Page 27 of Then She Vanished

‘Have there been more attacks?’

‘We are investigating another case that might be linked. When I know more I will let you know, but for now your safety is paramount.’

‘What about my children? They’re at home with my neighbour, Norma.’

‘How well do you know Norma?’

‘My boys have known her all their life. She’s our babysitter when Morgan and I have an occasional night out. It wasn’t her. She’s lovely and in her early seventies.’

‘We will get an officer to go over to your house right away to check on your home and to make sure Norma and the boys are okay.’ Gina nodded to Jacob and watched as he sent a message to Shaf in the other room. Shaf had taken the victim’s details and he’d be able to send one of the team out to check.

‘Wait, there is something else, but I don’t know if it means anything?’

‘Any little detail is important.’

‘Last week, on a couple of mornings, I saw a blue car parked up at the end of the road with the posh houses. I don’t know the name of the road. The one that runs alongside the school entrance. There was someone sitting in the driver’s seat. I don’t think that is really anything, but I don’t normally see people just parked up and sitting in a car at that time.’

‘Can you describe the person in the car or the car itself? Make or model?’

‘It was just small and older looking, sorry. And I couldn’t see who was in there, I just saw an outline through the back window.Do you think he was watching me and then he came back with a van?’

‘Which days were those?’

‘Err, Thursday and Friday.’

‘What time?’

‘Just before six in the morning. The car was already there when I stepped onto the road.’

John Doe was found in a small blue car. Gina wondered if it was John Doe who had been watching Keeley. Maybe it was the second perp or just another blue car driver. ‘We don’t know, but it’s looking likely.’

Keeley’s hands began to tremble. ‘I need to see my husband and check on my children.’ She stood, slid her chair under the other side of the desk and left.

‘What are your thoughts?’ Gina asked Jacob.

He closed his notebook. ‘I think we definitely need to interview the caretaker, Xavier Whitmore.’

‘Agreed. He wasn’t at the scene. Although wouldn’t Keeley have recognised his vehicle if it was him?’

‘I guess we need to see if he hired a van and left it parked up close by. I’ll add it to the list of things to look out for. Another mention of chess and her seeing someone in a blue car, guv. That’s all more than a coincidence.’

Gina nodded. ‘There are clear links to the two cases. Who is working with John Doe and why did this man try to kidnap Keeley Moore? Have we checked the CCTV?’

‘Yes. The CCTV facing the gate doesn’t reach far enough to capture what happened to Keeley Moore. It caught her running up the path. The CCTV at the other side of the school didn’t capture anything unusual.’

‘Guv.’ Shaf tapped on the open door and entered.

‘What’s happening out there?’

‘There’s a general sense of worry and panic. One of the officers conducting the door to doors has found a potential witness. A woman had a confrontation last week with a man driving a blue Ford Fiesta and it left her unsettled.’

SEVENTEEN

GIRL

My teeth chatter and I can’t feel my fingertips. Weeks have gone by, but still I cling to the hope that he will let me go. I hug the cupcake scarf, holding it close to my heart. I don’t know why, but I kept that fingernail. I keep thinking, who was the girl before me and where is she now? I tried so hard to make her hear me, but I have come to the conclusion that there is no one else behind that metal door. If there was, she would be shouting back to me.

The red light makes me nervous, and as much as I hate seeing him, I want him to come back so that I can experience proper light again. I think of the school theatre and getting accidentally caught in the spotlight with the wrong prop. I wonder if my friends have forgotten what a mess I made of things.

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