First Frost Read Free

from the middle of the room.
    ‘These seats, sir. Sorry,’ apologized Detective Constable Arthur Hanlon. ‘There must be something wrong with them.’
    Mullett was not going to enter into a discussion about the new office furniture. He was aware that people had already been grumbling, the ungrateful slobs.
    ‘When I want your opinion, Detective, you’ll know about it.’ Mullett’s stride was well and truly ruined – and it was only ten past nine in the morning. He looked about the room, hoping DI Bert Williams might have materialized, ready to take over with the finer details, as per his duty. But he was still nowhere to be seen.
    Right , Mullett said firmly to himself; he was not going to be derailed by a lack of attendance and discipline. ‘Now, while the nature of Julie Hudson’s disappearance bears some similarities with the case of Miranda Connelly – the girl who was snatched from a department store in Bath last July – there are enough differences for me to believe at the moment that there is no connection. Notably, Miranda Connelly was a good four years younger, and the store in question had virtually no security. I don’t like to say it, but it was a case of somewhat easy pickings. Aster’s, as we all know, is a famously well-run ship – the pride of Denton.’
    There was a titter from the floor, but Mullett didn’t bother to look up. ‘I doubt very much that Aster’s was being targeted by a paedophile. No. In fact, I don’t believe Julie Hudson was snatched by anyone,’ he continued. ‘And the last thing I want is for the press to start printing such nonsense.’ He paused, running his fingers down his newly trimmed moustache. ‘Where’s DC Clarke?’
    ‘She’s off duty today, sir,’ replied DC Hanlon, accompanied by more of the awful squeaking.
    ‘Taking a well-deserved rest,’ someone else chipped in. ‘Frisky little thing.’
    As a further bout of tittering subsided, Mullett said calmly, ‘Hanlon, you were with DC Clarke when she interviewed Mr and Mrs Hudson together yesterday evening at their home. I’ve read Clarke’s report – am I right in thinking there are good grounds to believe that Julie has in fact run away?’
    ‘That’s the impression we both arrived at, sir,’ said Hanlon. ‘As you will have read, Mr and Mrs Hudson appear to have a number of personal issues, to say the least. Frankly, they could barely look each other in the eye. And the girl’s bedroom was suspiciously tidy, as if one of the parents had hurriedly cleaned the place up.’
    Mullett wasn’t sure how much he trusted DC Clarke’s intuition; she seemed rather immature and impressionable. Or Hanlon’s for that matter. The great oaf was too fat to take seriously. Yet he was willing to give them credit here. A girl running away from home seemed straightforward enough, even for them. What he didn’t need was pressure from the press drumming up hysteria. He knew how pernicious they could be, having been bitten once before – it had nearly ended his career.
    ‘Thank you, Hanlon. One of the reasons why I wanted to be here this morning, having been alerted to what our friends in Fleet Street are trying to cook up, is to make sure we approach this case with an appropriate and proportionate response.’
    Mullett’s mind flashed to the evergreen fairways of the Royal Denton Golf Club, and the impressive men making up this morning’s foursome. ‘I shouldn’t have to spell it out,’ he said, knowing that was exactly what he’d have to do, ‘but we don’t want any unnecessary attention. Which would distract us from our proper investigations.’
    ‘Does that mean, sir,’ asked DS Frost, slumped in a seat at the back, puffing away, ‘that you don’t want us to go public on this missing Julie Hudson?’
    ‘That’s exactly what I’m ordering – for the time being. I don’t want public lynchings breaking out in Denton, just because a few tabloid hacks have it in for the police. DI Williams is in