“You had enough time to take her into the nature reserve, feed the ducks, bundle her into your car and take her to a shed on your allotment, then drive back home and go and help her frantic mother search for her.”
Tessa shook her head. “No, that’s not true.”
“We’ve spoken to Katie,” DS Bird said, speaking for the first time. “She reports being taken to a garden shed by a woman called Rose. You fit the description she gave. She also said Rose had a dog called Flash. That’s quite similar to Ash, isn’t it? If Katie had called Flash, a dog used to being called Ash would respond.”
Tessa didn’t say anything.
“Detectives, this is all circumstantial,” said the solicitor. “You can’t prove any of this. Just because Katie Wells' abductor looked like my client, doesn’t mean it was her. And just because her dog has a similar name, doesn’t mean it’s the same dog. I think you’re reaching here.”
They were, but Rob was pretty sure they were on the right track. The rest of his team were looking into the ownership of allotments found within a five mile radius of the nature reserve, and he’d put through a rush order on the DNA samples from the clothing and samples they ‘d taken from Katie, but realistically, they wouldn’t get those back for a day or two.
“If you’re going to further charge my client with kidnapping, you’ll have to come up with something better than this.”
Rob took off the headphones and switched off the screen. Mallory would tie up the interview now and they’d speak to her again once they had something more finite. But judging by that, Rob was more certain than ever it was Tessa who’d kidnapped Katie.
He just didn’t know why.
32
“There’s one way we can prove this,” said Rob, as he walked with Mallory and Jenny back to the squad room. “We find the dog. If Katie confirms it’s Flash, then we’re away.”
“There wasn’t a dog at her premises,” said Mallory. “And I don’t recall there being one when we searched the place last time.”
“There was a dog’s bowl,” said Rob. “It was on the back porch. The dog itself was probably at the allotment with Katie by then, or wherever this mysterious garden shed is located. God knows who’s looking after the poor thing.”
“We’ve got a search warrant for her car,” Jenny said. “Forensics are going over it now.”
“If Katie was in that car, they should find something,” said Rob.
Jenny nodded. “Let’s hope she hasn’t had it valeted.”
“Guv, I’ve got something.” Will shot up his hand like a schoolboy.
“What is it?” Rob marched over.
“I’ve picked up Tessa Parvin’s car on the ANPR camera at the roundabout at Barnes Bridge station.”
“Excellent!” Rob thumped him on the shoulder. “That proves she was in the vicinity and not at home like she claims. Well done, Will.”
“It still doesn’t prove she took Katie,” pointed out Mallory.
“No, but it’s one more nail in her coffin.” Rob bounded back to his desk. They were on the right track, he knew it.
While Mallory went into a meeting with his team on the other missing girls, Rob briefed the Chief Superintendent.
“Why do you think she did it?” Lawrence asked, leaning back in his chair and studying Rob. There were bags under his eyes and his salt and pepper hair was turning silver at the edges.
“I don’t know,” Rob said. “Maybe she missed her own daughter. Maybe she wanted to know what it was like to have a child again. Who knows?”
Lawrence sighed. “It’s very sad. I take it we’re pulling the plug on the other investigation, now that we know it isn’t linked to Katie’s disappearance?”
It wasn’t really a question.
“We’re the ones who found Arina’s body,” Rob said. “We can’t abandon her.”
Lawrence jutted out his lower lip. “The linkage has been disproved. We have no grounds to continue with the investigation.”
“If we don’t take it on,” asked Rob. “Who is going to find out what happened to her?”
“It’ll revert back to Woking. It’s in their jurisdiction.”
Rob ground his teeth. He couldn’t let this go. Not now, after all they’d discovered. “No offense, sir but they didn’t do a very good job the first time round.”
“Agreed, but DCI Purley has been suspended pending a review. The case would fall to the DI, if there is one. If not, the DS will handle it.”
Both would have to be fully briefed.
“My team is familiar with the original investigation,” he said. “Anyone coming in would have to start from scratch. It makes more sense for us to keep it. Katie’s been found. Tessa Parvin’s been charged with attempted murder and possibly kidnapping. We have the time to dedicate to it.”
Did he sound too desperate?
The DCS studied him for a long moment. “This is personal, isn’t it?”
Rob shrugged, not altogether convincingly. “Arina deserves justice. Nobody knows the ins and outs of this case as well as we do. She was palmed off before. I think we should see it through.”
Lawrence sighed. “What about the other missing girls? Have you found anything connecting them to the investigation, apart from them all being of similar age?”
He glanced at his hands. “Not yet, sir.”
“Why not?”
“Budgetary constraints. We can’t justify a full-scale search of every green area near where they disappeared.” He gave the Chief Superintendent a sideways glance. “Can we?”
“No, we bloody can’t. And before you ask, I’m not sending divers into every lake in the district either. You need something else linking the girls before we go any further. Failing that, let’s cut back to Arina Parvin’s case and concentrate on finding her killer. Once we’ve put the Katie Wells case to bed.”
“Yes, sir.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. At least they were hanging on to Arina’s case, albeit by the skin of their teeth.
Rob was about to leave when the Chief Superintendent spoke. “Strange how Katie’s backpack was weighed down just like Arina’s? I