Allan Guthrie - Bye Bye Baby

"Surely he'd have dumped it and buggered off."

"Maybe, but it's worth checking, don't you think?" I said.

"Thought you already did, sunshine. Last night."

"Nah, just dropped by a couple of houses where the lights were still on."

"So you definitely think someone stuck this finger through Mrs Wilson's letterbox? You don't think she bought the finger herself and made all this shit up?"

"It's possible," I said. "We won't know that till we find out who picks up the money. If anybody."

"Tonight's going to be fun," my uncle said. "Want some company?"

I spent the morning checking out the local joke shops to see if anyone sold the type of fake finger Mrs Wilson had received. Turned out they all did. None had sold any recently, though. I'd need to widen the search.

I was on my way to grab a sandwich when my mobile rang. It was Les.

"Clare's gone," he said.

"The hell do you mean?"

"She told me she was hungry, wanted some beans on toast with cheese. About all I can cook. So I went to make it. When I came back, she wasn't here."

I waited a second. "And the money?"

"Gone too. She's taken it with her."

I was staring at the plate of toasted cheese and beans on Mrs Wilson's sitting room table, wondering if it was too cold to eat, when Control called to tell me Mrs Wilson's Range Rover had been found. Abandoned, less than five minutes drive away. No sign of Mrs Wilson yet but Uniform was checking door-to-door.

I gave Les the news.

He gazed into his hands. "What do you think that means?"

"The kidnapper probably told her to leave the car. Get on a bus. Grab a taxi, who knows. He must have known we'd try to locate the car and follow her."

"I never expected this." He started to walk over to the window. "When she said she was hungry, I believed her. She hadn't eaten properly since… I don't know when."

"Don't blame yourself," I said. "This guy's smart."

"Maybe we're just stupid."

"That's always possible."

"What can we do?"

It was a good question, but one I didn't have an answer for. "I'm going to get out there and help look for her."

He stared out of the window. "She could be anywhere by now."

"We have officers all over the place," I said. "Someone will find her."

He turned. "I'll grab my coat."

"No," I said. "You stay here."

"I want this guy." His eyes shone. "I want to see what kind of person would do this to Clare. I want to break my fingers on his chin."

"And I need you to wait here," I said. "In case she comes back."

I hadn't meant to fall asleep, but my eyes were struggling to stay open so I'd pulled into the side of the road just in case.

The news on the radio must have woken me. Control repeated it and what I heard was like a pint of iced water down the back of my neck.

They'd found her.

Mrs Wilson was standing in front of the primary school gates. Bruce's teacher, Mrs Lennox, was with her. And so was someone I didn't think I'd see again. Not at work, anyway.

I parked and got out of the car.

"I don't want to talk to anyone," Mrs Wilson was saying. "Leave me alone."

Erica looked at me and shrugged.

"Miss me?" I asked her.

"No, just decided you were right. I couldn't let Dutton win."

"Good to have you with us again." I said hello to Bruce's teacher, then turned to Mrs Wilson. "Where's the money?"

"Leave me alone," she said.

"Please, Clare. Tell me where the money is." It was almost certainly too late. Wherever it was, the kidnapper would have picked it up by now.

"Not till Bruce is safe. I've already told her." Mrs Wilson looked at Erica. "I'm not saying anything till my baby's back." She glanced at her watch. "Five minutes. Wait five minutes. He'll be here then."

"That's great," I said. "Maybe while we're waiting, you could tell me what happened. Les was worried."

"Les doesn't care."

"I think you're wrong. I've spent quite a bit of time with him and he's very upset."

"About me, maybe. But he doesn't care about Bruce. That hasn't changed."

I looked at Erica.

"Would you all leave me alone, please," Mrs Wilson said. "Just for a few minutes. I don't want you all standing here scaring Bruce."

Mrs Lennox said to no one in particular, "I'll be inside," and headed back to the school. Bet she was relieved to get away from the insanity.

"Want to wait in the car?" I asked Erica.

I told Erica about the talk I'd had with Dr Snow.

"You shouldn't have let Clare pay the ransom."

I shrugged. "Not my choice to make."

"Next time, Bruce won't come back."

"You sure he'll come back this time?"

"There's no doubt in that poor woman's mind." Erica tapped the side of her head with a couple of fingers. "So I'm certain Bruce will walk round that corner any minute."

She was right.

Bruce arrived a few minutes later.

I saw Mrs Wilson run down the nearly empty street.

I saw her stop abruptly, fling her arms around thin air and hoist her invisible child off the ground.

"Something else, isn't it?" I said.

"That's love," Erica said. "Blind, screwed-up, mad as a bag of squirrels. But it's love. Do you love your children like that?"

"I don't need to," I said. "My kids are alive."

"Ain't you the lucky one." She picked up her radio handset. "What's Dr Snow's number?"

"I got a message telling me there was a change of plan," Mrs Wilson said later.

What was left of the day's sunlight crept through the sitting room's bay window, drew a line across the floorboards and came to a stop just short of her feet.

Before we'd driven her home, she'd shown us where she'd dropped off the money. It was a dead-end close only five minutes round the corner from the school. The kidnapper had told her to stuff the bag behind a couple of red trade waste bins. That was about an hour before we got there, and by the time we arrived, the money was gone. Of course. We'd left some officers checking the area in case anyone had seen it being picked up.

"What kind of message was it?" I asked. "Another note? Phone call? Text message? Email?"

I'd spoken to my uncle about ten minutes ago, expected him to say it was finally time he spoke to Mrs Wilson himself. But he said he trusted me. Said that I knew the mother, she was happy to talk to me, so there was no point in him trying to establish a relationship with her when I'd done that already.

I was doing fine, he said. And Erica was there now to hold my hand.

He wasn't sure about the shrink, though.

Dr Snow had come right away. And my uncle was wrong. She'd already been of help by taking Bruce to his room to play, clumping up the stairs with her walking stick, Les a couple of steps behind her. Mrs Wilson was terrified of letting Bruce out of her sight, but it was the only way we could talk freely. Bruce's kidnapper hadn't hurt him, she said, which was something, at least.

Mrs Wilson finally answered my question. "It was a phone call."

"On your landline?"

She nodded.

"Has anybody called since?"

"I don't know."

I'd called Les, but I had his mobile number from when he'd rung me and I'd used that. It was a long shot, but worth a try. We could get Mrs Wilson's phone records, but it would take a while.

"Erica, would you mind checking?" I asked. "See when the last call came in and if there's a number?"

"The phone's by the window," Mrs Wilson said.

Erica moved off to see what she could find.

"Carry on," I said to Mrs Wilson.

"The man told me I had to sneak away. Deliver the money this afternoon. And if I told anyone, or anyone followed me…" She cleared her throat. "He said there would be a real finger arriving in the post."