.” He shook his head.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll put DS Burns and DC Malhotra on it, while the rest of the team concentrate on Katie.”
Lawrence glanced wistfully at the teapot but made no move to pour. “The Crimewatch report is going out tonight. I’ve seen the rough cut. Damn fine job your young sergeant did. He looks good on the box, doesn’t he? We might have to get him to give the press statements from now on. Gives the department a good name.”
How could Harry not have a positive effect on the audience?
“I’ll be sure to watch it,” he said.
“They filmed on location too,” he said. “Compelling stuff.”
“Hopefully it’ll generate some leads,” Rob said, although his voice lacked enthusiasm.
“We’re going to need some extra bodies to man the hotline,” Lawrence said. “Hire civilians. The pros are too expensive.”
“Yes, sir.” He mentally added it to his to-do list.
There was a knock at the door. Rob glanced up. He was surprised to see DS Freemont standing there. That took balls, considering the Chief Superintendent’s recent outburst.
“Enter,” said Lawrence.
“What’s up, Will?” asked Rob.
“Guv, you’re not going to believe this. Lisa Wells knows Anthony Payne. She made two calls to his gallery back in March.”
20
Rob jumped up. “She knows him?”
“Yes, sir. They spoke twice, each time the call was longer than two minutes. They definitely know each other.”
Holy shit.
He excused himself and followed Will back to his desk. Will pointed to the screen. “There are the call logs.”
Rob could see for himself. She’d made two calls, one on the thirteenth and one on the fifteenth of March.
“Get her in here,” he snapped.
This time he met her in the interrogation room. Once again, he’d informed her she wasn’t under arrest, that this was just routine questioning. To prove the point, he’d got them both a coffee on the way. It was the crap from the canteen, but it was the thought that counted.
Did she mind if he recorded their chat?
She shook her head. She seemed confused, frightened even. Like she was expecting bad news.
“How are you holding up?” he asked her.
“Okay, I suppose, given the circumstances.” Her words didn’t convince either of them.
“We’re making progress with the case,” he told her. “One line of enquiry we’re following up on has to do with a man called Anthony Payne. Do you know him?”
She frowned, then her eyes widened. “Why, yes I do. Ant owns the gallery in the village.”
Ant, eh?
“That’s right. Do you mind if I ask how you know him?”
“He acquired one of my paintings,” she said.
He hadn’t been expecting that. “I see.”
“The gallery is across the road from where I work. I often pop in there on my lunch break. One day we got talking and I mentioned I do a bit of painting myself. He asked to see my work, so I showed him, and he agreed to display one of my pieces.”
“Did you take them round to the gallery?”
“No, they’re quite sizey. He came to the house.”
Rob’s breath quickened. “And this was back in March?”
“Yes, why? Is there a problem?”
Rob forced his voice to remain calm. “Lisa, did you know Payne is listed on the sex offenders register.”
Her mouth formed a perfect O.
“I had no idea. I invited him into my house. He met Katie.” She gasped. “You–You don’t think he had anything to do with her disappearance?”
“We don’t know at this point,” he admitted. “But we’re looking into it.”
She shook her head. “I thought he was gay.”
She had a point. Rob had got that impression too, but it didn’t mean he hadn’t abducted Katie.
Now they had confirmation that Payne knew the family, Rob leaped into action. It felt good to be moving forward again. The Chief Superintendent signed off on a warrant and Mallory organised a search of both Payne’s house and the gallery.
“Get down there, Rob,” Lawrence barked. “We can’t risk anything going wrong. This has to be by the book.”
The Olympic Cafe terrace was full to bursting point on account of the fine weather, and the diners gawked as the convoy of police
