Deception

EIGHTEEN

On the way back to the city, Steven found himself wondering about the destruction of Khan’s body. Brewer had seen it as an embarrassing loss of evidence, but little more than that. It was a technical loss, not one that would affect the outcome of his report to the Procurator Fiscal in any way. There was no doubt about how James Binnie and Thomas Rafferty had met their deaths and none at all that Khan, a vicious dog with a bad reputation, had been responsible. But if Childs and Leadbetter had seen fit to burn the body, that was worth thinking through.

He saw a parallel in the fact that these two must have been responsible for pressure being put on Sweeney at the vet school to keep quiet about the rat examination. Could they have cremated the dog for the same reason? Had they been anxious to avoid the outcome of an autopsy on Khan’s body too? Was it even conceivable that Khan been suffering from the same problem as the rat population? Had Khan been subject to some kind of poisoning too?

The more he thought about it, the more Steven saw that it made a lot of sense. Khan had by all accounts been a mean, vicious dog that had become even more aggressive over the past few months. It seemed entirely possible that he had undergone a behavioural change just like the rats. In his book, this just strengthened the link between Thomas Rafferty and the rat problem. He was impatient for the lab report to come back.

He decided to have some coffee before going shopping for bits and pieces to take down to Dumfries in the morning and something for Jenny and Sue’s kids. He thought perhaps that he might take them books this time instead of toys. He was looking forward to being away from Blackbridge, even if it was just for the weekend.

He stopped in the village of Juniper Green on the western outskirts of the city and went into the local coffee shop, asking the woman who served him for a double espresso. Almost immediately his mobile phone went off, attracting black looks and tuts from the other, exclusively female, customers. Steven smiled apologetically to the ladies of the morning and went outside to take the call.

His good humour departed as he heard a woman’s voice sobbing, ‘Steven?’

‘Hello, who is this?’

‘Steven… it’s Sue… Jenny’s missing.’

Steven felt the blood drain from his face and pins and needles run up his spine. ‘Calm down, Sue and tell me exactly what’s happened,’ he said like an automaton.

‘The three of them were playing with a ball in the park this morning. Robin kicked it into the bushes at some point and Jenny went to get it… she just didn’t come back.’

Steven had to swallow against the progressive tightening in his throat. ‘I don’t understand, Sue. What exactly do you mean, she didn’t come back?’

‘When my two went to see why she was taking so long they found the ball but there was no sign of Jenny, she’d gone, disappeared, completely vanished. They looked everywhere but there was no sign of her. They ran home and told me and I rushed up there and looked everywhere again but I couldn’t find any sign of her either so I called the police.’

The woman from the coffee shop came outside and said, ‘Your coffee’s on the table.’ Steven waved her away. ‘But how could she just disappear?’

‘I don’t know, Steven. I just don’t know,’ sobbed Sue. ‘The police are here and the men in the village are all out looking for her. Luckily it’s Saturday and they’re not all at work.’

The woman from the coffee shop appeared again and said, ‘It’s getting cold.’

Steven waved her away again and said to Sue, ‘I’m on my way.’

He took two one-pound coins from his pocket and quickly entered the shop to throw them down on the table, attracting more shakes of the head and black looks before rushing out and getting into his car. Right now, Jenny was the only thing in the world that mattered: her safety took precedence over absolutely everything else. He started heading towards town but just as far as the nearest turn off to the outer city bypass. He then raced round the dual carriageway to the Lothianburn exit of the bypass and then joined the main road leading to the southwest.

He was thankful for the power of the police vehicle he was driving when it enabled him to accelerate past slow moving traffic with comparative ease on a road that was not amenable to overtaking at the best of times. Even so, he still attracted a deal of angry horn blowing when he forced the issue on a number of occasions, causing on-coming traffic to brake or take avoiding action. After thirty miles or so he was able to leave the twisting trunk road and join the main dual carriageway south. He was topping a hundred and ten miles an hour when a police patrol car latched on to his tail and turned on its lights. Steven maintained his speed and the police car dropped away as the officers got the result of their computer check on the vehicle’s ownership.

