Becky stepped forward and put a reassuring arm around Jo’s shoulders. ‘You’re safe now, Jo,’ Becky said. ‘It’s over.’
Becky suggested to Jo that she and Millie should go to hospital to be checked over, but Jo refused, saying Ash would be back and he would know what to do. She decided not to insist, but volunteered to travel home with them in a police car, feeling they both needed some reassurance.
‘How did you find us?’ Jo asked, an exhausted Millie clamped firmly to her side.
‘We already knew that the woman involved was Ruth Vickery.’ Becky saw a brief flash of anguish on Jo’s face. ‘Then we looked up Shona’s other phone number – the one she used to call you by mistake – and one of my colleagues spotted that it was registered to Vickery. We were able to piece it all together from that.’
Becky omitted to tell her about the order for a child’s bed and wardrobe, or how they had used the woman’s mobile phone history to pinpoint an area then marry it up to the delivery address supplied by the furniture company.
‘And had someone been passing her information?’
‘I’m afraid that seems to be the case, yes. I’m sorry, Jo.’
Jo shrugged. ‘It’s not your fault, and we’ve got Millie back now. That’s all that matters.’
They were both quiet for a moment.
‘She wanted all the best parts of my life for herself,’ Jo said quietly.
‘I know,’ Becky answered.
She knew Jo meant Ash and Millie, so she didn’t mention the duck-egg blue Aga, the photo of Ash and Millie by the bed and, worst of all, the decoration of the child’s bedroom, identical in all but the positioning of doors and windows to Millie’s at home.
Ruth Vickery had wanted it all.
91
Tuesday
The incident room was quiet. Following the previous night’s arrests, the team now had to build a watertight case if they were to bring Ruth Vickery and her associates to justice. Terry and the driver had been arrested as they returned Ash to the Lowry, and DI Karen Spalling was confident there was sufficient evidence to charge Terry with murdering Martin Hislop.
The guard at the farm had admitted that the plan had been to move Millie that night. Ruth had been feeling uneasy about Ash’s commitment and had planned to drug Millie so she could be taken to another part of the country until Ruth decided what to do with her – to sell her on or dispose of her in some other way. Tom didn’t think it necessary to share this detail with Jo.
They had arrested the nurse, who it seemed had been pushing drugs on the streets and had come to Ruth Vickery’s attention. She hadn’t taken much persuading to take a phone in to Ash.
Now that they knew Shona and Ruth were one and the same, so many other pieces of the puzzle dropped into place. Shona had hidden the burner phone in Ash’s drawer in the hope that Jo would find it and it would help undermine her relationship with Ash. As a psychologist she knew that, once destabilised, it would be much easier to break up Jo and Ash’s family. Photos of Millie’s bedroom were on her mobile, together with several of Ash and Millie that she had apparently stolen from Jo’s phone.
In spite of their success, Tom’s team weren’t feeling the euphoria they would normally experience after locating a missing child. The atmosphere was flat, without a trace of the expected buzz. And Tom knew the reason.
Lynsey.
The air of despondency reflected the fact that they had all liked her and believed she had a great future as a detective. Becky and Keith had taken it particularly hard, and Philippa had intervened in the end, summoning the three of them up to her office to offer what she clearly intended to be a supportive chat, but which felt more like a lecture.
‘It’s up to you two,’ she said, nodding at Becky and Keith. ‘With the unfortunate timing of DCI Douglas’s leave of absence, starting tomorrow, you need to keep motivation levels high. There’s no place for being morose and downhearted. Lift those spirits and get everyone working at full efficiency.’
Tom ignored the reference to his paternity leave – Philippa never thought there was a good time for him to be away from his desk, and the baby was an inconvenience as far as she was concerned – but he thought her attitude to Becky and Keith was misguided. He didn’t believe you could simply instruct people to put things behind them. Everyone had to work through this in their own way.
‘It might help, ma’am, if we all understood what motivated Lynsey. Do you have any idea?’
She gave him a fierce look, knowing he had intentionally put her on the spot. He was certain he knew the reason, but wanted confirmation. And his two DIs needed to understand so they could make sense of what Lynsey had done.
‘I don’t want this to go beyond these four walls until we have all the facts. Understood?’
Becky and Keith nodded. Tom didn’t feel it necessary to acknowledge the question. He knew the rules.
‘DCI Douglas and I both know that Lynsey has a brother in prison, although we kept that information to ourselves. He has a different surname, a different father. He is due to be considered for parole, and part of the decision will be based on his psych assessment. There’s no need for me to tell you who was going to be undertaking that.’
Philippa looked from Becky to Keith and back again.
‘He’s been struggling in prison, and Lynsey wanted to get him out. She claims, and I believe her, to have had no idea that Ruth Vickery was in any way linked to the abduction of Millie Palmer, only that she was having an affair with Rajavi. She called Lynsey to say that she was very worried about her lover, who had gone missing, and asked a favour. Could Lynsey check if there had been any reports of accidents? Lynsey told Vickery that he had been found, and was persuaded to say which hospital he was in. It seemed a harmless request, but once Lynsey agreed to that, she was in too deep.’
One bad judgement call which may have seemed fairly innocuous, but she wouldn’t have been able to pull back without exposing her first act of professional misconduct.
After they left Philippa’s office, Keith had marched ahead, keen to put into practice Philippa’s instructions, but Becky lagged behind.
‘Why didn’t she talk to me, Tom? I would have helped her to put things right.’
‘I guess she was ashamed. I’m sorry, Becky – I know you liked her.’
Becky dropped her head and Tom said nothing as she veered off into the Ladies. He hated leaving her at a time like this, but his family had to be his priority now.
92
Wednesday
From the minute I brought Millie home I’ve been doing everything I can to make her believe that the last few days have been nothing more than a bad dream, but it’s been hard for her. She won’t sleep in her own room because it reminds her of that other room, so she’s been sleeping with me and Ash has moved to the spare room. I suspect I’d have asked him to sleep there anyway.
I’ve been with Millie almost every minute – both day and night. I don’t want to let her out of my sight, but I’m going to have to talk to Ash at some point. When he looks at me I can see the pleading in his eyes, and I know he feels a heavy weight of guilt. I don’t know what to say, though. If he wants answers from me about how I feel and what I want to happen next, I’m not sure I can give them.