The woman officer, Jodie, asked Sandy for a description of Mina. She found herself at a bit of a loss what to say. She was a young girl. Small for her age, slight, like a little bird – she’d been six weeks premature and somehow she’d never caught up. Long brown hair, school uniform. That’s all there was.
‘We’ll need a recent photograph.’
She could see all three of them scanning round the room. She hadn’t got round to putting any photos up. No one said anything, but she could feel them judging her.
‘I haven’t got one, not printed out,’ she said. ‘There’s one from her primary school somewhere, but it’s ancient.’
‘Maybe on your phone. Can I have a look?’ Jodie reached her hand out towards Sandy.
Jesus, the thought of them going through the pictures on her phone! She tightened her grip.
‘I’ll do it,’ she said. She turned away from Jodie and started scrolling through. There was nothing bad on here, just selfies from the bar, but it wasn’t a good look in the circumstances. Maybe she’d delete them later. She was sweating now, could feel little beads of it coming out on her forehead. Her pits were getting sticky and smelly. At last she found one – a selfie of Mina and her they’d taken on her birthday. ‘Here. This one. It was in April.’
She twisted round and showed the screen to Jodie and then Naz.
‘Great,’ said Jodie. ‘Can you send it to me? We need to get this out as quickly as possible.’
Her hands were shaking as she entered Jodie’s details and messaged her the photo. She was willing it to send, so they wouldn’t take her phone off her. As they waited, she stared at the picture. Two faces grinning at the camera. Me and my girl. That had been a good day. A burger and a milkshake and then sitting in the park on a bench overlooking a little pond. It had one of those brass plaques on the back – ‘Elizabeth’s bench – she loved this place’. It was soon after they had moved here. New place, fresh start and all that. She’d been worried about money, tired from dealing with all the admin and extra expense that goes with moving, but Mina had been all right. They’re adaptable, aren’t they, kids?
She didn’t care what these pigs and her snotty neighbour thought. She was a good mum. She did her best. Looking at the picture, it showed. Mina was happy. Wasn’t she?
‘Okay,’ said Jodie, ‘I’ve got it. I’ll send it through to the office. Now, can you tell me what she was wearing yesterday morning?’
‘I dunno, school uniform – not like in the photo, her new one for Fincham Park School. She’s in Year Seven. Polo shirt, green jumper, black trousers.’ She tried to picture her leaving that morning. ‘She had a black quilted coat and she’d done her hair in plaits with pink scrunchies.’
Kath squawked as she spilled her tea. It slopped down the edge onto her hand and then dripped on the carpet.
‘What?’ said Sandy.
‘I found a pink scrunchie,’ Kath said. ‘When I went out looking for Mina just now. It might not be anything. I mean, lots of girls have them, don’t they?’
Sandy was on her feet now. ‘Show me it!’
Kath looked startled.
‘I don’t have it,’ she said. ‘I found it on the floor of the café on the corner. I gave it to the young lad there. Den, his name is. Den’s got it.’