All the Rage

Adam Fawley
4 April 2018
17.32

`˜So where are we, Sergeant?'

It's 5.30, in the incident room. Twitter is alive with rumours of a missing girl and I'm going to be in front of a TV camera in half an hour so I'd quite like to have something I could actually say.

Gis looks up. He has a list, which is a good sign. But he's frowning, which isn't. `˜We haven't had any luck tracking down Sasha's boyfriend.'

He glances at Baxter. `˜We don't have her phone, of course, which is making things a lot harder, and we haven't managed to crack the password on the laptop, but we've only had it a couple of hours `“'

`˜Still nothing on social media?'

`˜Nope,' says Baxter. `˜Sod all.'

I turn to Everett. `˜What about Ashley Brotherton?'

Ev shakes her head. `˜We did check but nothing doing. Seems he cut his hand quite badly at work yesterday and was sat in the AE department at the John Rad until 10.00 last night waiting to get it stitched.'

I frown; he still seems like a pretty good bet to me. `˜Has the hospital confirmed that?'

`˜Not yet, sir, but we've asked for the CCTV from their car park. Apparently the site foreman had to take him in, but they went in Brotherton's van so we should be able to find it on the footage if he's telling the truth. But I think we'll find he is.'

She has one of those I told you so looks on her face now which prickles my irritation. But perhaps I'm just imagining it.

`˜And Jonathan Blake?'

`˜Nothing doing,' says Gis. `˜We spoke to the `њclient`ќ he was having drinks with and she confirmed where he was. Though she was pretty pissed off to be dragged into all this so I can't see Blake doing business with her any time soon `“'

`˜As opposed to doing the business,' says Quinn with a smirk. `˜Which I reckon he's already managed.'

`˜And there's nothing whatsoever to connect him to the assault on Faith,' continues Gislingham, ignoring Quinn. `˜He's got a solid alibi for that morning, for a start `“ he was on a client call in Swindon.'

I go up to the board and stand there, staring at it. At the pictures of the two girls. At the white space between the two that we still haven't found anything to fill.

`˜And we're absolutely sure they don't know each other?' I ask, without turning round.

`˜Yes, sir,' replies Somer. `˜I asked Faith.'

I pick up the marker pen and draw a circle slowly around Faith's picture. And then another, around Sasha's. And in the centre, where they overlap, I put a question mark. Then I step back and snap the top back on the pen.

`˜You don't think Sasha's with her boyfriend, do you?' says Somer heavily.

`˜I hope she is. I hope they're having wild irresponsible teenage sex and haven't yet managed to come up for air. But we have to assume the worst. We always have to assume the worst. Unless and until.'