Steven tried telling himself that there was no point in driving so fast. It wasn’t going to make any difference whether he took two hours or three to get to Glenvane. Everything that could be done was already being done but something inside him wanted to be at the spot where Jenny was last seen and wanted him to get there as quickly as possible. He needed to feel near her. Apart from that, driving fast demanded intense concentration and helped him stop lingering on the nightmare thoughts that insisted on speculating over what might have happened to Jenny.

Some still got through however. ‘Your kid didn’t wander off on her own, Dunbar… she wouldn’t do that, she’s much too sensible… she was taken… she was taken by some weirdo who’d been hiding in the bushes watching the kids play, waiting his chance… some nutcase who likes pretty little girls under five years old… and you know what that means don’t you? Not many come back from that scenario, do they? In a few days time they’ll find her broken little body lying in some ditch about twenty miles from where she was lifted. The guy who finds her will say he thought it was a doll lying there; they always do… What else do you expect? That she’ll come home licking an ice cream cone and apologising for having got lost in the park? Get real, man! Face facts!’

Steven suddenly realised he wasn’t going to get past the Volvo he was overtaking before an oncoming lorry reached them. He rammed on the brakes and swerved in behind the Volvo just in the nick of time. He caught a glimpse of the red-faced lorry driver mouthing obscenities at him as he passed, horn blaring out Dopplered disapproval. The Volvo driver slowly shook his head as if pitying the shortcomings of his fellow man as Steven pulled out again and roared past, this time muttering, ‘Smug bastard.’

Steven took his foot off the accelerator and let the car decelerate into the village of Glenvane on the overrun. He pulled up outside the house and sat for a moment or two in silence, hands resting on the wheel, head resting on his chest, just letting the silence embrace him and calm his nerves. The metallic contraction noises coming from the cooling engine seemed soothing. After a couple of minutes he felt ready.

Sue came out to meet him as he walked up the path. She flung her arms round him and said, ‘My God, you must have flown down.’

‘What’s happening?’ he asked.

‘No news yet. The menfolk are all out searching and the police are treating it as a major incident. They’ve set up headquarters in the village to co-ordinate the search.’

Steven winced inwardly at the term, ‘major incident’. It was a phrase he associated with murder investigations. ‘Christ, Sue!’ he exclaimed. ‘I don’t know what to say. I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.’

‘I know,’ said Sue, hugging him again. ‘I feel the same.’

‘Are your kids here?’

‘They’re upstairs.’

‘Can I see them?’

Sue looked doubtful. ‘Are you sure that’s a good idea? They’ve already been questioned by us and then by the police. They’re pretty upset. I think the simple truth is that they just don’t know anything more than they’ve said. Jenny went into the bushes to get the ball and that was the last they saw of her.’

‘I’ll be gentle,’ Steven assured her. ‘I’d just like to talk with them for a few minutes. There just might be something they’ll remember.’

Sue agreed reluctantly and led the way upstairs. She opened the door at the head of the stairs and said softly, ‘Uncle Steven is here.’

Steven went into the room and made a heroic attempt at a smile as he saw the two of them, sitting on the floor among their toys. ‘Hi kids,’ he said gently as he squatted down beside them. ‘What are you up to?’

‘Has Jenny come back yet?’ asked Robin.

‘Not yet. We have to find her. I know other people have been asking you all sorts of questions but I’d like it if we could talk about what happened at the park this morning. All right?’

Robin nodded and his younger sister looked up at him with an uncertain half grin, as if unsure what her response should be.

‘You were playing with a ball?’

‘It went in the bushes. I didn’t mean it to. I kicked it and it just did and Jenny went to get it and she didn’t come back.’

‘Who else was in the park at the time, Robin?’

Robin shrugged and looked doubtful.

‘Anyone?’

Another shrug and a half negative response.

‘You don’t remember?’

‘Big boys.’

‘Big boys were in the park? Where in the park, Robin? What were they doing?’

‘On the other side, playing cricket.’

‘All the big boys were playing cricket at the other side of the park, well away from where you were playing?’

