Buried Secrets: The Freeman Files Series: Book 11 by Ted Tayler (that summer book TXT) 📕

building firms that employed him. We’ve tracked the driving school that got him through his test, and the lady who sold him the one car he’s ever owned and got insured. His name appeared as the victim of an assault charge brought against Darren Forsyth. That was in 1993. After that, my officer couldn’t confirm a sighting of him in Marsden, or anywhere in the Leeds area. Kyle Ellison appears to have disappeared off the face of the earth.”

  CHAPTER 11

“That’s a touch dramatic, Phil,” said Gus. “How far have you gone? Is this now an official missing person investigation?”

“You know the score, Gus,” said Phil. “We need to gather sufficient information on the missing person to enable an effective and thorough investigation; the depth of that information varies according to the risk.”

“Do we believe that Kyle Ellison was at risk twenty-five years ago,” said Gus. “Well, we know that Darren Forsyth wanted to separate Kyle’s head from his body, but young Darren felt justified because Ellison was using his sister, Jennifer, as a punchbag.”

“Allegedly,” said Phil Banks.

“Do you know something I don’t?” asked Gus.

“Not at all. You’ve interviewed the girl; I haven’t. Were you convinced by her version of events?”

“I’m long enough in the tooth to realise that until I speak to Kyle Ellison, I won’t appreciate whether there were discrepancies between their stories. My gut feeling was that the young girl was terrified of Ellison and got as far from him as possible. She hid her tracks well and hasn’t been bothered by him since. That doesn’t mean he’s missing.”

“We now have detailed information for Kyle and a lifestyle profile,” said Phil. “My officer is taking a full statement from the last person to see him. That’s the guy who owned the flat in Leeds where Kyle rented a room. The place is an HMO and the passage of time rules out forensics. We can’t consider seizing any electronic devices, computers, or get details of usernames and passwords. I’m uncertain we can unearth a photo of Ellison. At least, not one more recent than one he had taken at secondary school. Kyle had a mobile phone, but we don’t know if he had it with him when last seen.”

“I assume that if he still had the phone from 1993, we could send him a message asking him to let someone know he’s safe,” said Gus. “But what about that car of his?”

“I suggested to my officer that he placed markers on the PNC without delay, but the flat owner remembered Ellison scrapped the vehicle a few weeks before he went missing. It was a banger back then. Fat chance it was still on the road today.”

“Did Kyle have a passport?” asked Gus.

“No,” replied Phil Banks. “Before you ask, we don’t have DNA samples or fingerprints either.”

“So, Kyle’s still in this country, posting on social media via an electronic device. Can we trace him via that route?”

“A computer-based enquiry is an important aspect of a missing person investigation, Gus, as you know. Online activity may provide crucial clues, but we don’t always have the legal right to access that information. Individuals have the right to privacy and don’t have to inform their families and friends about their whereabouts. An investigation into personal data is intrusive by nature. We may justify access to such data to determine if a crime has occurred. We would need more than what we have to get a warrant.”

“What do Kyle’s family know of his whereabouts?” asked Gus.

“No living relatives, as far as we can discern,” said Phil.

“Your people should be able to find when the deaths got registered,” said Gus. “Even if it was only a few months after Kyle was last seen in Leeds, it suggests there was no love lost between him and his parents. I should get your guy to double-check there were no siblings while he’s at it. We can’t just sweep this under the carpet. Look, Phil, with what we know so far, are we concerned for Kyle’s welfare?”

“I’m concerned that you want to speak with him in connection with your case, and we can’t locate him,” said Phil Banks. “I intend to upgrade the search to include the various government and private organisations which may hold relevant information. The Department for Work and Pensions, the DVLA, his GP if he had one, and maybe even car rental companies.”

“That type of check should establish if Kyle has chosen to disappear, or if harm has come to him,” said Gus.

“What if Ellison became homeless?” asked Phil. “If he’s registered with a GP, perhaps we’ll find evidence of a drug habit.”

“If it weren’t for one thing, I’d say that could be the answer,” said Gus. “Let’s say that Kyle suffered a slow descent into addiction, fell through the cracks in society, existed on the streets for several years and eventually died from an overdose. We don’t have dental records or DNA. There would have been nothing to prove his identity. It’s a daily occurrence.”

“Except for the social media accounts,” said Phil Banks.

“Quite, after you’ve exhausted your enquiries to establish whether Kyle is alive and well and using a different name wherever he’s living, you need to speak to members of the Forsyth family,” said Gus. “Dave and Mary from Marsden; Darren from Leeds, and Jennifer. She’s called Madeleine Telfer now, and I can pass you her contact details in Chippenham.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, Gus,” said Phil. “I didn’t imagine this turn of events when you called the other day.”

“Nor did I, Phil,” said Gus, “but something had to explain why Jennifer Forsyth hid away in a dead-end job, two hundred miles from home.”

Blessing Umeh drove into Corsham with more confidence today. It helped to have made the trip before. But her time working with Divya had provided