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.She tightened her lips and frowned.Doing things by the book wasn’t working.The longer she sat here twiddling her thumbs, the longer that child remained at risk, wherever she was.At least she could restart the search for her.Standing up and thrusting her chair back with such force it clattered off the filing cabinets behind her, she strode to her office door.‘Sue! Who was that inspector in the Greenfield office the one Murphy was working with on the door to doors?’Sue, who had been looking over Jenny’s shoulder as she scrolled through the computer, looked up.‘Inspector Mason, ma’am.’‘Thanks.’Kate hurried back into her office, checked the list of office numbers, lifted the phone and dialled.‘Inspector Mason’s not available,’ the voice said.‘Can I put you through to Sergeant Forbes instead?’‘Yes.’‘Detective Inspector Rawlings, it’s Sergeant Forbes here, what can I help you with?’‘It’s in relation to the incident in your area today.The murder.We have reason to believe the victim abducted a child, Megan Fraser, before he was killed and I need you to organize a search party in your area.We need to find her before she comes to further harm.’‘Ah, yes.I remember Megan, we’ve had search parties out for her in the past, but she always turns up.’‘This time it’s different,’ Kate snapped.‘We have evidence that Paul Carnegie was involved in Megan’s disappearance, and it would appear it’s not the first time this man’s done something like this.’‘Evidence, you say?’‘Yes, we’re examining his computer and there’s definitely evidence he was involved.’ Kate crossed her fingers, they hadn’t found the images yet.‘I’ll get the search organized right away, ma’am.’Kate detected a note of reluctance in his voice but she didn’t care.She’d just hung the phone up when Sue popped her head round the door.‘We’ve found the photos of Megan, ma’am.’Kate joined her at Jenny’s desk.‘They took a bit of finding,’ the detective constable said.‘They were in hidden files buried deep in the computer, and there’s more girls than Megan in the files.I’ve also found a file named Jade.DS Murphy asked me to look out for her name as well.’‘Let’s concentrate on Megan for the time being.’ Kate’s finger itched to grab the mouse and scroll through the photos faster, but she restrained herself.‘There’s a lot.He must have been watching her for some time.’‘Yes, ma’am.But here’s where it gets interesting.’Kate hissed breath through her lips.These photos were different.They were of a girl lying in the corner of what looked like a shed or outhouse, with her hands tied in front of her.The girl’s eyes were closed and Kate couldn’t decide whether she was looking at a drugged girl, or whether it was a body.‘Right, that’s it.We need to search Patricia Carnegie’s house and grounds.Get that organized, Sue.’Sue turned away from the monitor and looked at Kate.‘I’ve met Patricia Carnegie and I’d think there’s no way she’ll allow us to search her property without a warrant?’‘Well, we can’t waste any time.You look up the list of sheriffs, and justices of the peace.See who’s on call and I’ll get the forms filled in.’Kate stamped off to her office.Blasted forms, blasted paperwork.It always got in the way.* * * *Sue became increasingly frustrated as she worked through the list of sheriffs, phoning each one in turn.Either there was no answer, or an apologetic voice at the end of the phone explaining why he wasn’t available.‘Damn,’ said Sue to no one in particular, ‘you’d think at least one sheriff would be available to grant a warrant.’Blair grinned at her from his position, perched on the edge of her desk.‘What about the JPs, any of them available?’‘I’m about to start working down the list,’ Sue snapped.Did he think she was an idiot?Several phone calls later she manage to locate one justice of the peace who was available and she made arrangements to take the warrant out to her immediately.The JP, Mrs Barrington, lived in a bungalow in Cairnie Street.Sue parked at the kerb and, followed by Blair, walked up the path to the door.It was opened at her first knock by a little grey-haired lady.‘Come in, my dears,’ she said.She led them into a living room with chintz-covered chairs.‘Now sit down and tell me all about it.’Sue perched on the edge of an armchair, while Blair stood in the doorway.The woman sat down and smiled at Sue.‘You are sure I can do this,’ she said, ‘it’s been a few years since I presided over a District Court.’‘Your name’s on the list of available JPs, ma’am.’ Sue wasn’t entirely sure herself, the woman looked old and not her idea of what a justice of the peace should look like.But her name was on the list of approved JPs.‘Oh well, I suppose you’d better explain it all to me before I decide whether to sign your warrant.’Sue explained the case in detail, before saying, ‘You can see how important it is for us to find this girl, and we have reason to suspect she might be hidden on Mrs Carnegie’s estate.’‘Oh dear,’ Mrs Barrington said, ‘I can quite see that.Let me borrow your pen and I’ll sign the warrant.’Sue handed her the pen and the form to sign.‘I do hope you find her,’ Mrs Barrington said as they left.Sue strode to the car, closely followed by Blair.‘Are you sure the warrant the old biddy signed will be OK?’ Blair subsided into the passenger seat.Sue switched on the ignition and pressed hard on the accelerator.‘I don’t give a damn how old she was or whether or not she’s still practising as a JP.Her name was on the list and that’s all that matters.’* * * *Kate breathed a sigh of relief when Sue returned, waving the warrant in the air.‘Right, Sue, you’re with me.Jenny, you stay here and keep digging into that computer.’ Kate grabbed her jacket and shoulder bag.‘I’ve got a police search party lined up.They’re waiting for us to serve the warrant and give them the nod to get started.Let’s go.’The rush hour was over but it still took them 20 minutes to reach Patricia Carnegie’s house.Police cars lined the road outside the gates and Kate swung past them giving a flash of her lights and a toot on the horn when she entered the tree-lined drive.The cars followed her in.‘This is it,’ she said to Sue as the car crunched to a halt in front of the door and, taking a deep breath to quell the fluttering feeling in her chest, she got out, marched up to the door and raised her hand to knock.The door opened before her fist struck the wood.Patricia Carnegie peered out at them.‘I heard you coming,’ she said, her eyes flicking over the line of police cars in the driveway.‘What’s all this about?’‘We have a warrant to search your property, ma’am [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]