Page 49 of Worse Than Murder

‘Yes.’

‘Was there a picket line outside the factory?’

‘Yes. But we don’t know if he was there or not. Five hundred people were striking. Would they have noticed if he slipped away?’

‘Possibly not,’ I say. I look away across the car park and see Alison Pemberton walk towards the woods with her head down. I immediately feel sorry for the young PC. Whatever is discovered has the potential to destroy everything she believes in.

‘Fancy a drive out to Seascale to talk to the teacher with an unhealthy interest in young boys?’

‘It shows how sad my life has become that this will end up being the highlight of my day. I’ll change my shoes and be right down.’

‘Meet me at the top of the road. I’m already getting dirty looks from Brucie. I don’t need to give her more reasons to hate me.’

‘Nice to know police hating journalists isn’t just a Sheffield thing. See you soon.’

‘If, on your way out, a couple of muffins happen to fall into your bag, I’ll help you dispose of the evidence.’

I end the call and smile. Tania is the refreshing change I need right now.

‘Can I have a word?’ PC Alison Pemberton asks as she approaches Inspector Forsyth at the edge of the lake. She looks worried. Her eyes are red from where she’s rubbed tears away.

‘Of course,’ Gill replies. She steps to one side, so they’ll have some privacy. She had been on the phone for the past hour updating her chief constable on developments. She was also waiting on a call back from the man in charge at SRUK about their ETA.

‘I heard Cl… Sergeant Daniels talking, and she said there have been items found that belong to children. Do you think I could take them to show my mum? Do you think… could they belong to my sisters?’ Her voice is filled with emotion. She’s struggling to hold onto her professionalism.

‘Alison, right now, all we have is a car at the bottom of the lake. We don’t know what or if there is anything inside it.’

‘The car belongs to Travis. He was very close to my family.’

‘Alison…’

‘But… the shoe and…’

‘I will go and speak to your mum,’ Gill says, softening her voice. ‘Alison, I know you became a police officer so you could find out what happened to your father and sisters, but you can’t allow that to jump to the front of your mind with every investigation. This could simply be an abandoned car.’

Alison nods. She looks away while she composes herself and swallows her tears.

‘I want to help,’ she eventually says.

‘You will. Let’s wait until we know what we’re dealing with before we go any further. Get Callum to drive you back to the station. We’ve still got calls coming in from the storm. We’ll take this one step at a time. Okay?’

‘Thank you,’ Alison says, trying to smile.

Gill watches her leave towards a marked car with her head down. She blows out her cheeks. She heads for Alan who’s standing by his car, the boot open.

‘Show me the items that came floating to the surface again,’ Gill says.

Alan hands her the two evidence bags.

Gill takes them and scrutinises the shoe, in particular. ‘What age girl would you say this shoe would fit?’

‘Well, if Prince Charming was looking for his Cinderella, I’d say he’d be looking for a small girl about five, six, maybe seven.’

‘And the necklace?’

‘It’s not a very long one, is it? Roughly the same age, possibly.’

‘Do you know the story of Alison Pemberton’s sisters?’