description and start to fan out the search.
Leaving Samantha for a moment, Mariner went out to the hall to brief Glover. ‘Get someone from uniform to retrieve as much CCTV footage as they can from a half-mile radius, then gather as many bodies as possible, and as soon as we have a description we’ll start talking to people in the immediate vicinity. See if the other OCUs can spare any troops. And call the technicians to get someone down here so that we can monitor phone lines going in and out.’
A loud buzz sounded and Mariner turned to see the top of a shaven head fill a segment of the split screen CCTV in the office.
‘That’s Josh’s dad,’ Samantha told him. ‘All the main nursery parents will be here to fetch their children in the next hour or so. We’ve still got quite a few left.’
Shit. This was going to be a logistical nightmare. Ideally, Mariner would want to keep everyone at the scene to be interviewed as potential witnesses, but if they did that the place would be packed with agitated parents and kids.
‘Okay, as long as you’re certain these are parents you know, you can let them go, but I want PC Mann to screen them and take details before they leave. We’ll need to talk to them later. Is there somewhere he can do that?’ The hall was far too cramped.
‘The room across the hall there is empty at this time of day.’
Mariner opened the door on what seemed to be a small classroom. ‘That’ll be fine,’ he said. He turned back to Glover. ‘When you’ve instructed uniform, stay here by the front door with Mann, to supervise people going in and out.’
‘How much do we tell them about what’s going on, boss?’ Mann wondered.
Mariner thought about that. Ordinarily in an investigation he’d want to keep everything under wraps to avoid creating panic, but in this case they needed as many pairs of ears and eyes working for them as possible. ‘Everything,’ he said. ‘They’ve probably seen the cars and they’ll certainly notice the uniforms. And we need them onside. Someone might have been aware of someone or something when they dropped their child off this morning.’
The buzzer sounded again, more insistently and an impatient face turned towards the camera.
‘You know him well?’ Mariner checked with Samantha.
‘Josh has been here since he was a baby.’
‘Okay, you can let him in.’
Samantha pushed the button on the telephone intercom and the shaved head bobbed and disappeared from the screen as, behind them, the main door opened and Josh’s father stepped in. ‘Everything all right?’ he asked Samantha, seeing that clearly everything wasn’t.
‘Fine,’ Samantha said, smiling weakly.
PC Mann stepped forward. ‘Would you like to come in here a moment, sir?’
‘What about anyone else who’s been in and out this afternoon? ’ Mariner directed his question at Samantha.
‘I’ll have to talk to the girls in all the rooms to find out who they’ve let in.’
‘DC Glover will do that,’ said Mariner. Taking his cue, Glover came across. ‘Interview separately and in isolation if you can,’ Mariner told him. ‘Come back to me if we get anything worthwhile.’ He turned back to Samantha. ‘We’ll then need a list of addresses and contact details to go with the names so that we can get in touch with anyone we know has been here this afternoon.’
Mariner turned his attention back to the screen. ‘The CCTV covers the whole nursery?’
‘It moves from room to room automatically, but it hasn’t been working very well.’
‘Are the images stored?’
‘Only for about ten minutes, it’s mainly a monitoring system.’
Shame.
‘Okay. Who was it who saw the person who took Jessica?’
‘The girls in the crèche. It’s been a busy day, so there’s one permanent member of staff, Christie, and two agency staff, Leanne and Kam.’
‘How long has Christie been with you?’
‘About eight months.’
‘That’s permanent?’
‘In child care, yes. A
Leaving Samantha for a moment, Mariner went out to the hall to brief Glover. ‘Get someone from uniform to retrieve as much CCTV footage as they can from a half-mile radius, then gather as many bodies as possible, and as soon as we have a description we’ll start talking to people in the immediate vicinity. See if the other OCUs can spare any troops. And call the technicians to get someone down here so that we can monitor phone lines going in and out.’
A loud buzz sounded and Mariner turned to see the top of a shaven head fill a segment of the split screen CCTV in the office.
‘That’s Josh’s dad,’ Samantha told him. ‘All the main nursery parents will be here to fetch their children in the next hour or so. We’ve still got quite a few left.’
Shit. This was going to be a logistical nightmare. Ideally, Mariner would want to keep everyone at the scene to be interviewed as potential witnesses, but if they did that the place would be packed with agitated parents and kids.
‘Okay, as long as you’re certain these are parents you know, you can let them go, but I want PC Mann to screen them and take details before they leave. We’ll need to talk to them later. Is there somewhere he can do that?’ The hall was far too cramped.
‘The room across the hall there is empty at this time of day.’
Mariner opened the door on what seemed to be a small classroom. ‘That’ll be fine,’ he said. He turned back to Glover. ‘When you’ve instructed uniform, stay here by the front door with Mann, to supervise people going in and out.’
‘How much do we tell them about what’s going on, boss?’ Mann wondered.
Mariner thought about that. Ordinarily in an investigation he’d want to keep everything under wraps to avoid creating panic, but in this case they needed as many pairs of ears and eyes working for them as possible. ‘Everything,’ he said. ‘They’ve probably seen the cars and they’ll certainly notice the uniforms. And we need them onside. Someone might have been aware of someone or something when they dropped their child off this morning.’
The buzzer sounded again, more insistently and an impatient face turned towards the camera.
‘You know him well?’ Mariner checked with Samantha.
‘Josh has been here since he was a baby.’
‘Okay, you can let him in.’
Samantha pushed the button on the telephone intercom and the shaved head bobbed and disappeared from the screen as, behind them, the main door opened and Josh’s father stepped in. ‘Everything all right?’ he asked Samantha, seeing that clearly everything wasn’t.
‘Fine,’ Samantha said, smiling weakly.
PC Mann stepped forward. ‘Would you like to come in here a moment, sir?’
‘What about anyone else who’s been in and out this afternoon? ’ Mariner directed his question at Samantha.
‘I’ll have to talk to the girls in all the rooms to find out who they’ve let in.’
‘DC Glover will do that,’ said Mariner. Taking his cue, Glover came across. ‘Interview separately and in isolation if you can,’ Mariner told him. ‘Come back to me if we get anything worthwhile.’ He turned back to Samantha. ‘We’ll then need a list of addresses and contact details to go with the names so that we can get in touch with anyone we know has been here this afternoon.’
Mariner turned his attention back to the screen. ‘The CCTV covers the whole nursery?’
‘It moves from room to room automatically, but it hasn’t been working very well.’
‘Are the images stored?’
‘Only for about ten minutes, it’s mainly a monitoring system.’
Shame.
‘Okay. Who was it who saw the person who took Jessica?’
‘The girls in the crèche. It’s been a busy day, so there’s one permanent member of staff, Christie, and two agency staff, Leanne and Kam.’
‘How long has Christie been with you?’
‘About eight months.’
‘That’s permanent?’
‘In child care, yes. A
Similar Books
My Angels Have Demons (Users #1)
Stacy, Jennifer Buck
Black Smoke
Robin Leigh Miller
Falling Angels
Tracy Chevalier
Firetrap
Earl Emerson
Starting Gate
Bonnie Bryant
Keeping Guard
Christy Barritt
Dead Island
Mark Morris
2012-07-Misery's Mirror
Unknown
Unlikely Hero (Atlanta #1)
Kemmie Michaels
Power of Suggestion
Carolyn Keene