Lost Souls by Jenny O'Brien (android e book reader txt) 📕

the incident room in dribs and drabs, their body language telling her more than her silent phone that there was no news. Owen appeared the most upbeat but that was hardly surprising considering his recent family news. But Malachy Devine and Marie Morgan’s downcast heads and an absence of their usual banter echoed her own low mood. Time was running away from them and, with nothing to follow other than the standard protocols written by police experts on what to do in the case of a missing child, it was all becoming a bit desperate. There was no sign of Jax Williams so, in the interim, Gaby pointed to the sandwiches she’d arranged to be delivered from the station canteen.

‘Sorry, it’s going to be a working lunch but we have a lot to get through. While we’re waiting for Jax to arrive has anyone got anything pressing to say about the case?’

‘Only that I’m surprised a ten-year-old can disappear so completely,’ Owen said into the lengthening silence, a cheese sandwich in his hand. ‘There’s usually someone who’s seen something or knows something in cases like this, surely? For a girl of her age to go wandering off beggars belief.’

‘But that’s what appears to have happened,’ Gaby said, selecting a ham and tomato on brown and lifting her head in the direction of the door. ‘Ah good. Shut the door, Jax, and grab a sandwich. I take it there’s no news from the park warden?’

‘Not a dickybird. Dafydd’s got a team of volunteers scouring the Great Orme and is having the caves and old mines searched as we speak.’

Gaby set her, as yet untouched, sandwich to one side and headed for the first of the three whiteboards that took up the whole length of one wall. Choosing the black marker, she started to scribble in her neatest handwriting, which was far from neat.

‘So, Elodie Fry, aged ten, suddenly decides one morning to up and leave. To all intents and purposes her home life is a happy one. It’s her school life that’s more worrying.’ She recapped the marker, placed it on the table and turned back to face the room. ‘You don’t need me to tell you that when a person runs away they are either driven to it by circumstance or made to because it’s the only option open to them. In Ellie’s case that’s not clear-cut as yet.’ She picked up her sandwich and took a quick bite, her attention back on the whiteboard and Ellie’s most recent photo. ‘I’m not even going to touch on what could have possibly happened to her once she decided to leave home. What we need to concentrate on is the reason for her disappearance.’

‘Who knows what kind of rubbish goes on in a ten-year-old’s head?’ Malachy said through a mouthful of sandwich.

‘Exactly, but we have to start somewhere, Mal, and any ideas would be welcome.’

Gaby switched her attention between Jax and Malachy, the younger members of the team. While they might be of a similar age, they couldn’t be more different in both their looks and outlook. Jax Williams was tall and blond with the body of a runner and a cheeky smile to match his bright blue eyes. Malachy Devine was also tall but that’s where any similarity ended. Brooding was the best term she could find for the large handsome man with a physique only to be found in the most determined of gym aficionados. If truth be told, not that she’d admit it to anyone, up until recently she’d preferred Jax. But during the course of the last case, Mal had proved himself a worthy member of the team – even if his mouth still had a tendency to get him into trouble at every opportunity.

‘What about fear?’ Marie said, picking up her mug and cradling it between her fingers, ignoring the sandwiches.

‘What about it? What would a ten-year-old have to be frightened of?’

‘More than you know, Mal. She’s a pretty thing, isn’t she?’ Marie continued. ‘What if the fear was closer to home? A man? A family friend? The mother’s partner? Even a teacher at the school? And it doesn’t have to be a man. There’s just as many female weirdos running around.’

‘Okay, good point. Let’s continue in that vein.’ Gaby started to make a list on the whiteboard. ‘I’ve met the mother in addition to the head teacher. On the face of it there’s nothing untoward and Ms Fry comes across as being devastated. She says there’s no father on the scene but that’s something we can easily confirm. There’ll be Ellie’s birth certificate to start with. Also we can pull up the tenant agreement she would have had to sign with the housing association. Marie, I’ll put you on to it as there’s probably not a lot of coordinating to do now that the air and sea searches are underway. You’re far more use to the investigation working from your desk than chasing around Wales.’

‘Yes, ma’am.’

‘You can also make tentative inquiries at the school. I’ve already primed the head teacher so a list of employees should be winging its way over anytime soon. They should all have had an enhanced DBS check but, as we’re aware, some people always manage to slip through the net.’ She lifted her hand, smoothing her hair back off her forehead. ‘The same goes for the ballet class she attended.’

Gaby returned her attention to Malachy, noting his smart silver-grey suit without a change in her expression. He looked like a male model and, for the thousandth time, she wondered what he was doing working on the MIT. Amy had told her the rumour going around the office that Marie was staying with him since the break-up of her marriage. She only hoped it wasn’t going to affect their working relationship.

Gaby was broad-minded enough to know that unforeseen events happened between colleagues and that she was only privy to a small portion of what went on between the members of her team.