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THIRTY-FOUR

Gina tossed and turned. Every time she nodded off, she thought she heard a creak in the house and her mind kept telling her that Pete Bloxwich might come back. Her cat purred next to her, totally unaffected by a stranger coming into their house as she sprawled across the side where Briggs normally slept.

Gina knew that trying to sleep was pointless. She’d had no choice at all but to tell Briggs, and he, too, was on tenterhooks now. Gina had made the decision: if Pete double-crossed her and she was exposed, she would take the hit and do whatever it took to protect Briggs.

She threw her quilt off her body and stretched, before checking her phone again – it was only two thirty in the morning.

She needed coffee. Green tea or chamomile wouldn’t help in the slightest; it was all too much and she needed full-on caffeine because she didn’t want to sleep.

For now, she had to trust that Pete Bloxwich was actually going to hold up his end of the bargain, because she had a job to do. Luna was out there somewhere – if the girl’s name was even Luna – and she needed to be working around the clock to find her. She pictured this young girl, trying to imagine her point of view in the photo of her on the mattress, the shadow of the photographer cast on the wall, her hiding beneath her fringe.

After walking downstairs, she flicked the kettle on and grabbed her clumped-up old coffee in a jar and spooned a block into a cup. She’d missed coffee more than anything but needed to keep off the caffeine due to her heart scare. As it boiled, she peered out into her dark garden and checked that her door was locked – again.

Marie, Colson and the Moore family kept whirring away in her mind as she struggled to find the links between them and the girl in the photo, and they still couldn’t identify John Doe.

She thought of Luna again. Was she alone right now, or was she being tormented by the accomplice who tried to kidnap Keeley? Was Colson a part of it all? There was no evidence so far that his van was used in the attempted kidnap, but he was capable of theft and making threats, from what Keeley had said.

Her work phone began to buzz in her pocket. She answered. ‘Jacob.’

‘Guv, despatch just called. A woman called in earlier. She recognised the scarf from the press release and ended the call abruptly. She claims her daughter, Elissa Pritchard, who went missing in 1994, had one exactly the same. They’ve been trying to call the woman back, but her phone went offline about ten thirty last night.’

That was four hours ago. ‘Did they get her address?’

‘Yes, Five Hollyhock Crescent. An officer headed to hers, but there was no one in. There was no car on the drive, but we can see she has one registered to her. I checked in with Wyre to see if the name Elissa Pritchard came up in her searches and it hadn’t for some reason, but it was a long time ago. None of us were working in Cleevesford at the time, and the station was small back then. The filing system was apparently a bit chaotic, but I think that’s an understatement.’

‘Do we know where the files are kept for Elissa Pritchard’s disappearance?’

‘In the archives. Kapoor was still at the station when I left. She’s going through them all now, but I’m not anticipating her finding them anytime soon.’

‘Do you think Elissa’s disappearance has anything to do with the girl in the photo?’ Gina wondered if Elissa had a birthmark.

‘I don’t know. We really need to get hold of her mother. We’ve managed to trace her phone to its last-known location.’

‘And where is that?’

‘The car park at Cleevesford Nature Park.’

‘That’s where Colson had been staying in his van.’

Jacob murmured in agreement. ‘I still wonder if he’s involved in some capacity with the recent goings-on, but he was in custody all last night. It’s too soon to dismiss him yet. Can you sleep?’

Gina exhaled and sipped the coffee that she’d just made. ‘No.’

‘Shall we check out the car park? I know PC Ahmed is on duty – I could call the station and request that he meets us there?’

Biting her bottom lip, Gina decided that was the best plan. Why waste time fretting about her own situation when she could actually be doing something to help Elissa or the girl in the photo.

She swallowed. It might even be her last ever case given what was happening to her. ‘I’m on my way.’

Twenty minutes later, Gina pulled up. There were no other cars in the car park, until Jacob pulled in behind her, followed by a police car. They parked near the entrance and got out, holding their torches in front of them. Gina grabbed her own torch and met them in the middle of the car park.

‘Let’s have a look around the perimeter; see if we can find any evidence of her being here. Do we know the name of the missing girl’s mother?’

Jacob nodded. ‘Ruth Pritchard.’

‘It’s odd that she called about something so important and then hung up. Let’s take a look around.’ Gina walked along the back, and just to the other side of the trees she saw a small blue Citroen. ‘What does Ruth Pritchard drive?’

‘A Citroen C3 Plus.’

‘It’s back here.’ The other two headed towards the car. Gina carried on looking along the trees at the back and began flashing her torch across the grit. A line drawn in the tiny stones caught her attention. It looked thick, too thick to be a tyre mark; more like someone being dragged across the car park.

A flash of something on the grassy bank made her turn her head and stare until it returned. She took a few steps forward and shone her torch at it.

Reaching out, she parted the entangled branches and gasped.

‘Guv, it looks like there’s blood over here on a couple of supermarket loyalty cards with her name on them.’

‘I’ve found a card wallet.’ Gina pulled on a pair of latex gloves and gently picked up the brown leather wallet and opened it. ‘It’s Ruth Pritchard’s. Her driving licence and bank cards are in it, and there’s blood smeared across it. Something has happened to Ruth Pritchard. The kidnapper failed earlier when he tried to take Keeley Moore and now the mother of a missing girl has been taken. Get a team down here – forensics, officers, dogs, the lot.’