‘Understood. Can I ask what you’re thinking?’ Keith asked.
‘I’m thinking that this man seems to be fretting more than seems rational about the end of a relationship that his partner believes to be solid. He’s very concerned that if they split it will mean his contact with Millie – the girl he considers to be his daughter – could disappear in a puff of smoke. If everything in the garden was rosy, why the hell would he be worried? And while you’re at it, do the same for Jo Palmer. She isn’t giving me the impression that she’s about to end the relationship, but something has happened to destabilise them, and I want to know what it is.’
19
Rob Cumba looked up from his desk as he hung up his phone.
‘Dr Osoba’s here, boss,’ he said. ‘He’s waiting in the hall.’
‘Thanks, Rob.’
Tom had put in a call to Jumoke Osoba, better known as Jumbo – his favourite crime scene manager – and was relieved that he had arrived. Getting the forensic team into Jo Palmer’s house wasn’t going to be straightforward. They had no evidence that the house was being watched, but they had to assume it might be.
The two men shook hands. Tall as Tom was, he always felt dwarfed by Jumbo, a huge man in every sense of the word. The hall was silent with not a soul around, and Tom realised how much time had passed since Becky had called him. Evening had already faded into night.
‘We can talk here,’ he said, indicating the low leather-effect chairs.
Jumbo sat, the air whooshing out of the sides of the seat as it took his weight.
‘I appreciate you responding so promptly.’
‘It sounded urgent, and you stressed maximum confidentiality.’
‘It’s a child, Jumbo, and you know how I feel about missing children.’
Jumbo nodded. It wasn’t the first time they had worked together on a difficult case.
Tom quickly briefed him on the events of that evening.
Jumbo listened carefully. ‘Cheeky bastards,’ he said when Tom explained they had masqueraded as detectives.
‘Clever, though. And I don’t like that. Well coordinated too, I’d say, and that worries me even more. We have no idea as yet who might be behind this, so until we have any tangible leads we’re gathering information and seeing where it takes us. I can’t help wondering if taking the dad is just a blind – a means of getting to the child.’
Jumbo’s face was sombre. ‘What do you need from me?’
‘We have to move quickly – get a couple of your guys into the property without them being seen. Men you can trust to keep quiet. We’ll send officers in with them, of course. It would be highly unusual for the kidnappers to return to the scene, but they might think Jo is in there on her own, and we have to take precautions.’
Jumbo grinned, his teeth a startling white against his black face. ‘You’re giving me minders! I don’t think many people would take me on, do you, Tom?’
‘Probably not, but that’s not the point. Are you thinking of going in yourself?’
‘Who better?’ Jumbo raised his hands, palms upwards, and shrugged.
‘Indeed,’ Tom responded with a smile and began explaining what they were looking for.
‘As far as we can make out, the two men that faked Rajavi’s arrest didn’t go any further than the front door, but the female social worker – for want of something to call her – and the third detective went into the sitting room. Jo Palmer is sure they were all wearing gloves. She didn’t think anything of it, because it’s a horrible night and bloody freezing, so I’m not sure what you’ll get.’
‘We’ll see. It’s rare that anyone’s able to get in and out without leaving some trace of themselves behind. Anything in particular you want us to look for?’
‘I’ll ask the officers who come with you to search Rajavi’s study. I’d like to know why they believe he’s worth kidnapping. As for forensics, I’ll leave that to you.’
‘It’s going to be difficult, Tom, without the ability to rule out any visitors they’ve had in the past few days. Maybe you could get a list from the woman – Jo, you said she was called?’ Tom nodded. ‘At the moment I guess you won’t be wanting to get DNA and prints from any and all past visitors – that would be like putting the kidnap on News at Ten – but anything we find can be stored till we know more.’
Jumbo was right, and it was frustrating. But there could be no announcement, no details released to anyone outside Tom’s team, the technical guys and the covert team until they knew whether there was to be a ransom demand. It was less than six hours since Ash and Millie had been taken, so until they knew more, they had to assume a worst-case scenario.
‘I can’t work it out, Jumbo. Why pretend to be police, safe in the knowledge that when the hostages weren’t returned, the first thing the victim would do is call us to find out where they were?’
‘It sounds to me like they don’t give a damn about whether you know or you don’t. They’re either clever or very cocky.’
‘Let’s hope it’s the latter, and that they’re not as smart as they think.’
20
Sunday
The only sound was the steady drip of raindrops falling from the leaves of the trees, below which Sandie Burford and two of her men waited, hiding in the shadows. Icy trickles ran down her cheeks, and a few drops had seeped under the neck of her waterproof jacket and were slithering down her back. She barely noticed. She had stood out in the cold and wet many times. The only thing of importance was not to be seen. Or heard.
The hum of a car engine alerted her to the fact that they had company, and she stepped further back into the shadows as a car pulled into the car park of the deserted bowling green clubhouse. Two bodies got out and looked around. Making sure there was no one in the vicinity, and confident from their descriptions that these two were the CSIs she had been expecting, Sandie walked over to meet them.
‘Sandie Burford,’ she said, her voice low.
The bigger of the two men smiled.
‘Jumoke Osoba – Jumbo.’
Sandie pointed towards a gap in the bushes. ‘We’re going to take you down the alley towards the property. There’s a side door, already unlocked, so there’s nothing to hold us up. Stay close to me. We have officers watching both ends of the ginnel, and they’ll alert us if anyone comes, but it’s after midnight and it’s been quiet ever since we got here so we’re not expecting any problems. I think you both understand that if the kidnappers are in the vicinity, it’s essential they don’t see us. We’ll move quickly, but we won’t run. We’re going to have to pass a number of side entrances and back gates to other houses, but for the moment it all seems quiet. If we’re alerted that someone’s coming, we may have to dodge into one of the gateways. It goes without saying that we can’t make any noise. Are you okay with this?’
‘Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine.’
‘Okay.’ She spoke softly into her headset. ‘Clear?’