‘Yes, it’s George’s bike, and it’s locked up, so he must have planned to hide it here.’She sat down suddenly on the grass and put her face in her hands.
‘Maybe he’s still around somewhere.Shall we shout?’
Mab tried hard to imagine what George would do next, after carefully making sure that his bike was safe.She really had no idea.They called until they were hoarse, but there was no sound apart from the nearby hum and rattle of an incoming train.Mab was the one to give up first.
‘Oh, Den, where is he?I need to ring Jess, and then we’ll carry on searching, but why would he leave his bike here?’
Den appeared to be deep in thought as Mab made the call.Another train caused the ground beneath their feet to vibrate.As Mab ended the call to an obviously distraught Jess, and made to set off again, he said, ‘Mab – you know you told me that George was slightly autistic?’
‘Yes, quite a lot, not slightly, I reckon, why?’
‘Well, I’ve got a mate at home who has a son with the same problem, and he’s absolutely amazing with timetables.’
Mab made a face that clearly said, ‘…and your point is?’
Den continued, ‘So, Kyle – that’s the son’s name – knows about every bus and train that comes anywhere their house.They live on the coast, and he knows the routes and times for the local ferries off by heart too.When the family go on holiday, he’s always in charge of planning the itinerary.He’s much better at it than his dad.’
‘Den, we need to get back to Jess as soon as we can.Could you just cut to the chase…please?’
‘All I’m saying is, we’re right next to the station.Is there anywhere that George might have wanted to visit?’
Mab grabbed Den’s hand and began to drag him towards the station.
‘My God, Den, why didn’t I think of that before?Brighton!He’ll have gone to see his dad.Jess was only saying last week that George had been asking why his dad hadn’t been in touch lately.I’ll just ring Jess again and see if she thinks it’s possible, if he had money, and stuff.’
Mab carried on pulling Den back through the bushes as she found Jess’s number.After a moment or two talking to her friend, Mab ended the call and stopped so suddenly that Den cannoned into the back of her, needing to wrap his arms around Mab to stop himself from crashing to the ground.
‘Mab, you nearly had me over then, it’s great that you want to be so close to me, but…’
‘Shut up, Den, this is serious.’
‘So, does Jess think I’m right?Might George have gone to Brighton?’
‘She thinks it’s all too likely; she’s just found out that her credit card’s missing and the police are putting a trace on it, but that’s not the worst bit.’
‘It’s not?’
‘No.The thing is, George’s dad isn’t in Brighton at the moment.He’s at a festival in the Cotswolds, and so is his flatmate.Jess had a call from Marcus a couple of days ago.Apparently he wanted to borrow some cash for his ticket.She refused, so he said he’d have to sell one of his guitars, because he really needed to be at this particular gig.So there won’t be anyone at Marcus’s flat, if that’s where George is heading.And then what will he do?’
As they entered the station building at a gallop, Mab remembered why this place always made her angry.It was the man behind the grille.He only looked about thirty, but he seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders.As Mab approached him, he flinched.His pale blue eyes met hers reluctantly as she said, ‘Excuse me, can you remember seeing a young boy today?Eight years old, probably wearing a hoodie and jeans?Spikes of blond hair?Cross-looking?’
The man rubbed his ear, and smiled nervously.He mumbled something unintelligible and moved a few papers around on his desk.
‘What?’ said Mab.
The man repeated the sentence, this time with a nervous cough.
‘Look, I can’t actually hear a thing you’re saying.Can you speak up, please?’
He wriggled uncomfortably.His mouth was so small that it was little wonder that no sounds emerged; he reminded Mab of the Wide-Mouthed Frog joke, where the punch line has the frog pretending not to be wide-mouthed at all.Another mumble was directed downwards.Mab lost her temper.
‘Do you understand what I’m saying?A young boy is lost.Have you seen him?’
There was a discreet cough behind Mab and she turned round to find two police officers looking concerned.The elder one stepped forward.
‘It’s all right, madam, I’m DI Smethurst.We’ll take over the investigations now.I assume you’re Ms Millington?Your friend Ms Pipes contacted us a few moments ago.She wondered if you would already be here.’
‘Well, I hope you have better luck than I did with this… this…’
