Twisted (7 page)

Reid had so far enjoyed his police service and found detective work both challenging and rewarding. He was ambitious and hoped to make detective chief inspector within the next three years and eventually make superintendent. His goal was to be a member of the elite murder team, moving away from Mispers to something he felt would be more rewarding.

He was well liked by his small team of six police officers and a civilian administrative assistant. He made them feel they were members of a ‘top team’, and always listened to and valued their thoughts and opinions. Even though he was very ambitious, his professionalism and unparalleled dedication had won him respect and admiration. It was obvious that he was moving up the promotional ladder at a steady rate.

Barbara fancied him, even though he was at least ten years older than her, but he hardly seemed to notice she existed outside of the station, and when he suddenly looked up, catching her staring at him, she flushed.

‘This is very good, and you will need to upload it onto the Met and national misper databases and update things as we go, but you’ve asked the right questions at this stage. What is she like?’

‘The daughter?’

‘No, the mother. You mention that she is going through a divorce, but according to her it is an amicable arrangement between herself and her soon-to-be ex-husband, the daughter spending her weekends between them both, right? So, tell me, what she’s like?’

‘You mean emotionally?’

‘Yes – is she very anxious? Does she have any gut feelings about what might have happened?’

Barbara paused. ‘I’d say she is very worried, but she is quite controlled. She runs her own business.’

‘Okay, and the husband is not with her, so I will need all his contact numbers as he will have to be interviewed today.’

Reid patted down his jacket, picked up his mobile phone, notepad and, running his fingers through his hair, came out from behind his desk.

‘Right, let’s get started, and I want you taking notes. If I appear to be repeating a number of the questions you’ve already asked it’s to confirm she’s being honest. Right now I am treating this as medium risk but, dependent on the next twenty-four hours, I may have to seek permission to upgrade it to high. If that is the case a homicide and serious crime team will take it over, so I want everything ship-shape.’

‘Yes, sir.’ Burrows opened the door for him and he walked past her into the corridor, asking for her to organize some fresh coffee, as he had not had any breakfast.

Lena half rose out of her seat when Reid entered the interview room, as he crossed directly towards her with his hand out. ‘Mrs Fulford, I am Detective Inspector Victor Reid and I will be overseeing the inquiry.’ She registered that he was over six feet with a strong presence and a firm handshake and she was slightly taken aback.

‘Please sit down, Mrs Fulford. I’ve ordered some fresh coffee, and I apologize for keeping you waiting but I needed to assess the situation with DC Burrows before talking to you,’ he said as he sat down beside her.

He took in Lena’s appearance fast – her face devoid of makeup showed beautiful pale unblemished skin, wide pale blue eyes, and a thick sheet of blonde hair parted in the middle and resting just below her shoulders. She wore a polo-neck sweater, jeans and her expensive camel coat was loose around her shoulders; she was a slim elegant woman, the type he liked. He even noticed she wore no wedding ring – in fact no jewellery at all – and her hands were delicate with short-cut nails.

Reid continued, ‘It’s imperative we do not waste time, so we will be circulating Amy’s description and missing person’s form to every police force in the country via the national database and other relevant agencies on the internet for public access. I will also be seeking authority for a press release. Rest assured, Mrs Fulford, we will do everything in our power to find your daughter as quickly as humanly possible.’

Lena felt more at ease and thanked him for his thoughtfulness. It was such a relief for her to be speaking to a senior officer, and at last she felt her fears were being taken seriously.

‘I apologize if I repeat anything DC Burrows has already asked,’ Reid went on. ‘However, to progress the investigation I need to familiarize myself with everything that has occurred concerning Amy over the last three days and her home life in general.’

The more he spoke the more Lena felt confident he was an astute and caring detective who had a real grasp and understanding of the situation and her predicament.

‘I may ask some questions that seem intrusive about your personal life and relationship with Amy. I’m not here to judge or pass comment on anyone. I want to find your daughter safe and well, but the more information we can glean about a missing person the more thorough and productive my team’s investigation will be.’

