“Wow,” Mallory breathed. “I had no idea this was here.”
“Not many people do,” Rob acknowledged. “It’s a well-kept secret.”
On the far side, uniformed police officers wound a roll of no-nonsense yellow tape around the trees, securing the area where the rucksack had been found. Rob squinted, sunlight stabbing at his eyes. Was that a smudge of pink against the muddy bank of the reservoir?
“It’s bigger than I expected.” Mallory surveyed the body of water.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought the first time I came here too. Come on, let’s get over there.”
Footsteps caused them to turn around. The white-clad masked-up crime scene officers looked absurdly out of place amongst the natural environment like astronauts navigating a strange planet.
“Where is it?” one asked.
Rob pointed to the far side. “Follow us. We’re heading that way.”
They followed the path around the lake to the far side and came to a stop outside the cordoned off area.
Rob and Mallory flashed their ID cards, as did the forensic officers. A policeman lifted the cordon and waved them through.
Plastic tiles had been placed on the ground to avoid contaminating the scene, and the forensic officers walked down them, then squelched into the wet grass and mud at the edge of the water. They surveyed the area, looking for larger, more obvious clues.
Finding nothing, they moved closer. Any footprints made by the perpetrator would have been compromised by the police officers who had found the rucksack.
“How many of you have been on site?” asked the lead forensic officer.
A deep-voiced policeman replied. “Only three of us, sir, and only one got within a metre of the rucksack.”
“We’ll need your boot prints,” he said. “For elimination purposes.”
The policeman glanced at the muddy ground. “How?”
“You can give them to us at the van, afterwards.”
The forensic officer turned back to the rucksack. They studied it up close for a long time, then carefully lifted it from its muddy resting place and placed it into a large, clear evidence bag.
“Can we look inside?” Rob took out a pair of latex gloves.
The officer nodded but he wasn’t happy about it. They were potentially compromising evidence. But this wasn’t a homicide investigation. Yet. That backpack could contain something that would lead them to the missing girl.
They laid the evidence bag on one of the plastic tiles, then Rob gingerly took out the backpack. It was heavier than he expected. Katie’s name was sprawled in permanent marker down the side. Lisa’s handwriting, no doubt.
The bag was wet and stained by the water, but inside it was merely damp. The plastic lining had protected it from too much damage. He took out a pink, child’s jumper, and swallowed. This wasn’t good. There was a whiff of talcum powder and something else, something sweet. A rubbery orange and yellow pencil case with shiny cartoon characters on it. New, by the looks of things. Opening it, he saw it had the obligatory pencils, a rubber and sharpener inside.
A lunch box with a transparent lid. A blurry image of a sandwich and what looked like carrots and cucumber slices. Lisa was a competent parent. A packet of crisps and a bottle of water had also been stuffed in the backpack.
Nestled at the bottom was a large stone. That would explain the weight. Rob glanced up at Mallory. “Look here.”
He lifted out the stone and placed it beside the backpack.
“Weighted down,” remarked Mallory.
“We’ll analyse it for fingerprints and DNA,” the forensic officer said.
Rob put it back into the evidence bag. Would the kidnapper have been stupid enough to leave prints on the rock? They could only hope.
“No phone?” asked Mallory. Lisa had said her daughter had a phone, but it was diverting straight to voicemail. Another bad sign.
He had another rummage. “Nope.”
Mallory peered into the murky water. “Maybe he threw it in separately. To destroy it.”
Rob scrutinised the water around the rushes, but it was too muddy to see clearly. “Will is tracing her last known position.”
Mallory nodded, but his expression was grim.
Rob looked around. “Why here? You’d think the kidnapper would want to get her out of sight as fast as possible. Not waste time at the reservoir.”
“He wanted to get rid of the backpack?” Mallory suggested.
“Yeah, of course. But he could have thrown it in the river, or into a bush or something. He didn't need to come into the reservoir to do it.”
The surface of the lake sparkled at them.
“You don’t think…?” muttered one of the police officers. He’d gone pale.
Suddenly, the beautiful pond took on a more sinister air.
Mallory caught Rob’s eye. “We’d better call in the divers.”
Rob clenched his jaw.
This was a pretty deserted spot. It had been nearly – he glanced at his watch – four hours since Katie disappeared. Plenty of time for the kidnapper to do his dastardly deed and dump the body. A midge dive-bombed his face and he swatted it away.
“Yeah, do it.”
“Jesus,” murmured the other copper. Nobody wanted to consider that Katie Wells might be at the bottom of the lake.
“It’s just a precaution,” stated Rob. “We have to explore every avenue.”
Mallory got on the phone.
“This isn’t a very well-known spot,” Rob pointed out. “The kidnapper had to have been a local or at the very least, familiar with the neighbourhood.”
“They’re on the way.” Mallory hung up.
Rob glanced once more into the water. Was she in there?
“Let’s go,” he said, pulling himself together. “There’s nothing more we can do here, and we need to talk to Katie’s friend, Candy.”
They walked back towards the path. A feeling of dread hung over them.
“There’s only one reason to get rid of the backpack,” Rob said as they made their way back to the vehicle. “Because Katie wouldn’t be needing it.”
Mallory didn’t reply.
“He wasn’t planning on holding onto her.” Rob intoned. “He knew she wouldn't be needing
