‘What? I can’t hear very well. Can you speak up?’ The woman tapped at her ear and Gina noticed the skin-coloured hearing aid as the woman moved her white curls back.
‘Sorry, Ms Falconer.’
‘And it’s Betty.’
Gina took a deep breath and checked her notes. ‘Betty, what time did you last see your great-granddaughter, Madison Randle?’
‘I’m not one hundred per cent sure but it was about six this evening. The doctor had just given me my discharge papers and Madison parked me here to go and get the car. I’ve been here since. At first, I thought she was catching up with her phone calls in the car or maybe she’d just popped to the garage for some petrol. She knew I was safe and warm here. I was certain that something was wrong after a while. I tried to call her but her phone kept going to voicemail. She wouldn’t just leave me here. Madison is a caring girl. She’s training to be a nurse. We were going to go back to mine and watchInspector Morsetogether.’ The woman stared at the unmanned reception desk.
‘Do you know where Madison had parked her car and what type of car she drove? We can check the car park for her car?’
The woman’s brow furrowed and she looked a little vacant. A clopping noise distracted her. A nurse stopped in front of them. ‘Are you okay, Betty? Can I get you another drink?’
Betty Falconer shook her head. ‘If I have another, I’ll need to pee again. I just want Madison found. I’m worried.’ Betty swallowed.
Gina walked to the side, leaving Jacob while he took the description of Madison’s car. ‘Any thoughts on what might be going on here?’
The young woman shook her head. ‘No. I was here when her great-granddaughter came to take her home. I wasn’t alerted to the fact that Ms Falconer was still here until she asked one of the staff to call the police. I just thought I’d come back to check on her. I’d half expected her to be gone and for all this to be a misunderstanding.’ The nurse paused.
‘Can you please sit with Betty while my colleague and I check out the car park? We can see if the great-granddaughter’s car is still there. Betty is clearly worried and upset and I don’t want her left alone.’
The nurse checked her little clock. ‘Of course. I’m actually on a break. I have half an hour but we’re really short-staffed. I need to get back to MAU after that, sorry.’
‘Just a quick question, sorry to keep you. How did Madison Randle seem when she collected Ms Falconer?’
The nurse shrugged and paused. ‘Upbeat that there were no major problems resulting from Ms Falconer’s fall and keen to get her home. She mentioned that she was training to be a nurse and seemed to enjoy talking to the staff about her course. Ms Falconer is very proud of her. There was nothing to suggest she was worried. She did seem distracted by her phone earlier on and grimaced a few times but that’s nothing unusual with people in general. They always seem to be buried in their phones.’
‘Thank you.’ Gina turned to Jacob and Betty. ‘Betty, this lovely nurse,’ Gina read her name tag, ‘sorry, Nurse Becky, will sit with you while we see if we can find Madison’s car.’
‘You will come back, won’t you?’
‘Of course we will.’
The old lady smiled and began chatting to Nurse Becky.
As they exited through the sliding doors, a cold wall hit them. Gina hugged herself as she followed Jacob. ‘Where did you say her car was?’
‘Apparently, there’s an overflow car park right at the back. It’s a blue Corsa and the only other thing Ms Falconer can remember is Madison has an ice-cream air freshener dangling from the rear-view mirror.’
As they climbed up the mound of earth that separated the main car park from the overflow, Gina instantly felt the difference. There was no street lighting and the back was lined with dense trees and shrubs that blurred into blackness at the back. She squinted to get a better view.
Jacob pulled out a pocket torch from his pocket. ‘This should help.’ The beam reflected off a windscreen at the back, the only car on that part of the car park.
‘Her car is still here.’ Gina stepped into a pothole and let out a little shriek as she regained her balance. It had been filled with slushy water. She felt her boots beginning to soak through. That would deaden her toes within minutes.
As they got closer, Jacob shone his torch through the window of the dark-coloured car. The air freshener dangled in the window.
Gina peered through the window and pulled out a pair of latex gloves from her pocket before trying the door. ‘It’s locked but I suppose that was to be expected.’ She glanced up and she couldn’t see any CCTV. ‘We need a team here, ASAP. She could be anywhere by now. Get uniform to check her address. I’m sure we have it on file from the original call.’
Jacob stepped to one side and made the call.
‘Madison,’ Gina called as she held up her phone to get some light on the area. It was a long shot but worth a try. She crept onto the earthy back that led to the shrubs and noticed footprints that looked to have been sliding through the mud. Careful to not follow the same path, she continued forward, pushing through the brambles. In her mind, she could see a struggle. Maybe Madison tried to run. A snapped branch on a tree hung down, just holding on by a thread. ‘Madison.’
No answer.
‘They’re on their way, guv. Guv?’
‘Over here. There’s some footsteps and the opening there.’ She pointed. ‘It looks like the earth has been recently disturbed.’
