Briggs cleared his throat. ‘The tracker results came back, you must have missed the email. It’s a common make. A lot of people use them just in case their cars are stolen, they bring down the price of insurance. We’re hoping that there will be some data that might give us more of a clue as to her whereabouts. This has been requested, but as we know, we never get immediate answers. I’m sure Wyre will keep you posted on that one.’
She nodded. ‘I’ll see if one of the team have found any paperwork pertaining to the tracker amongst Susan’s files. If there isn’t any, we have to assume that someone else placed the tracker there.’
‘Yes.’ He paused. ‘They’ve had paper everywhere. Looked like a tip in here earlier.’ Briggs took the pen out of her shaky hand and placed the cap back on it. For a moment, it felt as though he might lean in to kiss her. She knew he wouldn’t though. ‘These smell a bit strong. Don’t want you getting gassed out.’
‘How about Susan’s phone records. Anything yet?’
‘I’ll let you know as soon as we have them. Her phone is off, we know that much.’
She smiled. ‘I’m going to carry on working at home.’
‘I’ll call you later so we can catch up on any further thoughts on the case.’ He turned and left. She should have said no to the call but she wanted him to call. She might not be inviting him around to share her bed, but to hear a friendly voice, that would be most welcome.
Alone in the incident room listening to the ticking clock, she gazed at the photos of Dale and shivered. Someone out there did this to a person described as gentle and generous in one sentence and secretive and distant in another – secretive, just like Susan. What were they both hiding and who on earth was the other girl in the photo?
‘Guv, a call has come in.’ Jacob took a few deep breaths as he came back in and stopped in front of her.
‘What?’
‘Phoebe has gone missing. Ryan and Susan Wheeler’s daughter. He’s been calling her friends all afternoon and no one has seen her.’
‘I need to get over there now.’
Forty-Nine
Ryan paced up and down his lounge. ‘There was no neighbour looking after them. She’s eleven, nearly twelve. I thought I could trust her to just stay in the flat for an hour while I came to the station.’
Gina watched as Jasmine wiped her tears away.
‘Jasmine, tell them what you told me.’
The girl sobbed.
‘Tell them.’ Ryan sat and stared at her. Gina almost wanted to hug the crying child.
‘Jasmine. I’m DI Harte but you can call me Gina. I need to know what Phoebe told you so that we can find her.’ She smiled at the girl and Jasmine nodded.
‘She said she was going to see Ava’s puppy at the house with the red door. She said she wouldn’t be long. I can’t remember much else, I had my music on. Then it had been ages and she hadn’t come back. Dad came home and we went to look for her. She didn’t answer her phone.’ Jasmine gripped a toy cat and sat cross-legged on the settee. ‘Where is she? Where’s my mum?’ The girl rocked back and forth as she began to sob.
Ryan hurried over to her and placed his arm over her shoulders. ‘Come here, love.’ At last, he was comforting his daughter.
‘What happened next?’
Ryan glared up at her. ‘We knocked at the house with the red door. There is no Ava and there is no puppy. She lied and we don’t know why or where she’s gone.’
‘We’ll put out an immediate alert for all departments and contact the media.’ Gina nodded to Jacob as he stepped outside to make all the necessary calls. ‘Is there anyone I can call for you?’
‘No. Just find Phoebe.’ His face flushed as he hugged his sobbing daughter. ‘I’ve called Mary and Howard. They haven’t heard from her either. It’s not like her to not answer her phone. She’s not with friends. I’ve called them all.’ He let go of Jasmine, leaving the girl once again sobbing alone.
‘It’s okay, chicken, I’m going to do all I can to find your sister.’ Gina flinched as the door knocked. The young family liaison officer stepped inside, shaking her umbrella in the corridor before entering. ‘Thank you for getting here so soon. All alerts should be out now. Keep me updated.’
The woman nodded as she carried on in as Gina left. The rain poured down, bouncing off the canopy outside the flats where Jacob finished his call. ‘Everything’s in motion.’
Gina stared across the street. ‘Who lives at the house with the red door?’
‘I just checked with uniform, an elderly man who can barely get out of a chair. They went in to speak to him and struggled to leave. He described seeing the lass walking down the path staring at her phone, sometime this morning. He wasn’t sure of the exact time but he said late morning.’
‘We need to check her phone records straight away. Something or someone made her leave the apartment and lie about where she was going. I want to know what. I’ve got a bad feeling about all this.’
