He was a tall, dark-haired man who carried himself with authority. In a black suit jacket and chinos, he looked every inch the sporty businessman that one would expect to manage a successful state team. May thought he looked arrogant, but admitted to herself that she couldn’t see clearly enough to be sure.
“How long do you think he spent inside?” she asked. “Was he meeting with the team or what?”
“I guess a team meeting would take, what, half an hour? Maybe longer, if he was also doing assessments on the athletes,” Owen hazarded.
He pressed the fast-forward button again, but almost immediately drew in a sharp breath.
“There! Look!”
The time stamp showed that just ten minutes later, Jessop was walking out with a young woman following a short distance behind him.
Without a doubt, this was Emily, and May drew in her breath as she saw Jessop open the door for her. She climbed into the passenger seat, and Jessop got in the driver’s side.
Then the car sped off.
May looked at Owen in amazement.
“She went with him? Just like that?”
“Did she know him? She must have known him if she came there for school events. And if she’d dated Callum, I guess she might have met him. I mean, she followed him out!” Owen agreed.
“That timing doesn’t make sense,” May said. He had been in and out too quickly for a meeting, surely.
“Well, it does, if you think about what his reason for going there must have been,” Owen pointed out.
“He came there to get her. That must have been the reason. He walked in to find her, he found her, and he went out to the car with her.”
“And that was on the day she disappeared,” Owen agreed.
May thought this was highly significant. In fact, she was getting cold chills.
Owen clicked on the replay button, so they could watch the footage over again. They both stared in silence as the scene played out a second time.
“I think we have our suspect,” May confirmed.
“Where will he be now? At work? Does he have offices?” Owen asked.
“I’ve been hearing my phone buzz a few times. I think Kerry’s sent more info through,” May said, quickly reading the incoming texts.
“Yes. He does have offices, and they are just down the road from this sports center,” May said.
“We need to go there immediately. I hope he’s in,” Owen said.
“He has some serious questions to answer,” May agreed.
She strode out of the sports center, nodding a thank you to the receptionist, and then she and Owen ran for the car.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Two minutes later, feeling breathless, May pulled up outside Jessop’s offices. She stared at the imposing building where even now, she hoped their suspect was waiting for them.
Did he have any idea they were on his trail? May wondered. She hoped not. She didn’t want him to take any last-minute evasive action, or do anything to compromise the progress they were finally making.
“Wow,” Owen said to her, as they got out of the car and looked up at the sleek, modern, three-story building that was clad in glass, with steel detail. “Must be a lot of money in kids’ sports.”
“Yes, I think at state level, sponsored football is big business,” May agreed.
They parked behind a security boom that was opened for them by a guard. The first thing May noticed, because she was looking out for it, was the sleek black Mercedes, parked in the bay closest to the building. That was an encouraging sign, although it made her nervous as well as excited to see it there.