Read DS Jessica Daniel series: Think of the Children / Playing with Fire / Thicker Than Water – Books 4–6 for Free Online Page B

tapping the walls with his knuckles for some reason. It was the kind of thing people did on property
programmes but Jessica figured they knew what they were doing while she wasn’t convinced the constable had any real idea.
    ‘It doesn’t
feel
like an allotment shed, does it?’ Izzy said.
    ‘Go on,’ Jessica answered.
    ‘Where are the tools, spades, rakes, sweeping-up brushes and so on you’d expect in a shed like this? I know some people might use it as somewhere to go for a bit of peace and quiet
but you’d still have something, wouldn’t you? Even just a radio?’
    Jessica nodded. ‘Exactly and it doesn’t look like there’s much in the way of plants outside. Whoever’s been using this place hasn’t been doing much gardening. So
what have they been doing?’
    She spun the chair around so she was facing the desk again. The entire unit looked thick and solid, a huge job for just one person to move. The right side had three drawers and she pulled the
first one, hearing the rattle of a ballpoint pen sliding to the front. Jessica went to pick it up but then stopped herself, taking an evidence bag from her pocket and sealing it inside. She doubted
there would be any fingerprints or DNA on it but it would be careless to touch it herself.
    The second drawer was empty but the bottom one was stuck tighter than the compartments above it. Jessica pulled hard until it sprung forward. At first she didn’t see anything but, as Izzy
stepped to the side allowing in fractionally more light, Jessica noticed a pad of paper pushed towards the back. She took another evidence bag from Rowlands and put her hand inside, pulling the
notebook out before placing it on top of the desk.
    She took her phone out of her pocket and tapped the screen making it light up, hovering the device over the paper so she could read the words. It was a list written in blue biro and there was no
doubt about the name at the top. Izzy gasped as she leant in and read it for herself.
    ‘Isaac Hutchings’ was written in neat block capital letters next to an address.

5
    The mood was dark in DCI Cole’s office. Only occasionally did they find something so out of the ordinary that no one knew how to react. The pad and pen from the desk had
been sent off to the labs, which were always creaking under the sheer amount they had to do.
    The three detectives each had a photocopied version of the front page of the pad. Jessica had endured another sleepless night, aware of the implications of the list.
    She could hear Reynolds tutting as Cole began to speak. ‘I think we can all agree this list of names is pretty disturbing. The good news is that, aside from Isaac Hutchings, the other
eight children mentioned have all been accounted for and are safe. We’ve been discreet when talking to their parents – the last thing we need is a panic. But we have asked them to be
vigilant.’
    ‘Who the hell is making lists of children?’ Reynolds asked, sounding as angry as Jessica had ever heard him.
    ‘The only connection we know of is the dead driver of the stolen car,’ Jessica replied. ‘We’re still waiting on results to come back but as it stands we have no idea who
he is. I spoke to someone this morning and they said we might get something this afternoon – but that’s only if DNA from the body matches someone already in their database. They
haven’t been able to remove enough of the glass from his face, which means the only photo we have is so horrendous there’s no way we can release it to the media.’
    She looked across to Cole, who added: ‘It’s doubtful we will get anything better but they’re trying to find a digital artist who can create a likeness of what he might look
like without all the glass. The guy talked me through a list of the injuries earlier and said there’s serious damage to the driver’s bone structure too. They’ve said it’s
going to take a while, which is code for “we don’t have enough money to pay this