‘If Maria walked here there’s a big chance the children are being held close by.’
‘We’ll start the search with the chemist as the central point,’ Sarah said.
‘At the scene of her death Maria scrawled the word nine. Does it mean anything to you? Anything connected with the local area?’
‘You think she left a clue? I thought she overdosed.’
‘It’s likely she did but I can’t help thinking it’s odd.’
‘Junkies do all sorts of weird things. The number nine doesn’t have any significance I can think of. There’s an area of town known as Nine Elms only that’s over half an hour’s walk away up by the hospital and it’s difficult to get to on public transport.’
The personnel in the chemist drew a blank on it too.
‘Let’s have a look at a map,’ Tom said. ‘Perhaps she meant a house number?’
Bringing up a satellite view, Tom drew circles radiating out from the chemist. ‘This is the five-minute walk radius and this is ten minutes.’
‘There are plenty of streets but there aren’t many houses which are number nines,’ Sarah said. ‘I used to patrol here when I was in uniform.’
‘Let’s start with them. The uniformed officers can do the rest systematically. How many are we talking about?’
‘If we go out to the ten-minute radius then we’ve got less than a dozen. Come on, it’ll be quicker on foot.’
They covered fourteen number nines. There were five with no one home and for those they spoke to neighbours. For the rest, when they knew it was in connection to the missing children, all the residents allowed Tom and Sarah to search inside.
‘Nothing.’ Tom wiped the sweat from his face. ‘Shit. I was so sure they’d be nearby. Emily might not have long left.’ He checked his phone again. Still no news from Grant.
He’d already got rid of his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves and Sarah was down to a shirt and suit trousers.
‘What about the uniformed officers? Anything so far from the systematic search?’ Tom asked.
‘Not yet. The uniforms are already well into the search pattern around the chemist. Do you want to join them?’
Think, man, think. If Maria bought a treatment for Emily it meant Maria must have known where Riley was keeping the children.
‘I can’t get over the idea Maria was trying to help us.’
He half expected DI Hunter to laugh.
‘You know the case better than I do,’ she said. ‘If Maria wasn’t a willing accomplice, it’s not a ludicrous idea.’
‘I don’t have anything concrete to support my theory. Look, I know it doesn’t sound logical. You do what you think is best. I’m going to check the number nineties to ninety-nine. There was a second smudge, like she’d started to write something else. Only time is running out and I don’t want to drag you down with me.’
‘You’re not dragging me anywhere. Come on, there are less streets which go up to the higher numbers. It won’t take long to check.’
48
Slowly and deliberately, Grant walked up the fire exit. He wanted Riley to know he was coming because it was important to signal this wasn’t an aggressive move. The last thing Grant wanted was to scare Riley into taking rash action.
Riley had manoeuvred himself into a corner, and like cornered animals, cornered criminals were extremely dangerous. The children were still the priority and Grant needed to find the whereabouts and status of his officer. And he needed to find a way to talk Riley down.
As he pushed open the door leading to the rooftop, Grant called out.
‘My name is Detective Chief Inspector Grant. It’s important we talk.’
He stepped onto a flat concrete roof the size of twenty two-bed apartments. Grant scanned the area. It was rectangular and dotted with obstacles – ventilator shafts, metal housings and brick towers which presumably stored the heating and elevator apparatus. There was a strong wind and hanging cables whipped like something alive.
The door clanged shut behind him. No sign of Riley or Diane.
‘Mr Riley?’
Grant walked slowly forward, his hands held in sight, searching to left and right. Riley was hiding. What he must avoid was giving Riley the opportunity to jump out from behind.
‘The stairwells have been blocked off,’ Grant said. ‘We need to talk.’
‘Got nothin’ to talk about.’
The wind skimmed through Grant’s hair as he carefully pivoted towards the voice. Riley came into view and Grant’s heart went cold. Riley was leaning against a ventilator shaft. One of his arms was crooked around Diane’s neck and he held her against him like a human shield. A horrible red stain had seeped across Diane’s shirt. She was wounded. And it looked serious.
Grant’s gaze flicked to Diane’s eyes and she was looking straight at him. Part of him registered how calm she seemed as his mind raced to work through the permutations and come out with a strategy to save her life. In Riley’s other hand, a blade glinted silver. The bastard had stabbed her.
Grant couldn’t help thinking of Daniel Pearson and his ostomy bag and of Jack Glover fighting for his life in a white bed. Grant blinked hard and concentrated, squeezing all his experience into his next moves.
‘Stay where you are,’ Riley said.
‘Whatever you say.’
Riley sounded strung out. Grant reminded himself this man could be cold or he could be hot. Play for time, was what his hostage negotiation training said, build a link with the perpetrator and get them talking. Yet Grant knew Diane didn’t have much time.
Grant stood still. ‘Please let my officer go.’
Riley wanted a bargaining chip, Grant understood that.
‘Please let her go and I will willingly take her place.’ Grant had to shout against the wind.
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Tell me what you want and I can help you.’
Riley shook his head.
‘What do you want? Where are Emily and Lisa?’
‘Ah. I thought you’d be asking me about those kids sooner rather than later.’ Riley shuffled towards the edge of the roof, dragging Diane