Lena nodded, but Reid could sense that she was nervous.

DC Burrows entered with a tray of fresh coffee, two mugs, sugar, milk and a plate of biscuits. He placed one mug in front of her, picked up his own and heaped in three spoons of sugar but no milk.

‘DC Burrows will be taking some notes, and as I said I would like to make as much headway straight away before I come to any conclusion. Your husband is helping to try and trace Amy?’

‘Yes, he’s called the local hospitals and the school. He is staying at his flat in case Amy calls.’

‘But he has a mobile so she could contact him that way?’

‘Yes, we both have, and Amy also has one; we have called her numerous times but it goes straight to voicemail.’

Reid nodded and said it would be a priority to trace the locations of Amy’s iPad and iPhone as they could contain crucial information, and he muttered quietly to Burrows to get onto it straight after the meeting with Mrs Fulford. He wondered to himself if Amy was not answering any calls because she had run away. He then turned back to Lena and drew his notebook closer, reached into his pocket and took out a felt tip pen.

‘Right, you do not know if she has a boyfriend or is in any kind of a relationship; have you any possible clue to Amy having a secret friend, male or for that matter female, in her life?’

‘What?’ Lena asked in complete disbelief.

‘Is she dating anyone?’ Reid asked, encouraging Lena to answer.

‘No, she has never mentioned it to me. She is quite young for her age, but at the same time socially very accomplished as we have travelled extensively on holidays.’

‘How about her schoolwork – is she about to take exams?’

‘Yes, her GCSEs. Amy is quiet and studious and always in the top three in her class. She’s very bright and to be honest has never had any worries regarding her schoolwork; she’s also very athletic.’ Lena was visibly less tense as she recounted her daughter’s abilities.

‘Is there anything, even the smallest detail, that you can think of that might help us?’

‘I forgot to mention that one of her drawers in her dressing table is locked and I know she used to keep a journal, so it could be in there. If it is, should I read it? Perhaps it’ll give more information that I can pass on to you?’

‘It would be helpful, and if you do find the journal I’d like to see it myself, not to be intrusive but something that may appear trivial can actually be very productive.’

‘What else are you going to be doing? I mean, should we get posters printed?’

‘We will deal with posters and flyers, but I will need a recent photograph as soon as possible.’

Lena reached into her handbag and pulled out a silver-framed picture of Amy. ‘I brought one in as I thought you might need it,’ she said, holding back tears. Reid gently took it from her and looked at the lovely face of her beautiful young daughter.

‘Thank you,’ Reid said sympathetically; he undid the rear clips and slowly removed the photo from the frame.

At first, Lena was offended by what she thought was a rather cavalier attitude towards her daughter’s picture.

Reid noticed the look on her face. ‘I will take a copy of this for the report and national circulation so you can take the original home with you.’

At once Lena felt more at ease and thanked him for his thoughtfulness as he handed the frame back to her.

‘From what I have gleaned so far you feel it’s out of character for Amy to have run away.’

‘Totally, that’s why I’m so worried something has happened to her.’

‘Do you know if any of her clothing, wash stuff, makeup or anything like that is missing from your house?’

Lena told him that there didn’t appear to be on first sight and Amy would have taken some things in a cabin bag to Serena’s from school. She also informed him that Marcus had checked Amy’s room at his flat and found nothing to suggest she had run away.

Reid picked up on the cabin bag and asked Lena if she had questioned Mrs Newman about it. She hadn’t thought to, as she’d become so worried about Amy’s disappearance. He used the bag as a subtle means of probing into Amy’s state of mind at the time.

‘It would be reasonable to assume that Amy took a case to Serena’s. If it’s not there now, then she must have taken it with her when she told Serena that she needed to go and see her father and if it’s not at Mr Fulford’s then . . .’

‘I know what you’re insinuating, but I simply cannot accept that Amy would run away.’

‘When did you last see your daughter, Mrs Fulford?’

After thinking about it, Lena admitted that it was over two weeks since Amy had actually spent a weekend with her as the one before she went missing was spent with Marcus.