Robin gave a slow, deliberate nod.

‘None of them came near you and the girls?’

A shake of the head.

‘You’re sure? Both of you?’

‘Sure,’ said Robin. His sister nodded.

‘Good, you’re being a big help. How about adults? Were there any grown-ups in the park?’

‘Maybe one… or two.’

‘Doggies,’ added Robin’s sister.

‘They had dogs with them?’

‘Trixie and… Leroy,’ said Robin.

Steven took the fact that the children knew the dogs’ names as an indication that the adults with them were locals. After a bit more questioning Steven accepted that the people in the park comprised some older boys playing cricket and two adults from the village out walking their dogs. No one had approached the children.

‘How about cars? Were there any cars near you while you were playing with the ball?’ he asked.

Robin looked down at the floor and said, ‘Mummy said not to play near the road.’

‘Of course not,’ said Steven, but he noticed Robin’s sister giving him a sideways glance. Sue noticed it too. ‘There’s something you’re not telling us, isn’t there?’ she said.

Robin looked daggers at his sister and she in turn looked unsure.

‘Come on now, out with it. No one is going to get into trouble if you just tell us the truth. Mary, what happened?’

‘Mary looked at Robin and mumbled, ‘Robin hit the car.’

Sue turned to Robin who was still hanging his head and looking down at the floor. ‘You hit a car with the ball, Robin? What car? Tell me about it.’

‘A blue one,’ mumbled Robin.

‘You were playing near the road, you kicked the ball and it hit a blue car, is that right?’

Robin nodded silently.

‘What happened exactly? Did the ball bounce out into the road? Was the car moving at the time?’

‘No,’ said Robin eyes wide with horror at the thought.

‘So the blue car was stationary at the time? At the side of the road by the park?’

Another nod.

‘Did the owner see you hit the ball off his car?’

Another nod.

‘How?’ asked Steven, knowing the importance of this particular nod.

‘He was in the car,’ said Robin.

Steven exchanged glances with Sue and swallowed hard before continuing. ‘Let’s just see if I’ve got this right, Robin,’ he said. ‘A man was sitting there in a blue car and you kicked the ball against it?’

Robin nodded.

‘Did the man give you a row?’

A shake of the head.

‘Did he say anything to you at all?’

Another shake of the head.

‘You kicked the ball against his car and he didn’t do or say anything at all?’ said Steven, introducing a note of disbelief into his voice to prompt Robin into saying more.

‘He was reading the paper.’

‘And he didn’t even stop reading the paper when you hit the ball against his car?’

‘No, he started,’ said Robin.

Steven felt an icicle run up his spine. ‘He started reading the paper when you hit his car?’

Robin nodded.

Sue didn’t see the significance of what Robin had said. She looked to Steven for an explanation. ‘He didn’t want the children to see his face,’ said Steven flatly. He was hiding behind the paper.’

Sue put her hands to her face, her eyes wide with horror behind her open fingers. The children sensed that something was very wrong and became very uncertain. Steven tried to recover the situation. He managed to force a smile hoping to reassure Robin and Mary then he asked, ‘I don’t suppose you know what kind of a car this blue one was, do you Robin?’

‘One like Daddy’s.’

‘A Range Rover?’ said Sue.

Robin nodded.

‘Bingo,’ whispered Steven. ‘Now Robin, I want you to think very carefully. Later, when you and Mary went to the bushes to see where Jenny had got to, you found the ball but you didn’t find Jenny. When you came out of the bushes… can you remember if the blue car was still there?’

Robin shook his head.

‘You don’t know or it wasn’t there?’

‘Not there,’ said Robin.

‘I’m off to find the officer leading the search,’ said Steven. ‘Robin, you and your sister have been a big help. Have a think about the blue car and if there’s anything else you can remember, tell Mummy.’

Steven left the car and ran down into the village on foot where he found the mobile incident room, parked outside the village hall. He brushed past the constable outside and found the officer in charge. He and two other officers were poring over a map of the district. ‘I’m Jenny Dunbar’s father.’

