FIFTY-ONE
DCI Woodward’s cursor hovered over the link to the Zoom meeting invitation due to begin at 6.45p.m.
After harassing his own boss for twenty minutes, he’d been allowed access to the end-of-day briefing at Brierley Hill. His request to attend in person had been refused in case his physical presence was perceived by the team as him undermining the authority of the DCI running the joint operation of Symes’s capture and the double abduction.
Much like members of his own team, he resented the political play that sometimes seemed to supersede effective policing, but he liked to think that he put up with it so that his team didn’t have to.
The digital clock clicked on to 6.45, and he pressed the link taking him straight into the incident room.
The monitor was placed at the top of the room, giving him a long view of the scene. The space was filled with officers and desks, and he could see the clear demarcation of the teams. The Brierley Hill team were sitting at or on desks, and the search team were gathered en masse in the far corner.
‘Thank you for joining us, DCI Woodward,’ offered DCI Walsh from the centre of the room. ‘It’s been quite a day.’
A murmur of assent swept through both camps.
‘Okay, incident team first. Go ahead, Burns.’
A man wearing black trousers and a white shirt stepped forward.
‘As you all know, Symes abducted six-year-old Chloe Jordan this afternoon from a school on Colley Lane. The move was chaotic and desperate – driving along pavements, stopping in the middle of the road and making no effort at stealth.’
Woody disagreed with this assessment. It had been planned. He had used the element of surprise to create the chaos that offered him the cover of escape.
‘He’s making mistakes to feed his urges. He’s cracking, so we must be doing something that’s putting pressure on him. We’ve come close to him, I know it.’
Woody wondered if it was only him that could hear the hope in the man’s voice as opposed to conviction.
‘Tomorrow we start again. Re-interview every witness we’ve spoken to, review all the CCTV again. We’re going to use persistency to flush him out.’
A cynical man might have thought this was an action borne of not knowing where to go next.
He said nothing as a wave of anxiety rolled around his stomach. He’d hoped the operational team were going to be full of creative plans, clever ideas, initiative and passion instead of retreading footprints they’d already made.
‘We suspect the first girl, Emma Bunting, is dead. We think he’s done whatever he wants with her and he’s not had enough. He’s taken Chloe Jordan to replace her, and he’s going to keep on taking girls until we catch him.’
DCI Walsh nodded his agreement. ‘He’s on a perverted binge.’
‘He’s not a pervert,’ Woody interjected, frowning.
‘Of course he is. He’s taking little girls.’
‘To beat them, to break their bones. Symes is sick in another way. He’s not a paedophile.’
‘Okay, thanks, DCI Woodward.’
‘And how are you coordinating his activities in relation to the threat to DI Stone?’ Woody asked.
‘We’re not sure any of his actions are connected to DI Stone. We’re treating this—’
‘He mentioned her by name,’ Woody interrupted. ‘He told Emma’s mother to ask for her specifically,’ Woody offered incredulously. How the hell were they treating it as a separate matter?
‘We’re pretty sure he’s doing that just to distract us.’
‘Do any of you understand this man at all?’
‘Thanks for your input, DCI Woodward, but I think we’ll take it from here.’
A pair of blue trousers approached the screen before it went blank.