Page 76 of 36 Hours

‘Fair enough,’ he said, wheeling himself back to his own desk.

‘Sent you the link.’

He blew her a kiss in response before looking more closely at the buildings within the search area.

He was hopeful that if he looked closely enough, he’d see an abandoned building or unused barn at a distance from every other property. He zoomed in until the image blurred but found nothing that matched what he was looking for. There were no outbuildings isolated enough for their sicko to have free rein and inflict the torture that he had.

The only buildings in the area were rural properties encircled by farmland.

What was he missing?

He didn’t doubt Stacey’s logic in defining the search area, but all he had were occupied homes.

‘Hang on a minute,’ he said and wasn’t surprised when neither Stacey nor Frost responded.

He opened a new tab on his computer and googled Rightmove.

He entered a search for properties for sale within a one-mile radius of Dunsley Hall.

There were four properties. Two were in the village of Dunsley so were quickly ruled out.

The third was a converted barn. He read the description, but it didn’t match his hunch.

The fourth property was an old farmhouse with a dated interior and a couple of run-down outbuildings.

He scoured the details with a growing excitement.

Words jumped out at him as though in capital letters.

Quick sale due to bereavement, vacant possession.

His head snapped up. ‘Stace, I think I know where Hiccup is.’

FIFTY-NINE

4.30A.M.

‘Nope, don’t believe it,’ Bryant said, shaking his head.

Kim had to admit she was also dubious.

‘Got anywhere better to be at four thirty in the morning?’

‘Don’t tempt me to answer that one. Seriously, though, are you telling me that between them, Penn and Stacey have actually been able to pinpoint the property where Hiccup is being held?’

‘Apparently Frost had a hand in it as well,’ Kim said.

‘That doesn’t add to my confidence,’ he muttered as she turned into a narrow lane off the main A449.

Kim was happy to talk about anything except what had been in that box.

There had been no Dictaphone and no video tape, but Kim hadn’t needed them to get the picture of the further torture that Hiccup had endured.

She had unfolded a piece of cloth to reveal a slice of skin measuring approximately two inches by three inches showing a tattoo of a bird. Penn had made a quick call to Jack the custody sergeant to confirm that Hiccup did indeed have a tattoo of a bird on his left arm. Their guy wanted to be sure they knew the identify of his victim, and short of sending his name, he’d given them all the tools to find out.

The thought of tools reminded her of the way the skin had been removed from the poor man’s body. The serration marks all around it indicated it had been crudely removed with an electric carving knife. She suspected that Mitch would confirm their suspicion later in the day.

She couldn’t even imagine Hiccup’s fear seeing their sicko approaching with such a tool. The man had wanted nothing more than a warm meal and a bed for the night.

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