‘I think it might be best if…’

Steven showed his ID and said, ‘I’m in the business. I’ve just been talking to the other two kids. Jenny was taken by a man driving a blue Range Rover. Blue isn’t as popular as green. Get on to all the Rover dealers in the district and get a list of the owners of blue Range Rovers. There can’t be that many. Get your patrol cars to stop any blue Range Rover they come across and search them thoroughly.’

‘We don’t know for sure that the vehicle was purchased in the district,’ said one of the other officers.

Steven was about to bite his head off when the senior officer intervened and said, ‘See to it, Sergeant.’ He introduced himself as Detective Chief Inspector Grant. He and Steven shook hands and Grant sympathised. He asked about the source of the Range Rover information and Steven told him. Grant gave a nod of resignation. ‘Well done for getting it out of them.’

Steven came round to the other side of the table and looked at the map. It was marked out in search sectors. ‘Anything?’ he asked.

‘Not a thing,’ replied Grant.

‘Will you keep on with the search?’

Grant nodded. ‘I’ll keep you informed of anything that happens. Right now, you’re making my men nervous.’

Steven took the hint and left the incident room. He walked through the village to the park and stood there as despair welled up inside him, looking out over the green, empty sward. Some bastard was driving around in a Range Rover with Jenny in it… or maybe he wasn’t… maybe he had finished with her… maybe…. He let out a cry of anguish and smashed his fist into a tree trunk. The pain in his knuckles was so much sweeter than the one inside his head.

Darkness fell and the search by men of the village and police officers on foot was called off, to be resumed again at first light. Their search of gardens, outbuildings and undergrowth in the immediate vicinity had yielded nothing but Steven did not see this as bad news. If they couldn’t come up with a live little girl, he didn’t want them coming up with bits of clothing or a shoe. He supposed that the blue Range Rover’s entrance into the reckoning was making the local search redundant, but he appreciated that Grant would feel obliged to pursue it. It wasn’t absolutely certain that the Range Rover had been used in Jenny’s abduction; it just seemed bloody likely.

Steven could not sit in the house with Sue and her husband for any length of time. They were the nicest people in the world and they cared about Jenny as much as he did but he found the silence oppressive and the strained attempts at optimism even worse. He needed to be outside, moving around, because motion made him feel like he was doing something useful even though he knew that he wasn’t. There was however, little comfort to be gained from the silhouettes around him as he tramped the verges of the roads around the village. It seemed that the whole world had changed. It had become an evil, threatening place. Every tree was a centurion of the night. Every copse hid a dark secret.

At times Steven felt tears of frustration well up in his eyes. He was a doctor, trained to save lives in the most demanding of situations: he was a soldier, capable of taking on the best the opposition had to offer and winning, but here he was, absolutely useless when it came to helping his own daughter when she needed him most.

It started to rain but Steven hardly noticed. When he finally did and pulled up his collar he saw it as being welcome. Every physical discomfort the elements had to throw at him was welcome right now. Any distraction from the sheer hell going on in his head was more than welcome. He heard a car coming up behind him and stepped further across the grass verge as the road was very narrow at this point. Unfortunately there was a narrow drainage ditch where he put his foot down and he went sprawling, face first, into the wet long grass, scratching his cheek on the hawthorn hedge as he went down. He lay there as the car swept past, its driver unaware of his presence, its headlights lighting up the hedgerows ahead and briefly restoring colour to the night. The road was black but everything else was green save for the little red object that caught his eye before darkness returned.

Jenny’s bag! Steven was paralysed by the thought. Jenny had a little red plastic bag that she was very fond of. She wore it on a strap across her shoulder and carried her hankie in it. Whenever they had been out for walk and come home, Jenny would hold the bag up in front of her and pretend that she was looking for her keys in it, just like she must have seen Sue do on many occasions. It was Jenny’s bag he’d seen lying on the verge up ahead!

