Ken McClure: Tangled Web

Gordon nodded his agreement with a smile.

Perhaps the kidnapper didn’t know about Anne-Marie’s disability when he or she took her,’ suggested Julie.

‘I suppose that’s possible,’ agreed Walters but she was taken from home. It wasn’t as if she was snatched from a nursery or from her pram outside a supermarket in a shopping mall.’

Gordon felt depressed at the observation. The idea that someone had targeted the Palmer’s baby specifically for abduction seemed hard to fathom. The lurking suspicion in the air of a more sinister explanation for the baby’s disappearance made him want to help redress the balance. ‘The Palmers have been trying for years to have children,’ he said. ‘It was what they wanted above all else; they kept on trying against all the odds.’

‘All the odds, sir?’

‘Mrs Palmer couldn’t conceive in the normal fashion,’ said Gordon, choosing to ignore the warning look from Julie. Doctor/patient confidentiality was important but so was common sense. ‘The details don’t concern you, Sergeant,’ he continued, as a sop to Julie’s unease, ‘but she and her husband persisted over several years with specialised help from various clinics. They had setback after setback but still they kept on trying. In the end their baby was conceived through in vitro fertilisation carried out in Professor Carwyn Thomas’s unit at Caernarfon General Hospital.’

‘A famous clinic,’ said Walters.

‘And rightly so. It’s helped more childless couples than practically any other unit in the country bar Robert Winston’s.’

‘Yes sir.’

‘The point is,’ continued Gordon. ‘That if you go to all that trouble to have children, Sergeant, you really want to have them.’

‘But,’ said Walters, diverting his gaze for a moment, ‘It must have been a terrible disappointment for them when their child was born with problems.’

‘It was,’ agreed Gordon quietly. ‘It was a bloody shame.’

‘And so bloody unfair by the sound of it,’ agreed Walters. ‘After all they’d been through. How did the couple take it?’

Gordon’s spirits sank again as he saw where this line of questioning leading. ‘Not well,’ he confessed.

Walters remained silent but obviously expected more.

‘The baby’s condition came as a terrible shock to them, naturally.’

‘They hadn’t been warned beforehand?’ exclaimed Walters.

Gordon shook his head. ‘The pre-natal scans didn’t pick up on the problem, I’m afraid.’

‘What exactly was the problem, sir?’ asked Walters, leaning forward in his seat.

‘The bones in Anne Marie’s legs didn’t develop properly; in fact, they didn’t really develop at all. Her lower limbs were useless.’

Walters grimaced.

‘Surgical intervention was required to save her life.’

‘Intervention, sir?’

‘They had to amputate her legs.’

‘I see,’ said Walters. ‘Must have been awful for the parents.’

‘Lucy rejected her baby when she first saw it, quite natural in the circumstances, I think.’

‘And Mr Palmer?’

‘John must have found it difficult too, but he didn’t show it; he was a tower of strength to Lucy throughout.’

Walters nodded.

‘It was only a short-term problem, I assure you,’ insisted Gordon. ‘They both came to terms with the situation quite quickly and now they love their baby as much as any other couple I know.’

‘I see sir, well, thanks for your help. I’d better report back to DCI Davies. He’ll be wondering where I’ve got to.’

And very interested in what you have to tell him, thought Gordon. He was left with an uncomfortable feeling inside of him.

Walters left and Julie said thoughtfully, ‘Well, what d’you think?’

‘Just what I told him,’ said Gordon, slightly annoyed at the question. ‘I know that the Palmers love their baby; if they say that Anne-Marie’s been kidnapped then that’s exactly what’s happened. And you? What do you think?’

‘I don’t know them well enough,’ replied Julie guardedly. ‘They were Dad’s patients and then they became yours but it does seem odd that anyone would snatch Anne-Marie from home like that...’

‘I’d better get over to the house,’ said Gordon. He was anxious for the conversation to end.

The Palmers lived in a comfortable modern villa on a small, private housing development, just outside Felinbach on the way to Caernarfon. Although the snow had started to melt on the main road, Gordon was glad of the Land Rover’s four-wheel drive as he coaxed it up the steep hill leading to the estate. He parked it in front of the Palmer’s house, behind the two police cars that were already sitting there, and walked up the path. As he did so, the front door opened and two men emerged: one was DS Walters who introduced him to the other man, Detective Chief Inspector Davies.

‘Well, Doctor, ‘said Davies. ‘I think Mrs Palmer could do with some medical help. She’s a very distraught lady.’

Gordon had the distinct impression that Davies had said this in order to measure his reaction. He looked directly back at the man and thought he knew the type, physically big, a bit of a bully who probably thought he was a lot brighter than he actually was, an illusion reinforced by his position of authority.

‘I’m not surprised,’ said Gordon. ‘Have you anything to go on at all, Chief Inspector?’

‘We’re currently checking out the ladies your colleague mentioned to the sergeant here although, bearing in mind what she said, we’re not too hopeful. We’re also in the process of asking the hospitals if they’ve had any dealings with likely candidates for child abduction in the last few weeks. Apart from that, our lines of investigation are somewhat limited. Do you have any ideas yourself, Doctor?

There it was again, the appraising gaze. ‘Absolutely none at all,’ replied Gordon, shaking his head. ‘I suppose my fear...’ He broke off.

‘Yes, Doctor?’

‘It was something your sergeant said,’ confessed Gordon. ‘I was going to say my great fear is that Anne-Marie has been taken away by someone with a deranged mind.’

‘A real nutter, you mean’ said Davies. ‘A psycho, not just some woman who thinks she’s found a new doll to play with and will look after it until we find her alive and well-cared for as is usually the case with missing babies?’

‘Yes,’ agreed Gordon reluctantly, ‘A real nutter.’

‘God forbid. Such people are notoriously difficult to trace because neither rhyme nor reason comes into their thinking. Motive is usually non-existent or so convoluted as to be beyond normal comprehension,’ said Davies. ‘Happily, such people are far fewer on the ground than many of the papers would have us believe, Doctor. Chances are, that’s not what we’re dealing with here.’

‘In that case, I hope you find her soon,’ said Gordon. ‘I’d better see to my patients.’ He squeezed past, feeling uncomfortable in Davies’s presence, although he recognised that it wasn’t entirely the policeman’s fault. There was an element of conflict going on inside his own head that was contributing to his unease.

‘Tom! Good of you to come,’ said a relieved sounding John Palmer, getting up when Gordon entered the room. A woman police constable was sitting on the couch with Lucy who looked up and smiled wanly. ‘Hello Tom,’ she whispered.

‘This is a nightmare,’ said Gordon, ‘but I’m sure the police will find her soon and bring her back unharmed.’

‘I hope to God you’re right,’ said John Palmer. ‘Why on earth would anyone do this? It’s like some kind of sick punishment. We wait for years to have a baby then we get one only to have her taken away like this...’ Palmer broke down, putting his hands to his face to hide his silent sobs, only his shoulders gave him away.