Vanished by James Delargy (free novel 24 TXT) 📕

returning on the twentieth. On the twenty-first Naiyana Maguire’s card was recorded as being used in Wisbech. In a cafe in the afternoon.’

‘There is expenditure on her card for ice cream with three toppings, suggesting either she has a sweet tooth or Dylan was with her,’ said Oily.

‘Then we have Naiyana’s card back in Hurton on the twenty-second, purchasing groceries and gas. The phone signal puts her back in Hurton again on the twenty-fourth. But there is no spend on the card that day.’

‘So she just visited Hurton?’

‘She doesn’t have to be in town to be in range of the mast,’ noted Rispoli.

That was something for Emmaline to consider. Not all of the movements had to necessarily relate to Hurton. She could have been meeting other people. Or heading to other places.

‘On the twenty-fifth there’s a confirmed visit to Hurton and expenditure on her card.’

‘Then forward to the twenty-seventh when Lorcan’s phone appears in Hurton. Making a call to an unknown number,’ said Rispoli.

‘The bank card was not used though.’

‘Maybe he was scared to max it out. It was borderline by that stage.’

Emmaline nodded in agreement. ‘On the twenty-eighth the phone is picked up in Wisbech. No spend again. So if he wasn’t spending money, my guess is that he was meeting someone.’

‘But we don’t know who?’ said Oily.

‘We don’t,’ admitted Emmaline.

After a pause to digest this, Rispoli continued, ‘On the twenty-ninth there is contact with Naiyana’s phone. Hurton again. Bank card not used.’

‘Finally we come to the thirtieth,’ said Emmaline. The records showed it had been a busy day. For both parents. ‘First of all, Lorcan’s phone is picked up in Wisbech in the morning before falling off radar at eleven twenty-four. Presumably heading back to Kallayee as that was where we found the phone.’

‘With the message,’ added Oily.

‘Yes. So he had driven there in the morning only to spend no money and then return. So the question is – did he spot someone in Wisbech? Maybe the net was closing in? I’d been thinking that he may have come back from Wisbech to find Naiyana was gone. Like in the message. So he felt that he had to take Dylan away immediately. But he was caught. But –’ Emmaline looked at her colleagues ‘– Naiyana’s phone is picked up in Wisbech on that same afternoon. There’s an active signal from 2:27 to 3:33.’

‘Could he have had both phones?’ asked Oily. ‘He switched one off and the other one on?’

‘But why would he have both?’

‘If Naiyana was in Kallayee, she would have had no need for a phone,’ said Rispoli.

Emmaline nodded. ‘She would also not need one if she was already gone.’

‘Or taken?’

‘When Lorcan was in Wisbech,’ said Oily.

‘So the message on Lorcan’s phone was faked? He already knew that she had gone?’ said Rispoli.

‘It didn’t sound faked.’

‘No, it didn’t,’ admitted Emmaline. ‘We have three options. One, Lorcan Maguire took both phones to Wisbech knowing that his wife was gone. Possibly looking to cover his tracks. Two, he took both phones for an unknown reason and returned to Kallayee to find his wife gone. Or three, he returned to Kallayee and Naiyana then left to go to Wisbech herself.’

She let that sink in before concluding, ‘What we do know is that the thirtieth is the last day either of the phones was in contact with a tower.’

‘So were they both meeting people in Wisbech?’ asked Rispoli.

Oily spoke up. ‘ZZ organized warrants and matched locations with Nikos Iannis’s phone and those of his work colleagues. No correlation, no overlap of location.’

‘Unless they met in Kallayee, of course,’ said Rispoli. ‘By accident or design.’

‘In the dead zone,’ said Emmaline. It had never rung truer.

43

Emmaline

‘They also checked Internet history,’ said Oily, opening another document on the laptop.

‘Never a good thing,’ said Rispoli, shrugging his shoulders in a ‘You know how it is’ kind of way that made Emmaline smile.

Oily continued regardless. ‘Mainly “how to build” stuff, but also something more disturbing – a number of “how to kill” searches.’

‘Are we talking termites, cockroaches, spiders?’ asked Emmaline.

‘Probably, but the research centred on what poisons to use to get rid of them.’

‘Anything that could kill a human?’

‘Any poison could kill a human with the right dosage.’

‘Let’s canvas places from Kalgoorlie to Hurton to enquire if they sold poison to anyone fitting Lorcan Maguire’s description.’

‘That will take a while.’

‘Has to be done,’ said Emmaline. If someone sold Lorcan poison it would give them a lead on Naiyana’s demise. If not her location.

‘There were also various searches on mining and digging for gold.’

‘So he was using the mines,’ said Emmaline. ‘Was that the reason they moved here specifically? Did he know something?’

‘There is also the question as to where he sourced the equipment,’ said Rispoli.

‘I’ve looked it up. Plenty of sources for small-time gold mining. If you hit the right seam.’

‘If you got lucky.’

‘Could Naiyana be in one of the mines? Poisoned?’ asked Rispoli.

‘We searched them pretty thoroughly,’ noted Oily.

‘But not all mines.’

Emmaline piped up. ‘Get me the most thorough list you can. Find out if we missed any. Include Hurton and beyond.’

At this rate she would need to sequester the entire MCS to help. Lorcan Maguire could have poisoned his wife and stashed her in one of the mines. It might explain the ‘she’s gone’ comment. But knowing or suspecting this did nothing to narrow down the expanse of the search. And it certainly didn’t explain why Lorcan was shot in the desert and Dylan was missing.

‘They found another video recording too. Dated twenty-second December. Badly corrupted but Tech worked their magic on it. Here.’

Oily cranked the volume and tapped play. The screen remained pitch black. Emmaline was about to joke that Tech’s magic was nothing to write home about when the sound of careful footsteps and rasped breathing filled the caravan. Though the blackness of the screen remained undiminished the footsteps halted, breath held. Another sound arose. A distant voice, maybe two voices, unclear but present. There and gone. The