“That’s one theory.” He hesitated. “Perhaps they never left to begin with.”
Jo shivered. “That’s an awful thought.”
“We’ll have to search Bisley Common. It’s not very big, only forty-six hectares. We’ll get the dog squad out.”
“Will they pick up anything after all this time?” Jo asked. “It has been four years since Arina disappeared.”
“They’ll find a body,” he said. “That’s what they’re trained to do.”
“I want in,” Jo stated.
Rob stared at her. “How?”
“I’ll speak to my boss.”
“Do you think he’d lend you to us for the duration of the investigation?”
“I don’t know, but this could be my sister’s killer, Rob. I need to be in on this case. Can you speak to Sam?”
“I can try, but I can’t see him going for it. Not with you being so close to one of the victims.”
“He knows I’m a professional. I can handle it.”
She took his hand. “Please, Rob.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
She squeezed. “Thanks, Rob. That’s all I ask.”
“I like Jo Maguire,” Lawrence said, early the next morning. “But there’s no fucking way the NCS is going to sanction her involvement. Firstly, it’s not their case. It’s got nothing to do with them. And secondly, if this killer is the same man who took her sister, she has a personal connection. She could jeopardise the entire investigation. Hell, she might even be a witness or a person of interest.”
Rob handed him a take-away coffee he’d got from the expensive Italian café on the other side of town. He needed all the help he could get.
“Look, I know she’s a bright girl, but this is her sister we’re talking about.”
“I think she can handle it, sir. It was twenty years ago.”
Lawrence accepted the coffee. “I’m sorry, Rob, it’s not my call.”
Jo would be gutted.
“You know I’m compromised, sir, since we’re… together.”
Lawrence nodded. “I’m aware of that and if you want to stay on this case, it’s your duty as a senior police officer to act with discretion and be above reproach. You’re not to talk to her about the investigation.”
“Have you met Jo?” he blurted out.
Lawrence had the grace to grin.
“I can’t see her backing down on this one.” Rob said. “Besides, as an NCA agent, she could be a valuable asset to the team. She has access to things we don’t, contacts we only dream about. It would be a huge help if we could use the NCA’s resources to help us solve this case.”
Lawrence still wasn't buying.
Rob sighed. “Okay, here’s another idea. What if she concentrated on the Manchester connection? We still aren’t sure Rachel’s disappearance has anything to do with our current investigation. There’s a fifteen-year gap between the cases.”
“Hmm…” Lawrence narrowed his eyes. “That might work. As long as it doesn’t affect what we’re doing here.”
“No, sir. I’ll make sure it doesn’t.”
“Okay, you win, Rob. I’ll talk to Pearson over at the NCA, but that’s all I can do. It’ll be up to them whether they second her to us or not.”
“Thank you, sir.” Rob grinned.
As soon as Arina Parvin’s case had been transferred from Woking to Richmond CID, Rob organised a search of Bisley Common.
“Do you really think she’s there?” asked Jenny, bringing him a cup of tea.
“I honestly don’t know, Jenny. I’m just doing what should have been done four years ago. I’m more concerned about Katie Wells at this stage. She’s been missing for over a week now.”
Thank goodness they had these other cases to distract them, because there were no new leads in Katie’s disappearance. The situation was dismal. Even the papers had shifted her to page two. Reduced to a few lines of copy. In time, she’d be forgotten.
“The CCTV footage from the school in Bisley has come in,” said Will. “I’m going to look at the day Arina went missing.”
Rob watched over his shoulder as Will fast forwarded Camera 1 to three-thirty on the day Arina disappeared.
“Stop, who are all those people?”
“Schools out,” said Will.
Boys poured out onto the pavement. Talking. Laughing. Jostling each other. Kids on bikes sped off in both directions. A bus pulled up at the bus stop and they piled on. It drove off. More kids gathered.
By four o’clock the rush had ended. The street was once again quiet.
“Come on,” Rob muttered.
At 16:02 a white vehicle pulled onto the narrow embankment beside the woods, blocking their view of the path.
“Get out of the way,” hissed Will. “You’re blocking the camera.”
“Can you make out that vehicle?” Rob squinted at the screen. White paint. Sturdy wheelbase. Dirt-splattered tyres.
Will zoomed in. “Could be a delivery van.”
“Can we send that shot to Peter Ansel on the second floor,” asked Rob. “He used to work as a road traffic collision investigator. He might be able to shed more light.”
“You think it belongs to the kidnapper?” asked Will.
“The timing fits. If Arina left school at three-thirty, she’d get there around four. It’s a twenty-five-minute walk across the common and she was chatting with friends which would have slowed her down. I’d say it’s very likely to be the perpetrators vehicle.”
“Right.” Will took a screen grab and sent it off to Peter Ansel’s email address, all within a few seconds.
They watched for a while longer, but nothing happened. Arina didn’t emerge from the woods, nor did they see anybody else. If anyone had got out of the vehicle, they’d done so on the side facing away from the camera.
“Forward it on to when the vehicle drives off,” said Rob.
Will sped up the footage until they saw the base of the vehicle shudder to life. It coughed a few times then pulled out into the fast-moving traffic.
Rob checked the timestamp. 16:13. Eleven minutes. Enough time to grab Arina, subdue her and carry her to the van.
“I can’t believe no one saw him load Arina into his van,” said Rob. “It wasn’t rush hour yet, but there was traffic on that road.”
“Maybe she went with him willingly.” Will glanced up at his boss.
Could Arina have known her attacker?
“What car did her father drive?”
