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

staring across at the top of her neat blonde bob just visible behind two large screens that they used when looking through reams of CCTV footage. Gaby would really have to do something about Diane Carbone, probably the only positive that would come out of this mess of a case.

With a shake of her head, she turned to Mal and what he’d had to contribute. He hadn’t come up with anything from the small cohort of undesirables living locally, which had to be viewed in a positive light. She was interested in what he’d made of Ellie’s timeline. If they could just find out why she’d run …

She only added Owen as an afterthought. The inquiry into the two missing women was a headache she didn’t need right now but she had utter confidence in Owen’s ability to manage the situation – she had more than enough to cope with.

A quick peep at her watch told her that it was time for their catch-up. But instead of gaining everyone’s attention, she withdrew a twenty from her purse and made for the door without alerting anyone to her actions – they probably wouldn’t notice anyway.

Within minutes she was back, a circular tin tray clasped between her fingers, which she placed on the table at the front of the room.

‘Right then, while we’re waiting for the kitchen to make our sandwiches out of some sliced ham that wouldn’t recognise a pig even if it oinked, I thought you’d appreciate something cold. Sadly not beer,’ she said, pulling the ring on a can of Diet Coke and taking a restorative sip.

She waited until everyone had a drink, her hand swapping the can for a black marker pen as she stood in front of the whiteboards.

‘News from me, then we’ll take it in turns. Diane and I have interviewed Janice Stevens and it’s clear that she’s hiding something, bearing in mind that I know the woman … well. On the face of it, she has no idea where her son is but I can’t believe that for a minute. There was no hope in detaining her any longer – we were lucky that we managed to keep her overnight. There’s still that outstanding blood to be addressed – Jason will be down shortly with an update. Diane, do you have anything to add?’

‘Only that I’ve just come off the phone to Stevens’s work. I wanted to speak to her about a query in her statement,’ she replied, setting her mobile back on her desk.

‘There’s a query in her statement?’ Gaby frowned.

‘No. I was using it as an excuse to check up on her whereabouts,’ she said, colour storming up her cheeks. ‘I thought that with the pressure of the ongoing search, my colleagues might have overlooked the request we put in to keep track of her. After all she did say she was going back to the office. Did I do something wrong?’

‘No. You did exactly what the rest of us would have … if only we’d thought of it. Carry on.’

‘The upshot is that she’s not there. Personal reasons.’

‘And I take it that she’s not at home and her car isn’t in the driveway?’ Gaby asked, her frown reappearing at the slight nod of Diane’s head.

‘Sorry, ma’am.’

‘It’s not your fault, Diane. Far from it. Check that there’s an ANPR trace on her car ASAP.’

‘I’m right on it,’ she said, picking up the phone.

‘Good.’ Gaby lifted her head to find Jax racing down the corridor. He didn’t need to tell her that he had news; his expression managed that all by itself. She was less impressed with his tracksuit bottoms and sweat-marked top but decided to wait until he’d settled behind his desk before pouncing.

‘Am I right in thinking that you have something for us, Jax? If your choice of clothing is anything to go by, it had better be good.’ She sent him a brief smile, angling her head in the direction of the depleted tray of cans. ‘Never let it be said I overwork my staff so choose a drink.’

‘Yes, ma’am. Sorry, ma’am. It was this or my suit, which is now only fit for the bin.’ She watched him pop open a Fanta and take a long gulp, his Adam’s apple working overtime. He only spoke when the can was empty. ‘We’ve found Ellie Fry’s clothes, well most of them at least, and there’s blood on the T-shirt and jeans.’ He drew the back of his hand across his mouth to mop up a drop of liquid. ‘I know I was meant to be focusing on the train and bus station but I decided to take a little detour first and check all the bins on the way.’

‘You had a hunch?’ Gaby asked, trying and failing to identify his thought processes because nowhere in any of their catch-ups had anyone mentioned checking the bins. She wasn’t in the game of jumping on her officers unless completely necessary but by the same token members of her team going off on a tangent wasn’t how she liked to play things. This time he’d been successful. Next time he could have wasted valuable time they didn’t have on a wild goose chase.

‘I s-s-suppose you could call it that. I tried to work out how no one had seen them but we were all searching for a teenage lad and a ten-year-old girl. Then I remembered one of the train guards saying yesterday that he saw a young man in the company of his brother around Ellie’s age. So, I thought what if she’d changed her appearance? They were in a bin halfway down Augusta Street, which is a stone’s throw away from the station.’

‘But it’s only supposition that Stevens made her change her appearance. We don’t know for sure why her clothes were dumped, do we?’ she said, scanning his face.

The room went quiet, no one wanting to put into words what they were all thinking.

Gaby cleared her throat and, after picking up her