Steven scrambled out of the ditch, trying to run before he had fully become upright and covered the twenty metres or so to the spot in an ungainly stumbling run interspersed with continual falls. It didn’t matter to him as long as the impetus was forward. He reached the spot where he felt sure he’d seen the bag and started to feel around frantically with the palms of his hands. He made contact and knew almost immediately that he’d been mistaken. It wasn’t Jenny’s bag: it was a potato crisp packet.

His whole body went limp and he slumped down into the wet grass to lie there with the bag scrunched up in his hand, feeling utterly exhausted and mentally numb. He had the sense to recognise that he was coming near to the end of his tether. It was time to stop tramping around aimlessly and return to the house.

Sue and her husband were drinking cocoa when Steven arrived back. He’d done his best to brush off the dirt from his clothes but the fact remained that he looked as if he had been rolling around on wet ground, as indeed he had.

‘Look at the state of you,’ said Sue, getting up to help him out of his wet jacket.

‘I’m fine, just a bit wet, that’s all,’ said Steven, already starting to feel claustrophobic.

‘I’m not sure if I have any clothes that’ll fit you,’ said Peter, who was considerably smaller than Steven. ‘The police rang while you were out. They’ve managed to check out all the owners of blue Range Rovers who purchased their vehicles from local franchises and who are still living in the district, with the exception of two, who they think may be away on holiday at the moment. They’ve drawn a blank, I’m afraid.’

‘Shit,’ murmured Steven.

‘Look, why don’t you go upstairs and have a bath to warm yourself up. ‘I’ll pop your wet things in the tumble drier and you can use a bathrobe until they’re ready,’ suggested Sue.

Steven agreed and went upstairs to run himself a bath. While the water was running he changed into the bathrobe and put his wet clothes in the basket that Sue had left by the bathroom door. The gun and holster was a problem. For the moment, he kept it in the bathroom with him. He rested his hands on the edge of the bath and allowed the steam to condense on his cold cheeks while he thought things through. If Jenny’s abductor wasn’t local, did this make it more likely or less likely that she would still be alive? The thought conjured up images of Jenny as a little bundle in the back of a Range Rover speeding south… or north… or east or west. Jesus! She could be anywhere.

The wave of frustration that swept through him made him want to be out on the streets again, searching every copse and culvert but behind the urge he recognised the hopelessness of the situation and lowered himself into the warm water to ease away his aches and pains. Somewhere out in the woods an owl hooted. There was no comfort to be found anywhere.

When he was through, Steven hid the gun under the covers of the bed he always used when he came to visit and went downstairs, wrapped in the bathrobe he’d been given.

‘Feel better?’ asked Sue.

‘Much.’

‘Your clothes are just about dry. I did all them on “high” so God knows what sort of a state they’ll be in but I thought the main thing was that they should be dry.’

‘Thanks, Sue, I appreciate it.’

Peter came out from the kitchen and said, ‘I’ve heated up some soup. You must eat something.’

Steven nodded and thanked him. He saw that it was well after midnight and said that Peter and Sue should go to bed.

‘I don’t think any of us are going to get much sleep tonight,’ said Sue.

‘You must try,’ insisted Steven. ‘I’ll have my soup and clear up here. I’ll knock on your door if there’s any news. Off with you!’

Peter and Sue went reluctantly upstairs and Steven had his soup and a chunk of bread while sitting at the kitchen table. By the time he had finished, the tumble dryer had ended its cycle so he took out his clothes and found that, as Sue had predicted, they were already dry. None of them appeared to have shrunk. Any other damage due to the high heat was irrelevant. He got out of the bathrobe and put his clothes back on then he put the kettle on to make some coffee.

He came back into the living room and switched on the TV, channel-hopping to find a 24-hour news programme. He watched it while he sipped his coffee, all the while glancing at the telephone, willing it to ring. It didn’t but around a quarter past one he heard the sound of a car outside and immediately anticipated that it was going to stop at the front door. He went to the window but could see nothing although he could hear the car’s engine idling. A door slammed and the engine note rose, although the car did not drive off immediately. Steven guessed from the subsequent sounds that it was doing a three-point turn. It then drove off and he was about to close the curtain when he saw a movement by the garden gate. Jenny was walking up the path.