Deadly Lies by Ann Girdharry (read me a book .TXT) 📕

‘What about the pyjama, sir?’ Ruby asked.

They all looked at him and Grant understood the unspoken question.

‘We’re assuming the children are alive. There’s no evidence to contradict it.’

‘You were going in hard on the questioning of Alice and Jack Glover,’ Ruby said. ‘What was the reason, sir?’

‘Not sure yet. It’s why I wanted you and Delaney at the house. In case.’ Grant chose not to elaborate, because he had nothing concrete to add and until he did he’d be keeping his suspicions about the parents to himself. ‘McGowan, can you give everyone an update on the Badawi family?’

‘I’ve checked out the cleaner and her husband. They allowed me to search their apartment and there were no signs of Lisa and Emily having been there. Mr Badawi is short and broad. Joan Hardman described the abductor as normal height and weight.’

‘What about their alibis?’ Grant asked.

‘I couldn’t get confirmation. Like most people, the Badawis were asleep. One of the downstairs neighbours came back from a night shift at two and there were no lights on at the Badawi’s place and he told me he didn’t see or hear any movements before he went to bed around three. All the other neighbours were in bed.’

Grant wrote Halina Badawi’s name on the board.

‘Also,’ McGowan said, ‘the Badawis don’t drive and there was only one abductor and he was a driver. As for the back door key – the Badawis have two daughters and the oldest might have a connection with the house keys. I’ve interviews planned with both daughters and I’ll be checking out their movements.’

‘Keep on it until you can rule them out or you can rule them in,’ Grant said. ‘Next, I met with the ex-au pair. Sylvie Delacourt also has no alibi. She’s angry because Alice Glover accused her of having an affair with Jack. Is that sufficient motive to kidnap two children?’ Grant put a red question mark at the end of Sylvie’s name. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘I’ve been researching kidnappers,’ Ruby said. ‘Half the perpetrators turn out to be family members. Of the remaining half, about one third are taken by friends or long-term acquaintances, and two thirds by strangers or persons who have made a slight acquaintance in order to carry out the kidnapping.’

Grant tapped the pen on the board. ‘With no ransom demand, we don’t know what we’re dealing with. Then we have a dark estate car and the digits TMR from its number plate. I’m hoping Diane will bring the results from the surveillance cameras.’

It was a mammoth operation – Grant was assessing and sifting through as he went – checking his own decisions and identifying new priorities.

‘Then we’ve got the key. Jack Glover’s was on the hook in his kitchen. We’re no further forward with finding out about the back door entry.’

Grant had pinned up photographs of Lisa and Emily along with a timeline since their abduction. The stress and the pressure were on his shoulders.

‘And there’s been one more breakthrough from the door-to-door – a neighbour at the end of Joan Hardman’s street has seen a woman hanging around,’ Grant said. ‘I met the witness and she’s reliable – she’s a retired science teacher. She’s seen the same woman on three or four occasions over the last few months. She described her as twenties to thirties, wearing jeans and a dark coat, dark wavy hair, medium height and build.’

‘What was the woman doing?’ Ruby asked.

‘Nothing much which was why our witness noticed. The woman walked along one side of the street and back along the other side. Then she stood for more than ten minutes on the phone. I’m making it a priority to identify this woman and bring her in for questioning.’

‘Do we have a description of the Badawi daughters? Could they be a match?’ Delaney asked.

Oh, Delaney was good.

‘Do we McGowan?’ Grant asked.

‘Both Ms Badawis are in their early twenties. I’ll check descriptions.’

‘Get me a photograph of the neighbour, Natalie. Interviewing Phil Hardman, his son Harry and the accountant Daniel Pearson is the next step.’

Grant was interrupted by the arrival of Diane. She was out of breath.

‘Sorry, sir, I just ran up here from the car park.’

‘If you’re in a rush it means you’ve got something important, doesn’t it?’ Delaney said.

‘I might have, or I might be clutching at straws.’

‘Someone pour Diane a coffee,’ Grant said. ‘Better still, I’ll do it myself.’

‘What have you got?’ Grant put a hot mug down on Diane’s desk.

‘We found positive footage from a camera outside the cinema and it shows a dark blue estate car heading out of Himlands Heath just after the time of the abduction. I’ve got the full registration,’ she said triumphantly.

Grant glanced at the clock. ‘At just over twelve hours into the abduction, that’s great work.’

‘There’s something else. There are two possible routes after the cinema and I was trying to find any businesses with surveillance on those roads. The council cameras don’t cover beyond the high street.’

Diane went to the giant map on the wall. She indicated the roads going out of town to the south. ‘There are only two other businesses with cameras, one here and one here, and neither of them had footage of the car. Then I found one more camera. It’s on the edge of town and it had stopped working.’

She tapped the board. ‘It’s at a fish and chip shop at the roundabout heading towards the A23 to Brighton. The odd thing was, the owner told me his son looks after the surveillance camera and it’s always in working order.’

‘Cameras break down all the time,’ McGowan said. ‘Especially the home-fitted ones.’

‘I know,’ Diane said, ‘except…’

‘Ah, I recognise that look,’ Grant said. ‘You suspect it could have been tampered with, don’t you? Tell me everything you’re thinking.’

Diane drew a red ring around the location of the fish and chip shop.

‘I met the father and the son. They’ve had one break-in and two attempts in the past year and the camera helped