J. P. Carter - In Safe Hands

Sarah shook her head. ‘We didn’t book a bus for today and we have an arrangement with a local firm called Cresta Transport. We use them exclusively and they only have dark blue buses.’

‘Did any of you see the bus outside?’ Anna asked.

The three women shook their heads in unison.

‘We were all here by seven thirty,’ Sarah said. ‘There’s a lot of preparation work we have to do before the morning session begins. I’m sure that if it had been outside we would have seen it.’

‘My officers have already established that there are no traffic cameras in Peabody Street,’ Anna said. ‘But there are plenty in this area so I’m confident that we’ll soon have footage of the grey minibus and hopefully be able to track its movements across London.’

‘What about our own security camera?’ Emma asked. ‘Those men should be on tape.’

‘Unfortunately they took the digital recorder that was in the office,’ Anna said. ‘For that reason I need you to provide us with more detailed descriptions. A computer artist will be here shortly and I’d appreciate it if you would help him work up e-fit images of the men. At the same time you’ll need to provide us with fingerprint and DNA samples. Our forensic team will be examining every surface in the nursery in the hope that the men left traces of themselves behind.’

Anna could tell that Emma and Paige were struggling to hold it together. Their eyes were red and puffy and they were finding it hard to focus. Sarah, on the other hand, appeared to have recovered from the initial shock. She had wiped the trails of mascara from her cheeks and tidied up her hair. And it seemed like she was trying hard to keep a lid on her emotions.

‘I’d like you to take me through again precisely what happened,’ Anna said. ‘But first tell me about the children. I know that Liam Brady has cystic fibrosis. But is he the only one of the nine with a serious condition?’

Sarah nodded. ‘He is. And I’m sorry I didn’t think to mention that earlier. I should have.’

‘His mother told me about the bag with his medication inside. Where do you keep it?’

‘In the first aid cupboard in the kitchen,’ Sarah said.

‘And I don’t suppose the kidnappers would have known about it?’

Sarah shrugged. ‘I don’t see how. We never got the opportunity to tell them because we had no idea what was going to happen.’

Anna made a note on her pad and said, ‘Now is it correct that there are usually more than nine children here?’

Sarah said it was, adding, ‘It’s the summer break so lots of families are away on holiday.’

‘So if there had been more kids here today then just three men would presumably have struggled to take them away.’

‘I suppose so,’ Sarah answered. ‘Even nine children can be quite a handful. Especially given that the boys and girls here this morning are little extroverts. And they were all in a playful mood, so as long as the men didn’t shout at them or appear threatening they would probably have gone with them without a fuss.’

Anna was surprised. ‘Really?’

Sarah nodded. ‘Those men would only have had to say to the kids that they were going for a ride to somewhere special. They might even have given them sweets. That’s all it would have taken to win their trust. After all, we’re talking about children aged between three and five.’

Anna then repeated a question she had asked earlier – whether the women had recognised any of the men. The answer from all three was an emphatic no.

‘So you’re all sure that they had never been inside the nursery before?’

‘We’re positive,’ Paige said. ‘We’d remember.’

‘You told me the men were white and wearing suits,’ Anna said, as she consulted her notes. ‘Two were in their twenties or thirties and one quite a bit older, perhaps in his fifties.’

‘That’s right,’ Sarah said.

‘OK, so now let’s go through it again. You were all in the playroom and about to tell the children a story when the doorbell rang.’

‘I went to answer it,’ Sarah said. ‘The men were standing outside. I could see them through the glass doors. I spoke to them through the intercom and asked them who they were and what they wanted. At that point all three held up identity cards and the older guy said he was Detective Inspector Roger Milton from Rotherhithe CID. He was the only one of them to speak and he had a South London accent. He introduced the others as DS Willis and DC Moore and said he needed to talk to the proprietor Sarah Ramsay about a private matter.’

‘So he didn’t know that was you,’ Anna said.

‘Apparently not. He said they wouldn’t keep me long so, like a fool, I opened the doors. I know it was a stupid thing to do. I should have called the police station to confirm that they were who they said they were but I was caught off-guard and I didn’t think. I was curious and I should have been suspicious.’

‘So what happened then?’

‘As soon as the doors were open all three of them burst in and at the same time produced pistols from under their jackets. They warned me that if I moved or screamed they would shoot me.’

Anna looked at her notes again.

‘You told me earlier that this man Milton then asked you how many children and staff were in.’

‘That’s correct.’

‘And then he told you to walk back into the playroom and to herd the children into one of the smaller rooms so that he could speak to you and the teachers.’

‘They put their guns back under their jackets and made me act as though nothing was wrong,’ Sarah said. ‘I had to tell Emma, Paige and Tasha that they were police officers and wanted to talk to us without the children being present.’

‘We thought it was strange,’ Emma said. ‘But the fact is they looked like policemen and so we thought we ought to comply. I ushered the kids into the Quiet Room and one of the younger men went inside with them.’

‘That was when they whipped out their guns,’ Paige said. ‘It was terrifying. The one calling himself Milton said that if we didn’t do as we were told he would shoot Sarah in the head and then start picking off the children. So we felt we had no choice.’

‘So what did Tasha do?’ Anna asked.

‘She didn’t do anything until we were inside the storeroom,’ Sarah said. ‘Milton took a plastic bag from his pocket and told us to put our mobile phones inside it. I did and so did Emma. Paige didn’t have hers with her and as the guy was telling her to turn around Tasha leapt at him.

‘But she wasn’t fast enough. He managed to step back and hit her with the butt of his gun. Not once but three times. She collapsed on the floor and he backed out of the room and locked the door behind him. We were all screaming and shouting and trying to revive Tasha. After about ten minutes I realised she had her mobile phone in her jeans pocket so I used it to call the emergency service.’

Anna was satisfied that their story was consistent with the one they had told earlier. It was far more detailed now, though, and raised many more questions.

Were the guns the men used real or fake?

Had the children happily trooped out of the nursery and got on the bus believing they were in for a special treat?

Had one or more of the men visited the nursery before today to check the interior layout?

Or had they received information from someone who was familiar with it – someone such as a parent or even a member of staff?

This last question was an uncomfortable one and filled Anna with a shuddering sense of unease.

Ruth had been joined by three other mothers and two fathers who had rushed straight to Peabody Street after being told what had happened to their children.