Luke Delaney - The Toy Taker

‘Or she’s going somewhere else.’ Sean grabbed his radio before Summers could answer, speaking informally on the private channel: ‘You seeing this?’

‘Yes,’ came the reply from Sally in one of the other two unmarked cars.

‘Wait a second,’ Sean stalled her as the shape of a man, naked but for a towel around his waist, came into view. He watched the couple briefly kiss before parting, the target turning her coat up against the cold. Is that the new man in your life? Sean thought to himself. Is he the one you’ve been waiting for? He pressed the radio to transmit. ‘She’s on foot. Doesn’t look like she’s going for a vehicle. Sally, Tessa and I will follow her on foot. Everyone else run parallels with the cars and try to stay close.’

‘Received,’ Sally’s voice answered. ‘Received,’ DC Tessa Carlisle echoed.

‘All foot units use mobiles to stay in touch. Leave the radios with the cars.’

‘Received,’ Sally and Carlisle both acknowledged.

Sean tossed the radio to Summers and slipped out of the car and on to the pavement, quietly pressing the door shut before following Hannah Richmond’s footsteps, always staying at least fifty metres behind her and as far out of her eyeline as possible. He walked in line with any trees or bus-shelters so he could conceal himself with a quick swerve if she turned. Pulling his mobile from his coat pocket, he called Sally, speaking as quietly as he could as he tailed the target along the road that was deserted but for them.

‘Sean?’

‘Are you with me?’

‘Yeah — about thirty metres back, on the other side of the road. I can see you, but not the target. Tess is about another twenty metres back on your side.’

‘Good, but we need to get closer,’ he told her. ‘She’ll be in central Camden in a couple of minutes. She could lose us easy.’

‘Understood,’ Sally agreed and hung up. Sean slipped his mobile into his outside coat pocket, leaving his hand resting on it in case a call caused it to vibrate, and quickened his pace, closing the distance on Hannah Richmond before she made it to central Camden.

As she approached the end of Agar Road he could see she was about to enter St Pancras Way, where the pedestrian traffic was already growing dense. He rushed to close the distance, but quickly had to move behind a thick oak tree when she suddenly slowed and looked back. After a few seconds he peeked around the trunk and saw she’d moved on. She seemed far more nervous than a normal person on their way to work. He continued his pursuit, calling Sally as he walked — just another businessman who couldn’t wait until he reached his office before beginning the day’s calls.

‘Problem?’ Sally asked.

‘She’s looking for something,’ he warned her. ‘She’s done one check behind her already and keeps looking around.’

‘Did she see you?’

‘I don’t think so. She’s just crossed St Pancras Way into Camden Road and is heading towards the tube station.’

‘Let me take the lead,’ Sally told him, ‘to be safe.’

‘No,’ he argued. ‘There’s no time. Just stay close.’ He hung up and continued the chase, glad to be in a wide, busy street; mingling among so many other people in suits and coats was his best possible disguise. He’d closed the gap between them to ten metres, but still she periodically twisted her head from side to side, as if constantly checking for danger. She walked past Camden tube station and into Chalk Farm Road, where she stopped at a bus shelter, pulling her collar as far as she could over her face, standing behind the advertising boards, concealing herself from the view of the passing traffic. Sean had no choice — he stopped at the same bus stop, waiting to feel her eyes burning into the back of his head. He pulled his phone free again when he was as happy as he could be she was paying him no heed and quickly typed a text message:

@ bus shelter, west side, chalk farm rd. T is held. All bus routes north west — AWAY from her work. where going??

As soon as the message was sent he flicked the phone on to silent mode and slid it back into his pocket and waited for its vibrating to go through his hand like an electric shock. Seconds later he received Sally’s reply:

Tess and I will join you at stop with T. OK?

He tapped in his reply:

Ok.

As he slipped the phone out of sight he saw Sally approaching the bus stop, halting a few feet short of the shelter, pulling her coat tight against the chill, moving from foot to foot, just another office worker trying to keep her feet from freezing. Next DC Carlisle appeared from behind a couple she been using as cover, walking straight into the shelter without looking around, sitting on one of the unoccupied bench-bar seats and immediately pulling a worn paperback from her small handbag. All the time Hannah Richmond continued to glance about her, yet failed to notice the three cops.

Sean risked a sideways glance as he pretended to be looking for the bus, sensing the target’s agitation as soon as he saw her in the corner of his eye. But whatever she was looking for — whatever she was expecting − it wasn’t them. What are you up to? Sean asked himself. Where are you going and what are you afraid of — us? The police? You look for us, but you don’t see us. Is that what I’m doing with this case — looking but not seeing? An approaching bus broke his thoughts, its front sign stating it was heading towards Hampstead High Street and then on to Golders Green, the wrong side of the heath for Small Fry Nursery. All three detectives held their ground, waiting for the target to make her move or not. If there had been more of them following a surveillance-aware target then maybe one or two would have got on the bus anyway, just to keep the target disorientated, but working in a team of three they couldn’t do that even if they thought it necessary.

As soon as the doors of the bus were fully open, Hannah shuffled across the pavement and stepped on board, swiping her Oyster Card and heading up the stairs and to the back of the bus. Any lingering doubt that she might be headed for work was dispelled. The detectives waited until the other passengers from the stop boarded before quickly following them on to the bus, each giving the driver a flash of their warrant cards held concealed in the palms of their hands. The bemused driver was used to having the occasional cop on his bus, but three in a row made him look up and follow their progress on his onboard security cameras, watching them climb the stairs and fan out on the top deck — Sally taking the front near the stairs, Sean the middle section and Tessa the rear, sitting just one behind the target on the opposite side.

Sean allowed himself to relax for a while, happy the target was secure and well covered, feeling a sense of growing excitement as he considered Richmond’s behaviour and direction of travel, her potential as a prime suspect growing with every passing minute. The niggling thought that this could simply be her day off prompted him to try and remember what her employment record had said, but he couldn’t recall anything about her having days off in the middle of the week. He momentarily considered having Donnelly call the nursery and check, but decided against it — for now.

As the bus continued its journey Sean tried to imagine Hannah Richmond leading him straight to the missing children. Would she try to justify her actions, or would she turn out to be another delusional case, motivated by some twisted logic or ideology that could only ever make sense to herself? His thoughts projected forward to the inevitable search of her flat and no doubt the arrest of her partner and conspirator, each turning on the other in desperate attempts to save their own skins — love quickly replaced by betrayal. What types of drugs and medication would he find in her bathroom cabinet? Anti-depressants? Anti-anxiety drugs? Sleeping pills? He expected to find them all, the profile of the woman sitting only a few feet away forming and solidifying in his mind, and with it his plan of how to interview her — how to break her. His phone vibrated as it received a text and made him jump a little before he realized what it was. He looked down at the screen he’d been cradling in his hand and read the message from Tess: