Janey limped to the side of the main road and flagged down the next car to contain a woman, sighing in relief as the driver stopped.
All she wanted to do was burst into tears, but she held herself together somehow and quickly told the elderly couple what had happened. ‘Have you got a mobile phone? Could you please call the police, then? Please.’
‘I’ll do that,’ the woman said. ‘Get in and we’ll take you home or to the police station.’
Janey got into the car, relieved to be sitting down, aching all over now.
‘George, drive on. I can phone while we’re moving. We don’t want to give that man a chance to attack us as well as this poor girl, do we?’
He drove off slowly and she dialled 999, speaking clearly and crisply. She was put through to the police, explained again, then handed the phone over to Janey.
After she’d given her name and details, the woman on the phone asked, ‘Can you please tell us your daughter’s name as identification?’
‘Millie. She’s called Millie.’
‘Good.’
‘Is she all right?’
‘We have no warnings out for her, so she must be. We only knew that you had been taken from your home. Where are you?’
‘I don’t know.’ She turned to the woman. ‘Do you know where we are?’ Her voice broke on the final words and she smeared away the tears that were escaping her control.
‘Give the phone back to me.’ The woman gave their location and agreed that they’d take Janey back to Peppercorn Street, where the police were already waiting for her.
‘Thank you for helping me,’ Janey said. ‘I’m so grateful.’
‘We were happy to do it,’ the woman said.
‘Anyway, we’d been having a boring evening,’ the man said. ‘This’ll make a great story to tell our friends.’
Great story! Was that all he thought it was? Janey wondered. It had been like the worst nightmare of her whole life.
She shuddered, hating the thought of how her father had touched her, then she let her eyes close as she rested her head against the car seat.
She’d be all right once she’d seen Millie, she told herself. And surely they’d lock her father away now after he’d kidnapped her?
Surely she’d be safe now?
Angus suddenly needed a minute to himself. ‘I’ll go and look out of the front room window to see whether there’s any sign of Kieran or the police.’
No one answered. Edwina was talking quietly to Winifred and Nell was listening to them.
He didn’t switch the light on, but stared out of the window blindly, relishing the brief respite. Then something caught his eye, a flash of movement in a car. He didn’t move but suddenly all his senses were on alert again and he watched carefully.
There was definitely someone in the car, someone slumped down. What was anyone doing sitting out there at this time of night? It must have been the moonlight glinting on a wristwatch that had caused the flash of light. He screwed up his eyes and managed to get the car number, then went back into the kitchen.
‘Officer, I think there’s someone in a parked car watching the house.’
Edwina jumped to her feet, licking cake crumbs off her fingers. ‘Show me.’
They moved carefully into the front room, staying a little way back from the bay window. After a few moments the person moved again.
‘Can you keep an eye on the car and I’ll call in to see who it belongs to.’
Before she could do that, however, another strange car pulled up outside and Janey tumbled out of it, running towards the house, looking as if she’d been beaten or worse.
Angus ran to the front door, just as Janey crashed it open. He managed to slow her down. ‘Millie’s all right,’ he said, guessing this would be her first worry.
‘Oh, thank goodness!’
‘I escaped and flagged down a car.’
Edwina joined them. ‘I’d better go out and speak to them. Oh, damn! That other car’s driving off.’
‘We have its number,’ Angus reminded her.
‘Yes. Can you look after Janey? I’ll speak to the people who picked her up.’ She went outside, taking his agreement for granted.
‘Come on, love. But keep quiet, if you can. You’ll wake Millie if you go rushing into the kitchen and Nell’s only just got her back to sleep. Your daughter has very powerful lungs.’
He put an arm round the girl’s shoulders and walked into the kitchen, saying, ‘Look who came to join us.’
Janey stared round the room. ‘Where’s Millie?’
‘She’s in my bedroom.’ Winifred stood up and came across to give Janey a big hug. She held on to the shaking girl, making shushing noises as Janey struggled not to weep.
Dan stood beside them, patting them indiscriminately on the shoulders, first one woman, then the other.
‘Just let me see Millie,’ Janey begged. ‘I’ll be all right once I’ve seen her.’
She stood for a moment in the doorway of Winifred’s bedroom, then tiptoed across to the bed, where Millie lay fast asleep, spread-eagled in her usual starfish manner. The child looked rosy and well.
Janey drew in a long, sobbing breath and turned. ‘Thank you for looking after her.’
‘We were happy to do that. You know I love her as if she really were family.’
Janey sniffed and managed a near smile. ‘Yes. I know.’
Winifred put an arm round her again at the door and led her across to a chair in the kitchen. ‘Soon you must have a shower and we’ll tend to your poor feet—’
‘My feet?’ Janey looked down. ‘Oh, yes.’
‘But first, how about a cup of hot chocolate and a piece of cake?’
‘I know I’m home when you offer me cake. Thank you, Auntie Winnie. I love you.’
‘I love you, too, dear.’
‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Dan said.
Edwina had come back, staying by the hall door and listening. She and Nell smiled at one another, seeing the tender little scene, then she beckoned to Angus. ‘They’re taking Janey’s father down to the police station. I need to get some sort of unofficial statement from her, just to be sure what happened.’
He looked into the room, where Nell was bathing Janey’s face with a damp cloth, Dan was brewing a pot of tea and Winifred was cutting a piece of cake. ‘Give her a minute or two. The fussing will help her recover.’
‘You’ve got a big bruise on your face, Janey,’ Nell was saying, smoothing the girl’s tangled hair from her forehead. ‘Did he hit you?’
‘Yes. He always does. And he touched me.’ She pointed to her breast. ‘There. My own father!’
Edwina muttered and came forward. ‘He’s in custody and his cousin has accused him of the same thing, but he’s claiming he’s not your father.’
Janey stared at her, her face slowly brightening for all its bruises and scratches. ‘He’s saying he’s not my father? Oh, I do hope he’s telling the truth. It’d be the best news I could ever have. I’ll phone my mother first thing tomorrow. She’ll tell me if it’s true or not.’
She stared down at the plate and piece of cake, murmuring, ‘Not my father. Oh, please, let it be true.’ Picking up the cake, she took a big bite.
Edwina looked at Nell. ‘I’ll have to ask you to stay here to look after Millie, if you don’t mind.’
Janey looked up. ‘What do you mean?’
‘We need to get you to a doctor to check your injuries, then we have to take a proper formal statement. Do you trust Ms Chaytor and Miss Parfitt to look after your daughter?’
‘I’ve had plenty of practice,’ Nell told her. ‘I’ve brought up three sons.’
Janey sighed. ‘I’d rather stay here and look after Millie myself. Can’t you take the statement here? I don’t really need a doctor. It’s just bruises and scratches.’
Angus crouched beside her, studying her bruised face. ‘Better to do things by the rule book, Janey. It’ll make things easier when he’s taken to court.’
‘Will you come with me to the police station, then?’
He cast a questioning glance in Edwina’s direction and at her nod, said, ‘Yes, of course.’
Edwina turned to Winifred. ‘Thank you for your hospitality. We’ll be in touch.’
‘Look after her.’
‘We will.’
As they walked out, Edwina murmured to Angus. ‘My colleague will drive us. I’m going to check that car number plate on the way there. Do you mind coming in the police car? We’ll arrange a lift back. It’s just that I’d rather be able to say that I was with Miss Dobson from the minute she got home and you can bear witness to that, if necessary.’
‘Good thinking. I’ll do whatever you feel is best.’
She eyed him sideways for a few seconds, then said, ‘We got off to a bad start, you and I, didn’t we?’
‘I think your father is to blame for that.’
‘I suppose so. He’ll never change. He’s living in the past about that sort of thing.’
‘Well, you’re Nell’s cousin, so I’m willing to wipe out the past and start again.’
‘Yeah. Me, too.’
He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to have done that needed wiping out, but what the hell! Life was too short to hold grudges.
‘I can’t believe how quickly you and Nell got together,’ Edwina said suddenly.
‘Yes. It took us both by surprise. I certainly didn’t expect to find someone to love again.’
She didn’t say anything else but concentrated on the response to the car number plate query.
He sat quietly and when he noticed how strained Janey was looking, he patted her hand and whispered, ‘You’ll be safe from now on. We’ll make sure of it.’
When they got to the police station they were kept busy with interviews and writing statements for several hours. Janey also had to do a mouth swab for the DNA test.
At one stage Edwina came to see them, looking excited. ‘Do you mind waiting a bit longer? Will the baby be all right? It’s just … we’ve found something out that affects the bigger picture.’
‘Any hint as to what?’
‘Not yet. But I promise you’ll both be pleased.’
‘Is it all right if Janey makes a phone call?’
‘Perfectly all right.’
He glanced out of the window. ‘I see there’s a café across the street. Perhaps we could grab something to eat, since we missed breakfast?’
‘Of course. But please come straight back.’
As Edwina returned to the rear offices, he looked at Janey, hating to see her poor battered face. ‘What do you make of that?’
‘I don’t know. But I don’t think she’d lie to us, do you?’
‘No. In fact, she’s usually too blunt. Let’s phone Auntie Winnie from the café. It’ll be much pleasanter there.’
The detective now in charge of the case grinned at Edwina when she asked him how long it’d take to check Dobson’s DNA to find out if he was the father of Janey.
‘It just so happens we’re trialling a new speedy DNA test from America. How about we put your samples forward for inclusion in the trial? The new test isn’t yet validated for court use, so you’ll still have to get a standard test done as well, which will mean taking more samples, but we can find out within a couple of hours what the samples show and it should give you some guidance at least. Actually, we’ve found it very accurate so far.’
‘I’ll owe you for that tip, David.’
‘You can buy me a drink one night.’
She looked at him in surprise, then smiled. ‘OK.’
‘Friday next?’
That did surprise her. He was new to the area and not the best-looking guy on the planet, but then, she wasn’t the most beautiful woman in the world, either. He seemed pleasant enough, so why not have a drink with him and see if anything came of it? Her father wasn’t around any longer to deter men from dating her. ‘Suits me just fine.’
When Angus and Janey got back, she explained and asked for another sample. ‘Can you wait for the first set of results?’
‘Yes.’ Janey said. ‘Oh, yes please. And I’ll be praying it shows he’s not my father.’
‘Don’t quote me on it, but I don’t blame you,’ Edwina said.
When she left them in the waiting room, Edwina went to grab a snack bar from her emergency stash and found David waiting for her again.
‘Wayne Dobson’s started singing nice and loudly to us,’ he said abruptly.
‘About what?’
‘About what he’d hinted at before, being hired to cause trouble for the old lady Janey lives with. We need to track down that car you saw. It allegedly belongs to a Mrs Dorothy Dobson.’
‘I doubt it. She’s Janey’s mother and she’s in a refuge. She won’t have had access to any vehicles lately. But I’m happy to phone and ask her about the car. I know the woman who runs the refuge, so I can probably get through to her more easily than you could.’
‘OK. Go for it. I’ll get on with the paperwork.’
She went to find him a quarter of an hour later. ‘Dorothy Dobson says she’s never owned a car or learnt to drive. Her husband wouldn’t let her. I checked and there’s certainly no record of her ever having a driving licence. What’s more, she hasn’t left the refuge for the past few days. Lots of witnesses to that. She says her husband’s cousin owns a car like the one I described, though.’
David looked thoughtful. ‘Curiouser and curiouser.’
‘I wonder if this watcher ties in to the harassment of Miss Parfitt at number 5. Over the past few weeks, she’s been mugged and had the summer house in her back garden burnt down. She’s pretty sure someone is trying to force her to sell her home. A developer could get three modern houses on a piece of land that big. Angus may know something about it. He’s a family friend. He’s still here with Janey.’
‘Let’s go and talk to him.’
Angus confirmed the harassment, explaining about the way he’d nearly caught the mugger in the first incident, and the security system he’d extended for Winifred. ‘I’ve also got the latest brochures from two estate agents I’ve never heard of in my car. They were posted to her. Janey may be able to tell you about other incidents.’
He went out to get the brochures and Janey joined them to discuss the ongoing harassment.
‘There’s one developer who’s been warned before for hustling old people in this town and buying their houses at knock-down prices. He’s made a lot of money from small developments,’ Edwina said thoughtfully. ‘He’s the one doing that new one they’ve called Cinnamon Gardens.’
Angus nodded. ‘My partner just sold your aunt’s house to him, but willingly. You must have seen what a bad state it was in. I helped her hold out for a decent price, though.’
‘She was lucky. He isn’t usually generous. Unfortunately we’ve never been able to pin anything dishonest on him and his developments go through the planning procedures very quickly. I’d guess he has someone in the council helping him navigate the shoals of bureaucracy.’
‘I’m dealing with a similar case on the other side of town, only this time it’s the son of the house owner who came to us to report harassment to his elderly father,’ David said thoughtfully.
‘Who’d have thought a kidnapping could suggest links with this sort of thing?’ Edwina shook her head. ‘Perhaps Nolan’s getting too confident.’
‘I think I’ll go and have another word with Lionel Dobson,’ David said. ‘He’s very eager not to be charged with incest and to get off as lightly as possible from the kidnapping charges, so I’m sure he’ll co-operate.’
‘Who’d be stupid enough to hire him to harass anyone?’ she asked scornfully. ‘He’s not the smartest person in town, goes at things like a bull at a gate. I doubt even Nolan could be that stupid.’
They looked at one another thoughtfully.
‘Maybe it’s his cousin who’s being hired?’ David said slowly. ‘Wayne Dobson hasn’t got any police record. In fact, he lives a very quiet, private life.’
‘Hmm. Well, however loudly this Dobson sings about his cousin’s doings, I’m still going to charge Lionel with assault. Have you seen Janey’s face?’
‘Yeah. He’s only about twice her size, the sod.’
‘Can I sit in on your interview with him?’ she asked.
‘Be my guest.’
They took their places in the interview room, with Lionel opposite them together with a bored-looking duty lawyer.
After the preliminaries, David waited a moment to ask his first question, studying Lionel thoughtfully. Then he said quietly, ‘We’d be grateful for your help in figuring out what was going on tonight, why your cousin wanted to go to Miss Parfitt’s house.’
‘How grateful?’ Lionel asked at once. ‘Will it be taken into account?’
‘Oh, I’m sure everything will be taken into account.’
‘Someone’s paying Wayne to harass that old lady, someone who wants to buy the house. He wouldn’t tell me who, though.’
‘But you went there to kidnap your daughter.’
‘She’s not my daughter. I keep telling you that.’
‘OK. Kidnap Janey.’
‘Well, Wayne said since what I wanted would frighten the old lady as well as anything else, he’d help me to get Janey.’
The lawyer whispered in his ear, but he waved the man away and stared at the two police officers.
‘Your cousin Wayne doesn’t have a record, Mr Dobson. We checked. Why should we believe you?’
Lionel hesitated, then said, ‘You could check out his smallholding. There’s a valuable green crop at the back, though he’s probably destroying it as we speak.’
‘As in?’
‘Marijuana.’
‘Interview closed,’ David said abruptly and led the way out of the room.
Edwina smiled as she left him talking to his inspector. This was getting even more promising.
He came rushing into the staff room. ‘Let those two go home, but keep Lionel Dobson here. I’m going after his cousin. We knew someone round here was growing, but not who.’
She went off to do as he’d suggested.
When they got to the smallholding, David smiled as he got out of the car and waited for a second car to pull up.
‘OK. Let’s go.’
They had to wake Wayne up and he was a bit dopey as he answered their questions.
‘I think he’s been smoking his own weed,’ one man said.
It was all over in a few minutes, with two men staying to guard the crop till it could be taken away and Wayne refusing to answer any more questions till he got a lawyer.
‘It’s my cousin’s crop,’ he insisted. ‘What do I know about growing that stuff?’
When they got back, further questioning elicited only the same responses. Each man was claiming the other was responsible for the illegal crop.
It was Edwina who thought of a way round this during a break in questioning. ‘I wonder whether Janey’s mother knows anything about this?’
‘Do you think they’d let me come into the refuge with you, Edwina?’ David asked.
‘If I vouch for you.’
Dorothy, who was now insisting on being called Hope, had plenty to tell them after years of watching what her husband and his cousin were up to. She even knew the name of the man who came to take away the crops.
‘Did they never guard what they said in front of you?’ David asked in surprise.
‘I don’t think they even noticed me most of the time, and that was the way I wanted it, so that I could protect Janey. Only I didn’t, did I? Lionel’s friend raped her. He was in on the marijuana, too.’
Edwina looked at her in surprise. ‘That didn’t come out in court.’
‘Lionel said if I gave one hint about it, he’d maim me permanently. I believed him.’
‘Will you testify in court about the marijuana now?’
‘Yes. I hope they keep Gary in prison for even longer because of it, and my ex with him.’
‘You’ve been very helpful, Mrs – um Ms Redman.’
‘Any time. Will you be seeing Janey?’
‘Yes.’
‘Give her my love.’
‘I will.’
‘Have you seen the baby?’
‘Yes. She’s a lively little thing.’
‘I’m hoping to see her soon.’ It was the first time she’d really smiled.
When they were in the car, Edwina thumped the steering wheel. ‘Why do women let men turn them into such meek, helpless creatures?’
‘Beats me. I bet no one would do it to you.’
‘You can be certain of that.’
‘Good for you. Anyway, let’s go back. We may have the DNA results by now.’