Page 32 of Stolen Ones

Now she could read better, Kim could see why the case on Stacey’s screen had caught her interest. Suzie Keene was abducted two years before Melody Jones.

‘There are eighteen approach techniques, and I’d normally go through them all, but we’ll focus on a couple. Incentive-based approaches work like offering a smoke—’

‘Or a cup of tea,’ Bryant interjected.

‘Never promise something you can’t give. There’s the emotional approach. Read your subject and appeal to greed, hate, revenge, love of family – whichever emotion will work.

‘Equally you can use emotional hate. If you can identify a fear, you can play it up or play it down to get a result.’

Suzie Keene had been taken in the middle of the school holidays just like Melody Jones.

‘Can I get an example?’ Penn asked.

Kim offered him a look. Questions took time.

‘Say your subject is scared of spiders. You can hint that you’re going to let in a truck load, or you can assure him that if one gets in, you’re going to protect him.’

‘Got it,’ Penn said.

‘And finally, I’ll mention some techniques for detecting deceit. Repeat and control the questions. Look for internal inconsistencies like timeline. Are they giving you too little or too much information? Is the information self-serving?’

There were no witnesses to the abduction of Suzie Keene. Just like Melody, no one saw a thing.

‘Is there a lack of extraneous detail? Are they repeating answers with the exact same wording and details? Is it too rehearsed? Does their appearance match the story? Does the language match the story?’

‘Go back,’ Kim called out.

‘To which part in particular?’ Foggarty asked obligingly.

‘Not you,’ she said, no longer making any effort to hide the fact she was doing more than listening to his presentation.

‘Further, further,’ Kim said as Stacey scrolled back up the screen.

‘There – read that bit.’

Why had she never heard of Suzie Keene? Why weren’t her parents on the television appealing for information? And then she caught the important paragraph as Stacey reached the bottom.

Suzie had been returned.

This victim was still alive.

Eighteen

‘Not sure our new friend Foggarty was impressed with being cut short and bundled out of the squad room,’ Bryant said as he drove.

‘I think he was a bit more understanding once we explained we had a lead in our investigation of a missing child,’ Kim said, but the man had looked slightly offended.

‘It’s not strictly a lead though, is it, guv? I mean we’re going to see a grown woman who may or may not have been abducted by the same person who took Melody, who may or may not be the same person who has abducted Grace, who may or may not be the man sitting—’

‘Okay, details boy, I get your point, but did you really think we were going to get anything valuable from his presentation?’

‘Learning how to sleep with my eyes open was on the horizon.’

She rolled her eyes.

By the time they’d managed to shepherd Derek Foggarty out of the office and back to his car, Stacey had found a current address for Suzie Keene and Penn had been back on Harte watch. Kim guessed he was getting to know the man’s baseline behaviour quite well.

‘So, let me get this straight,’ Bryant said, unwilling to let the silence between them settle. ‘There was another little girl abducted two years before Melody Jones, so that’s twenty-seven years ago, but she was found exactly one year later safe and sound?’