Luke Delaney - The Toy Taker

‘I miss you,’ he suddenly found himself saying, ‘and the kids — tell them I miss them too.’

‘Then you know what to do,’ she told him and hung up, leaving him with his mobile still pressed to his ear as he stared into space.

Donnelly entered without being asked, waving a fistful of thin files in the air.

‘Busy?’ he asked, looking at the phone against Sean’s face.

‘No,’ sighed Sean, tossing it on to his desk. ‘Got something for me?’

‘Aye — the names of the families’ nannies and au pairs and employment records for the teachers from both nurseries used by them. There’s a few dozen names to go through there, but it’s not too bad.’

‘What about the removal companies, estate agents, etc?’ Sean asked impatiently.

‘Still working on them, but they’re going to take a bit of time.’

‘Time’s something we haven’t got,’ Sean reminded him.

‘Aye,’ Donnelly agreed. ‘D’you want me to load these names on to the system — put them on a spreadsheet?’

‘Sure, but let me have a look at them first.’ Sean beckoned him closer, holding out his hand for the files. ‘I’ll give you a shout when I’m done.’ Donnelly left him to it.

Sean sighed and shuffled the files on his desk, opting for the one containing the names and details of nannies and au pairs. It only took a few minutes to discount them all: none had worked for both families. He pushed the file aside and pulled the two from the nurseries in front of him, opening them together, laying them side by side so he could see the names on both lists at the same time. He looked at the first name on the list of employees from Small Fry Nursery and ran his finger down the list on the file from Little Unicorns Nursery until he was satisfied the name didn’t appear on both before moving to the next name and repeating the process over and over until he was more than halfway through the list, his index finger searching for the name of Nicola Beecher. Suddenly he froze, adrenalin flooding his body — the name appeared on both lists. She’d worked at both nurseries. ‘Well, well,’ he whispered. ‘Nicola, Nicola. I’d better take a look at you.’ He resisted the temptation to flick straight to the more detailed employment records, disciplining himself to continue his search through the list of names. There could be another .

His index finger ran faster down the list of names now, impatient to complete the task, but as he searched for the penultimate name on the list of employees from Small Fry his hand froze again as he found the same name on the list from Little Unicorns — Hannah Richmond. ‘Would you believe it?’ he asked himself and immediately headed to Donnelly’s office.

‘Have you checked the names on the lists from the nurseries?’ he asked in an almost accusatory tone.

‘No,’ Donnelly admitted. ‘I was going to do it while I loaded them into the system. Why?’

‘We have a hit — in fact we have two.’

Donnelly sensed the excitement in his voice. ‘That’s not too surprising,’ he cautioned. ‘Two nursery schools close to each other — I’m almost surprised you didn’t get more.’

Refusing to be deflated, Sean sat at Sally’s unused desk and began to read through the personnel files of Nicola Beecher and Hannah Richmond.

‘Do the schools know we have these files?’ he asked without looking up.

‘Yeah, sure, Donnelly answered. ‘I told them we could get a Production Order if they wanted, but both said it wasn’t necessary. Missing kids and all that — they were pretty keen to help. Wouldn’t do their image much good if they were seen to be uncooperative.’

‘No,’ Sean agreed, flicking through Nicola Beecher’s file, ‘I don’t suppose it would.’ A quick check of her employment dates showed she would have come into contact with both George Bridgeman and Bailey Fellowes. ‘She would have had access to both children,’ he relayed the information to Donnelly, ‘and working in the nursery means she has access to their personal details − addresses, parents, siblings.’

‘Not exactly,’ Donnelly threw another fly in the ointment. ‘She’s currently working at Little Unicorns, George Bridgeman’s nursery.’

‘So?’

‘So she’d have access to George’s current details, but not Bailey’s. Remember, Bailey’s family moved house only recently — she wouldn’t know that.’

‘Unless she’d watched them,’ Sean told him, ‘or had them watched. Or maybe she just asked around — asked some of her old friends from Little Unicorns.’

‘Possible,’ Donnelly agreed.

‘It’s more than possible,’ Sean argued.

‘OK,’ Donnelly tried to slow him down. ‘Say it’s possible, even probable, but why? Why would a nursery teacher be snatching away wee kiddies she’s come into contact with?’

‘To get what she wants most, but can’t have.’

‘Children of her own,’ Donnelly answered after a pause.

‘It makes sense,’ Sean tried to convince him. ‘We have no bodies, no signs of violence, no ransom demand — it makes sense.’

‘I can’t see a bird picking locks and entering houses in the middle of the damn night.’

‘Nor can I,’ Sean agreed. ‘That’s why I think she’ll be working with someone else — a man. Probably someone newish on the scene, someone she’s been waiting for — someone she could talk into doing her dirty work — someone who’s desperate to please her.’

‘Get me the kiddies or there’ll be no hanky-panky for you,’ Donnelly offered.

‘Something like that,’ Sean despairingly agreed, still searching through the personnel records, his finger momentarily resting on the small passport photograph of an attractive woman with short auburn hair before moving to Nicola’s background and family details. ‘Fuck it. No good. She’s married — three kids and in her mid-forties.’

‘Husband’s run off with the kids and a bit of crumpet half his age?’ Donnelly unhelpfully suggested.

‘No,’ Sean dismissed him. ‘She’s no good for it.’

He tossed her now useless file aside and pulled Hannah Richmond’s towards him, hurriedly searching for her personal details, dwelling for a second on the passport photograph of a slightly dumpy woman with long, light brown hair, before beginning to read silently to himself, praying for a miracle. Hannah Richmond, thirty-six years old, home address 22a Agar Grove, Camden Town. Marital status: single, no children, next of kin: her mother.

‘This one,’ Sean declared without a hint of triumph. ‘Hannah Richmond, currently working at Small Fry Nursery as an assistant teacher, but also worked at Little Unicorns doing the same. This could be our woman.’ Quickly he checked her employment dates, speaking to Donnelly as he did so. ‘Her employment dates confirm it: she worked at Little Unicorns at a time that would have given her access to George Bridgeman.’ He at last looked up at Donnelly. ‘Who’s the Family Liaison Officer for the Fellowes?’

‘I gave that particular unenviable task to young DC Goodwin,’ Donnelly answered. ‘Thought the experience would do him good — teach him it’s not all cops and robbers.’

Sean quickly found Goodwin’s mobile. He kept all his team’s numbers in his contacts, past and present. He dialled, pacing the office as he waited for an answer.

‘Ashley speaking.’

‘Ash,’ Sean began, ‘are you with the family at the moment?’

‘Of course, guv’nor.’

‘Ask them if they know a teacher’s assistant at Bailey’s nursery called Hannah Richmond. I’ll explain why later.’

‘Hold on a second,’ Goodwin told him, leaving Sean listening to muffled voices in the background until Goodwin’s clear voice returned. ‘I’m getting blank looks here, guv’nor.’