Ken McClure - Deception

Some still got through however. ‘Your kid didn’t wander off on her own, Dunbar... she wouldn’t do that, she’s much too sensible... she was taken... she was taken by some weirdo who’d been hiding in the bushes watching the kids play, waiting his chance... some nutcase who likes pretty little girls under five years old... and you know what that means don’t you? Not many come back from that scenario, do they? In a few days time they’ll find her broken little body lying in some ditch about twenty miles from where she was lifted. The guy who finds her will say he thought it was a doll lying there; they always do... What else do you expect? That she’ll come home licking an ice cream cone and apologising for having got lost in the park? Get real, man! Face facts!’

Steven suddenly realised he wasn’t going to get past the Volvo he was overtaking before an oncoming lorry reached them. He rammed on the brakes and swerved in behind the Volvo just in the nick of time. He caught a glimpse of the red-faced lorry driver mouthing obscenities at him as he passed, horn blaring out Dopplered disapproval. The Volvo driver slowly shook his head as if pitying the shortcomings of his fellow man as Steven pulled out again and roared past, this time muttering, ‘Smug bastard.’

Steven took his foot off the accelerator and let the car decelerate into the village of Glenvane on the overrun. He pulled up outside the house and sat for a moment or two in silence, hands resting on the wheel, head resting on his chest, just letting the silence embrace him and calm his nerves. The metallic contraction noises coming from the cooling engine seemed soothing. After a couple of minutes he felt ready.

Sue came out to meet him as he walked up the path. She flung her arms round him and said, ‘My God, you must have flown down.’

‘What’s happening?’ he asked.

‘No news yet. The menfolk are all out searching and the police are treating it as a major incident. They’ve set up headquarters in the village to co-ordinate the search.’

Steven winced inwardly at the term, ‘major incident’. It was a phrase he associated with murder investigations. ‘Christ, Sue!’ he exclaimed. ‘I don’t know what to say. I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.’

‘I know,’ said Sue, hugging him again. ‘I feel the same.’

‘Are your kids here?’

‘They’re upstairs.’

‘Can I see them?’

Sue looked doubtful. ‘Are you sure that’s a good idea? They’ve already been questioned by us and then by the police. They’re pretty upset. I think the simple truth is that they just don’t know anything more than they’ve said. Jenny went into the bushes to get the ball and that was the last they saw of her.’

‘I’ll be gentle,’ Steven assured her. ‘I’d just like to talk with them for a few minutes. There just might be something they’ll remember.’

Sue agreed reluctantly and led the way upstairs. She opened the door at the head of the stairs and said softly, ‘Uncle Steven is here.’

Steven went into the room and made a heroic attempt at a smile as he saw the two of them, sitting on the floor among their toys. ‘Hi kids,’ he said gently as he squatted down beside them. ‘What are you up to?’

‘Has Jenny come back yet?’ asked Robin.

‘Not yet. We have to find her. I know other people have been asking you all sorts of questions but I’d like it if we could talk about what happened at the park this morning. All right?’

Robin nodded and his younger sister looked up at him with an uncertain half grin, as if unsure what her response should be.

‘You were playing with a ball?’

‘It went in the bushes. I didn’t mean it to. I kicked it and it just did and Jenny went to get it and she didn’t come back.’

‘Who else was in the park at the time, Robin?’

Robin shrugged and looked doubtful.

‘Anyone?’

Another shrug and a half negative response.

‘You don’t remember?’

‘Big boys.’

‘Big boys were in the park? Where in the park, Robin? What were they doing?’

‘On the other side, playing cricket.’

‘All the big boys were playing cricket at the other side of the park, well away from where you were playing?’

Robin gave a slow, deliberate nod.

‘None of them came near you and the girls?’

A shake of the head.

‘You’re sure? Both of you?’

‘Sure,’ said Robin. His sister nodded.

‘Good, you’re being a big help. How about adults? Were there any grown-ups in the park?’

‘Maybe one... or two.’

‘Doggies,’ added Robin’s sister.

‘They had dogs with them?’

‘Trixie and... Leroy,’ said Robin.

Steven took the fact that the children knew the dogs’ names as an indication that the adults with them were locals. After a bit more questioning Steven accepted that the people in the park comprised some older boys playing cricket and two adults from the village out walking their dogs. No one had approached the children.

‘How about cars? Were there any cars near you while you were playing with the ball?’ he asked.

Robin looked down at the floor and said, ‘Mummy said not to play near the road.’

‘Of course not,’ said Steven, but he noticed Robin’s sister giving him a sideways glance. Sue noticed it too. ‘There’s something you’re not telling us, isn’t there?’ she said.

Robin looked daggers at his sister and she in turn looked unsure.

‘Come on now, out with it. No one is going to get into trouble if you just tell us the truth. Mary, what happened?’

‘Mary looked at Robin and mumbled, ‘Robin hit the car.’

Sue turned to Robin who was still hanging his head and looking down at the floor. ‘You hit a car with the ball, Robin? What car? Tell me about it.’

‘A blue one,’ mumbled Robin.

‘You were playing near the road, you kicked the ball and it hit a blue car, is that right?’

Robin nodded silently.

‘What happened exactly? Did the ball bounce out into the road? Was the car moving at the time?’

‘No,’ said Robin eyes wide with horror at the thought.

‘So the blue car was stationary at the time? At the side of the road by the park?’

Another nod.

‘Did the owner see you hit the ball off his car?’

Another nod.

‘How?’ asked Steven, knowing the importance of this particular nod.

‘He was in the car,’ said Robin.

Steven exchanged glances with Sue and swallowed hard before continuing. ‘Let’s just see if I’ve got this right, Robin,’ he said. ‘A man was sitting there in a blue car and you kicked the ball against it?’

Robin nodded.

‘Did the man give you a row?’

A shake of the head.

‘Did he say anything to you at all?’

Another shake of the head.

‘You kicked the ball against his car and he didn’t do or say anything at all?’ said Steven, introducing a note of disbelief into his voice to prompt Robin into saying more.

‘He was reading the paper.’

‘And he didn’t even stop reading the paper when you hit the ball against his car?’

‘No, he started,’ said Robin.

Steven felt an icicle run up his spine. ‘He started reading the paper when you hit his car?’

Robin nodded.

Sue didn’t see the significance of what Robin had said. She looked to Steven for an explanation. ‘He didn’t want the children to see his face,’ said Steven flatly. He was hiding behind the paper.’

Sue put her hands to her face, her eyes wide with horror behind her open fingers. The children sensed that something was very wrong and became very uncertain. Steven tried to recover the situation. He managed to force a smile hoping to reassure Robin and Mary then he asked, ‘I don’t suppose you know what kind of a car this blue one was, do you Robin?’