“Someone else must be leaking information,” he said.
“Christ, the Super’s going to go apeshit. There’ll be an enquiry into this.”
“That’s all we need,” Rob turned up past Barnes Pond into Station Road. They drove past the boys’ school where Payne had stood watching at the gate, caught on CCTV.
“She’s a loose cannon, that woman,” murmured Mallory.
“She needs help.” Rob turned into Upper Richmond and came to a standstill. Back-to-back traffic proceeded at a trickle. “It’s all been too much for her.”
They were going through Barnes when an alert from the control room burst through the police radio. “All units, a young girl fitting Katie Wells description has been found in Suffolk Road Recreational Ground.”
Rob grabbed the receiver. “Is she alive?”
“Yes, sir. She was playing in the park. Over.”
He and Mallory stared at each other.
“We’re on our way.”
30
Rob switched on the siren and performed an illegal U-turn in the middle of Upper Richmond Road. Surprised motorists came to a standstill as he maneuvered the vehicle through the heavy traffic, back in the direction they’d come.
He turned off the crowded Upper Richmond Road as soon as possible and used the back streets to zigzag his way towards the park. Suffolk Street was two blocks away from where Katie had been abducted and was on the same road as her school.
“Why there?”
He pressed his foot to the accelerator. Had she escaped? Had she been released? Was she injured? It didn’t sound like it from the police broadcast, but until they got there, they wouldn’t know for sure.
Mallory found out the particulars. Apparently, she’d been recognised by a mother who was at the park with her two children and their dog, and this woman was looking after her until the police arrived.
“We’re closest to the location,” Mallory said. “Other units are on the way.”
Rob screeched to a halt outside the gated park. It was a small area for a recreational ground, about the size of two football pitches with a child’s play area in the middle sporting a climbing frame, a slide and a roundabout.
Sitting on a bench watching the children play was a blonde woman, and beside her sat a dark-haired little girl.
“Are we sure it’s her?” hissed Mallory as they strode across the lawn.
“The woman seemed to think so.”
They rounded the bench. The little girl glanced up.
It was Katie.
No doubt about it. Rob had seen those serious eyes look out at him from the posters for over a week. He’d know her anywhere.
“Katie Wells?” He bent down in front of her.
She nodded.
“I’m detective Miller and this is my partner, detective Mallory. We’ve been looking for you.”
She stood up. “Can I go home now?”
He smiled. “Yes. Yes, you can.”
She appeared unharmed. Her hair was loose, but it looked clean. Her skin shone in the morning sun. She wasn’t wearing the school uniform she’d disappeared in, instead she wore a pale blue summer dress with daisies on it.
“My partner here will take you to the police car while I talk to this lady, then we’ll take you home.” He nodded to Mallory.
To his surprise, Mallory took Katie’s hand and led her gently away. “That’s a pretty dress,” he remarked. “Where did you get it?”
They’d arrange for a forensic pathologist to meet them at Katie’s house so they could take her clothing for analysis, then they’d question her in the presence of a responsible adult, in this case, her mother.
More police vehicles arrived as he introduced himself to the blonde woman who’d found her.
“I got here with my two, and there she was, playing on the climbing frame. There was no one else here, so I asked her who she was with. She said no one. That’s when I recognised her from the news.”
“There was no one here, you’re sure?”
She nodded. “Absolutely. We usually come in the morning as it’s quiet, and Bertie’s always happy for a walk.” Bertie was a fluffy cocker spaniel who was still prancing around the perimeter of the park, sniffing the grass and lifting its leg against as many oak trees as he could find.
“And you didn’t notice anyone leaving as you arrived?”
“Not a soul.”
Rob frowned. The sooner they questioned Katie the better.
“What state was she in when you found her? Was she upset? Frightened?”
“None of those things. She seemed happy. She was singing to herself when I got here.” She shrugged. “It’s almost like nothing happened.”
Rob was silent for a moment.
After a week of searching, Katie miraculously appears, singing to herself, apparently unhurt, just like nothing had happened. How was that possible?
“Okay, thank you Mrs–?”
“Brink. Suzie Brink.”
“Mrs Brink, do you think you could come down to Richmond Police Station and give an official statement? Once you’ve taken your children home, of course.”
“Oh. Yes, I suppose I could.”
“Thank you.” He took her contact details and gave her his card.
Katie fidgeted in the back of their car, while Mallory spoke to the other police officers who’d arrived. They were full of questions.
“Yes, it is her,” Mallory was saying. “She appears unharmed.”
An ambulance pulled up.
He turned to Rob. “Shall we get her checked out?”
“Tell the ambulance to meet us at her house,” he said. “I think it’s important we get her home to her mother. We can do everything else there.”
Mallory nodded and went to inform the ambulance driver.
Rob dialled Lisa Wells’ number. She picked up on the first ring, her voice shaky, full of apprehension. She recognised his mobile phone number.
“Hello, detective?”
“Hi Lisa. We’ve found your daughter. She’s alive.”
He smiled as she shrieked down the line.
He cut in on her barrage of questions. “We’re bringing her back to you now. We can answer any questions you may have then.”
She was crying as he hung up.
“Who gave you the pretty dress?” Mallory asked as they sat in Lisa Wells’ kitchen. Rob and Mallory on one side of the wooden table, Katie and her mum on the other. Lisa’s sister-in-law had made them a pot of tea and left them to talk in private.
“The lady did.” Katie didn’t seem remotely traumatised by
