Finders Keepers

from RJ Holding & Sons Builders in Taunton. Roger Holding was a cousin of the desk sergeant, and had offered the loan of one of his vans so they could approach the Took family without revealing their identities. Kidnapping for ransom was virtually obsolete now outside some Eastern European communities, but it was best to follow procedure until they were sure. However, Reynolds thought Elizabeth Rice looked suspiciously attractive to be behind the wheel of a builder’s van, even in jeans and sweatshirt, and with her straight blonde hair tied into a utilitarian ponytail. He should have brought Tim Jones from drugs, who looked and smelled like a navvy.

The van was littered with fast-food wrappers and underfoot was a dirty magazine, in every sense of the word. Reynolds had spotted it as he climbed into the cab, and had spent the whole journey trying to cover as much of it as possible with his feet, so that Rice would not be offended or – worse – make a joke about it.

He put the note back in the folder on his lap labelled JESSICA TOOK, and stared at the photo of the girl.

When it came to vanishing teenagers, the word ‘runaway’ was always above the word ‘abducted’ on the list of possibilities. Even an ostentatious liberal like Reynolds knew that if they treated every teenage disappearance like a kidnap, they’d spend their lives winkling sulky kids from under their best friends’ beds or throwing a big net over them in London bus stations. The truth was that most kids simply went home, and – unless there was clear evidence of abduction – there was an unofficial 24-hour period when it was assumed that that was exactly what would happen.

It hadn’t happened in this case. Yet. The file told Reynolds that the local community beat officer had been called and had cautiously started the ball rolling – calling friends and family, searching woods and outbuildings near Jess’s home. If she’d been eight years old, the Seventh Cavalry would have been dispatched at once. But thirteen? There were different attitudes to teenagers. So Sunday had been a ‘wait and see’ day. Wait for Jess to get cold or bored or hungry or forgiving, and see her walk up the driveway to either her father’s home or her mother’s. When she didn’t appear at either by Sunday lunchtime, Taunton was alerted, Reynolds was assigned and the case took on an official urgency.

Now – on Monday morning – it would begin in earnest: the formal interviews with friends and family, the organization of the searches and of the scores of volunteers who were sure to come forward. The discreet but close examination of every single one of those volunteers, in case one might be the kidnapper trying to insert himself into the investigation. Or herself, Reynolds thought. Best to keep an open mind about these matters. Although, of course, women who stole children generally took babies, out of some kind of primal desperation. Men who stole children, on the other hand …

Reynolds didn’t bother completing the thought. Imagining what might be happening to Jess Took was counterproductive to the point of madness. He needed to keep a little distance from the nitty-gritty of such an investigation to maintain any sense of perspective.

Rice hadn’t said anything about his hair.

Reynolds wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or not.

Rice gave a low whistle as they swung round a bend in John Took’s driveway. ‘Nice,’ she said, and it was.

A whitewashed longhouse covered in great clumps of wisteria faced the wide gravel drive. Alongside was a block of half a dozen stables. The large garden was mown and edged to within an inch of its life. There were three cars on the driveway – none worth less than a year’s salary to a Detective Inspector.

Reynolds immediately put ‘ransom’ up to number two on his chart of possible motives for the kidnap of Jess Took.

Inside, the house was furnished with a surfeit of money and a dearth of taste. There were several overstuffed tartan sofas, a dozen garish hunting scenes, and a brass and glass coffee table straining under the weight of a bronze horse almost big enough to ride.

John Took was a broad man with the florid complexion that comes from drink or weather. Reynolds wondered which it was. Possibly both. There were two women in the house, too – Jess’s mother, Barbara, and Took’s girlfriend, Rachel Pollack, who with her large blue eyes and long blonde hair was just a younger, slimmer version of Barbara.

Slimmer and dimmer, Reynolds gathered from just a few minutes’ discourse with them both. Perfect for a man in the throes of a mid-life crisis. Reynolds had never been married but was pretty sure he’d be better at it than most men. He’d once seen a bumper sticker that said A WIFE IS FOR LIFE, NOT JUST THE HONEYMOON. Too true.

The dynamics of this threesome were interesting. Although Rachel clutched John Took’s hand throughout in a show of sympathy bordering on custody, it was plain to see that the real connection here – the blood connection – was between Took and his ex. They shared the same shaky tension, the same brittle hope, the same disregard for anything that was not Jess-related. More than once, Reynolds saw Rachel’s mouth tighten petulantly as she watched the interplay.

They hadn’t had any contact from anyone claiming to have abducted Jess.

‘If we had, we’d feel better,’ said Barbara Took, and Reynolds felt the same way. Knowing was always better than not knowing. And they’d have somewhere to start.

‘Does Jess have a boyfriend?’ he asked, and both parents shook their heads vehemently.

‘She’s only thirteen,’ said Took.

‘I would know,’ said Barbara.

Reynolds put a question mark next to the word ‘boyfriend’ in his notebook.

He asked to see Jess’s room – the best one in the house, and messy in the way that only teenagers know how to pull off. It set Reynolds’s teeth on edge and made him happy he didn’t have kids.

‘Mr Rabbit!’ said Barbara Took tearfully, picking a floppy old toy off the floor. ‘She would never leave Mr Rabbit.’

That was complete rubbish, of course. Even Reynolds knew that. Teenagers were a selfish bunch and unlikely to be anchored by a childhood toy if they had a boyfriend waiting in the wings.

Barbara’s ex-husband turned to give her a comforting hug and Rachel reached out and stroked the other woman’s shoulder awkwardly, with a hand that was tipped with bright-red talons.

‘Where’s her phone?’ asked Reynolds.

‘I found it next to the horsebox,’ said Took. ‘She must have dropped it. Your lot have it now.’

‘What about her make-up bag?’ asked Rice.

‘She doesn’t wear make-up,’ said Barbara and then looked at John Took questioningly. ‘She doesn’t when she’s with me, anyway.’

‘Nor me,’ countered Took immediately, and let her go.

The bedside table held a little mirror on a stand but the drawer underneath revealed nothing but junk – bits of costume jewellery, keyrings with cartoon characters on them, coins, creams, a broken phone, and about fifty different kinds of hair clip.

Rice noticed a backpack at the foot of the bed. ‘Is that her school bag?’

‘Yes. John takes her on Mondays and I pick her up.’

Rice rummaged inside and quickly came up with a small pink make-up bag containing strawberry lip gloss, mascara and two five-pound notes. Barbara Took glared at her ex-husband, but Reynolds and Rice exchanged another kind of look entirely. If Jess Took had simply run away, make-up and money would have been the real essentials, whatever the hell Mr Rabbit said.

They filed back downstairs and Reynolds went through procedures with them. How things would work: how the search would be organized; arranging a similar visit to Barbara Took’s home; assignment of a family liaison officer; and, finally, what to do in case of a note or call demanding ransom.

‘I don’t have any money,’ said Took. ‘The horses take it all.’

This was such a ridiculous statement that – in the circumstances – everyone in the room did him the courtesy of ignoring it.

Reynolds asked Took and his ex-wife whether they had any enemies. It was a standard question and rarely elicited a positive response.

Barbara shook her head, but John Took said breezily, ‘Sure, who doesn’t?’

Reynolds was taken aback. So, apparently, was Barbara.

‘Not anyone who’d kidnap Jess!’