Gone Read Free

loose against the whites – the way the eyes of head-injury victims sometimes went. He’d have to make a note to check with the FLO where the tranquillizers were coming from. Check there was a GP somewhere in the wings and Rose wasn’t just raiding the emergency medicine cabinet.
    ‘It’s her birthday tomorrow,’ she whispered. ‘Are you going to get her back for her birthday?’
    ‘Mrs Bradley,’ he said, ‘I want to explain why I’m here and I want to do it without alarming you. My firm belief is that from the moment the man who took your car realized his mistake – that Martha was in the back – he’s been making plans to release her. Remember, he’s scared too. He wanted the car, not a kidnap on top of a jacking charge. It happens in every case like this. I’ve got literature on it back at the office. I was reading it before I came over and I can get copies of it, if you’d like. On the other hand—’
    ‘Yes? On the other hand?’
    ‘My unit has to treat it as a kidnap because that’s the responsible thing to do. It’s completely normal, and it doesn’t mean we’re alarmed.’ He could feel the FLO watching him as he spoke. He knew the FLOs attached red flags to some words when dealing with families affected by violent crime so he trod lightly on the word ‘kidnap’, said it in the light, barely there voice his parents’ generation would have reserved for the word ‘cancer’. ‘We’ve got every ANPR team on alert. Those are the automatic numberplate recognition units – cameras watching all the major roads for your car. If he hits any of the major routes in the area we’re going to pick him up. We’ve drafted in extra teams to do questioning. There’s been a press release to the media so we’re virtually guaranteed local and probably national coverage. In fact if you switch on the TV now you’ll probably see it on the news bulletins. I’ve got someone from our technical department coming over. He’s going to need access to your phones.’
    ‘In case someone calls?’ Rose looked at him desperately. ‘Is that what you mean – that someone might call us? You’re making it sound like you really think she’s been kidnapped.’
    ‘Please, Mrs Bradley, I meant what I said. This is all completely routine. Completely. Don’t think there’s anything sinister or that we have any theories yet because we really haven’t. I don’t believe for a minute the investigation is going to stay on the Major Crime Unit’s books, because I think Martha will be back safe and sound for her birthday tomorrow. Still, I need to ask you some questions.’ He fished a little MP3 recorder out from his inside pocket and placed it on the table next to the phones. The red light blinked. ‘You’re being recorded now. Just like you were earlier. Is that OK?’
    ‘Yes. It’s . . .’ She trailed off. There was a pause, then she gave Caffery a flittering, apologetic smile, as if she’d already forgotten not only who he was but also why they were there, sitting around the table. ‘I mean – yes. It’s fine.’
    Jonathan Bradley put a mug of tea in front of Caffery and sat down next to Rose. ‘We’ve been talking, thinking, about why we haven’t heard anything.’
    ‘It’s very early days.’
    ‘But we’ve got a theory,’ said Rose. ‘Martha was kneeling up on the back seat when it happened.’
    Jonathan nodded. ‘We’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve told her not to but she always does it. The moment she gets into the car she leans over into the front seat and fiddles with the radio. Tries to tune it to something she likes. We’re wondering if maybe when he took off in the car he was going so fast that she was thrown back – down into the footwell, maybe banged her head. Maybe he doesn’t even know she’s there – she could be unconscious, could be lying there, and he could still be driving. He could have abandoned the car already and she could be in there, still