Mallory nodded. “That’s possible. We’ll go through CCTV again and see if any of the vehicles are registered to Anthony Payne.”
Rob gave him a hard look. “He had her drawing, mate.”
“I know.”
“Anyway, it’s enough to hold him overnight. We can have another crack at him later.”
“You think there’s a chance she’s still alive?” It’s what they were all wondering.
Rob met his gaze square on. “No, not if he took her.”
In sexually motivated abductions, the victim was usually murdered within the first three hours of being taken. They both knew that.
Rob was about to go through his line of questioning for later that evening when his phone buzzed. He wanted to put the pressure on Payne, make him crack.
It was Jo.
“Hi.” He answered before the third ring.
“Ah, I’m surprised you picked up,” she said. “I know how busy you must be.”
“Never too busy to talk to you,” he said.
She laughed. “Listen, I got hold of our contact in Iran. She’s going to look into Arina’s whereabouts. She’s got an address for the father.”
“That’s great news. How soon do you think she’ll know something?”
“A day or two. I’ll keep you in the loop.”
“Thanks. Hey, we arrested Anthony Payne, the sex offender. He had a picture that Katie drew in his desk drawer, and he’s got no alibi for the time of the abduction. He’s looking good for it.”
“Really? Wow, okay. I did a basic check on him, but nothing jumped out at me other than what you already know.”
“Do you have a record of his whereabouts over the last five years?” he asked. “He moved around a lot.”
“Yeah, we should have everything on file.”
“There are others, Jo.”
“Other missing girls, you mean?”
“Yes. Same age range.”
There was a long pause.
“Are they related?” she asked.
“Can’t tell at this stage.”
“Do you think this guy is responsible?”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll get right on it,” she said. “Check your email.”
“Thanks, Jo.”
True to her word, Jo emailed through a list of Payne’s places of abode since his release. He got around.
“Look at this,” he said to Mallory. “He lived in Croydon, then Guildford and now Barnes. Didn’t one of the other missing girls live in Sutton? That’s near Croydon, isn’t it?”
“Fairly close,” confirmed Mallory, who had all the locations committed to memory. “Elstead is near Guildford too. Do you have the dates he stayed there?”
Rob forwarded him Jo’s email. Was Payne responsible for the disappearances of the other girls too?
22
“Where were you between eight thirty and nine thirty on Tuesday morning?” Rob spread the stills from the CCTV footage out over the table. “And don’t tell me you were at work, because we know you weren’t.”
He watched as Payne’s eyes dropped to the photographs. In the first, he was walking away from the Olympic Cafe, iced coffee in hand. In the second, he was further along Church Road, and in the third, he was walking past Barnes Green.
“What did you do after this?” Rob tapped the third photograph.
“You don’t have to answer that,” his solicitor said.
“It’s advisable that you do,” snapped Rob. “If you want us to believe you’re innocent.”
“I didn’t do anything.” His shoulders sagged. “I sat on the green and drank my coffee, I watched the kids feeding the ducks for a while, then I walked back to the gallery.”
“You did that for an hour?” Rob narrowed his eyes.
Payne didn’t react. “Yeah, what’s wrong with that? It was a nice day.”
“You like watching the kids feeding the ducks?” Rob goaded him.
The solicitor shot him a warning glance.
“Is that why you lured Katie down to the old reservoir at the nature reserve?”
“My client has already stated he was by the pond on Barnes Green,” said Chubby. “Not at the Leg O’ Mutton Reservoir in the nature reserve.”
“Come on, Ant. I know you didn’t want to hurt Katie, just like you didn’t want to hurt the others, but you can’t help yourself, can you?”
Mallory glanced at him in surprise.
“What others?” Chubby cut in.
“Oh, you don’t know about those?” Rob raised an eyebrow. “Do you know about Katie then?”
“Of course not. My client has already stated he had nothing to do with Katie Wells’ disappearance.”
“As you’ve repeatedly said,” finished Rob.
Chubby leaned back in his chair. “Can we move on, then? Either charge my client or let him go.”
“What others?” Payne growled.
“Don’t indulge him,” his solicitor warned.
“The other missing girls,” Rob explained as if he were talking to a child. “You know, the ones who disappeared from the areas you used to live in. Croydon, Guildford…” He studied Payne’s face, but it was a mask.
“Detective? Is there a charge?”
Rob had to let it go. “Not at this point, but I’m going to remand your client in custody for the maximum time allowed under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.”
The solicitor puckered his lips, then nodded. “Once again, I’d like a word with my client in private.”
“By all means.”
Rob and Mallory terminated the interview and left the room.
“What are you playing at?” blurted out Mallory, as they took the stairs up to the squad room.
“I wanted to see his reaction.” Rob tucked the case folder under his arm. “If he knows we’re on to him, he might crack.”
“He might not be responsible for those other victims,” pointed out his DI. “We don't even know if he’s responsible for this one.”
“I thought it was worth a shot,” Rob said. “Although, I couldn’t get a read on him. Could you?”
“I don’t think he knew what you were talking about.” Mallory swung open the door and stood back to let Rob enter first.
He didn’t reply.
Payne had shut down faster than a steel security door. Something had been behind those blank eyes, but he didn’t know what.
Six professional civilian telephone operators arrived a short while later and were shown into a designated control room. Their job was to monitor the hotline that would be buzzing once Crimewatch aired tonight at nine o’clock. They had strict instructions to vet the callers and were armed with a list of keywords to look out for and specific questions to ask.
For example,