‘But you alternate weekends with your husband?’

‘As best we can, but it’s quite an informal arrangement and isn’t always strictly adhered to. She rang me from school regularly or I rang her and she seemed perfectly fine.’

‘Young people often don’t like to share their worries and fears when they are depressed, especially when their parents’ marriage has broken down.’

‘Marcus and I have lived apart for two years now. At first, yes, she was upset, but we remained on friendly terms and Amy came to accept our separation,’ she insisted.

Reid closed his notebook and was about to stand up when he saw Burrows timidly raise her index finger, and nodded for her to go ahead.

‘You mentioned that Amy has an iPad and I just wondered if she uses any social or chat sites on the internet like Facebook, Bebo or anything like that?’

Reid was impressed with Barbara’s question, as it was something he’d forgotten to ask, having never used or looked at such sites himself. He was also aware that it could be critical to the inquiry and that there was a danger Amy had arranged to meet a stranger through the internet.

The look of worry on Lena’s face was obvious as she realized the implications behind DC Burrows’ question. The officer had raised something that was crucial to know yet frightening to contemplate.

‘I honestly don’t know,’ Lena said, becoming very distressed.

Reid could hear the fear in her voice and see the redness in her eyes. ‘Don’t look so worried, Mrs Fulford – millions of people use Facebook every day of their lives and no harm comes to them.’

‘I want my daughter back, Inspector Reid . . . I just can’t cope not knowing what’s happened to her . . . please find her, please.’ She began sobbing and took hold of his hand as if she and Amy’s life depended on him.

Remaining calm, he gently eased his hand free, and then gestured to Barbara to assist Lena. Barbara got some tissues out of her pocket and put her arm round Lena.

Reid couldn’t help but be moved by the turmoil Mrs Fulford was going through, and realized how inexperienced he was in dealing with this kind of missing persons case. In the few months he had run the unit he’d only dealt with two high-risk cases and they were resolved before the homicide unit became involved. An elderly man had disappeared from a care home, and was found in woodland a few days later, having died from hypothermia. The other was a five-year-old boy who had wandered off when his mother’s back was turned and tragically drowned after falling into a neighbour’s pond. In both cases there had been some form of resolution for him and closure for the grieving families. But Amy’s case was different as there were so many unknowns about her disappearance. He wanted it to be resolved quickly for Lena Fulford’s sake, but he knew that he was playing catch-up, with three days having passed since she went missing. He wondered if he should maybe consider her case as high risk and report it to the chief superintendent, but worried that it would look as if he were panicking and jumping the gun. His mind was made up; at present Amy would remain medium risk until there was evidence to suggest that she had come to any harm. Besides, after five days, if she was not found alive and well, protocol dictated he would have to inform the DCS.

Reid waited for Lena Fulford to regain her composure before he suggested it would be best for her to return home and get some rest. He offered to get Barbara Burrows to drive her home but Lena said that she had her car with her and would be fine.

‘I will try and visit you at your house later, Mrs Fulford, as I’d like to meet your husband as well. For now I need to fully brief my team and get the ball rolling in the search for Amy. I will instigate house-to-house enquiries where your husband and the Newmans live, as well as in your own area. I can assure you, Mrs Fulford, we will leave no stone unturned – every bit of available CCTV will be recovered and viewed so as to track and trace Amy’s movements and successfully find her.’

Burrows was surprised by what DI Reid was saying. He was rattling off everything the missing persons manual advised, but the feasibility of doing everything he said was nigh-on impossible with such a small team on the Richmond mispers unit. Most of their cases were cut and dried – care home or disadvantaged kids who regularly ran away, and in most cases were located within a few days without calling in the cavalry from the murder squads. Amy Fulford didn’t fit the usual profile – she was from a wealthy family, at boarding school, and from her photograph an exceptionally beautiful young girl. Burrows hoped she would be traced quickly.

Chapter 4

A
gnes was emptying the dishwasher when she heard the door. ‘Hello, Mrs Fulford, you were out early this morning.’