Not long after one o’clock in the morning, police were called to a disturbance in Sheffield City Centre. A group of four men were involved in a drunken brawl. A shop window had been smashed and one man was relieving himself into the fountain in the Peace Gardens. The micturater gave his name as Sebastian Page. He was immediately arrested and sent to South Yorkshire Police HQ, where he was charged with disturbing the peace, drunk and disorderly behaviour, and the possible abduction of Keeley Armitage.
By the time Matilda arrived for work, he was sober enough to be interviewed but suffering a massive hangover. She allowed him to stew in his own self-pity for a little while longer. She had a search party to organise.
‘Who’s our land search manager?’ Matilda asked as she strode into the incident room.
‘I think it’s Aaron,’ Sian said, looking up from her computer.
‘Where is he?’
‘Not in yet.’
‘Typical. Sian, get the search team out to Stannington now. I want as many PCs and DCs as we can spare. Christian, get a team together and get knocking on all the doors on Acorn Drive and the surrounding areas. I want to know everything about the Armitage family. Ask the usual questions: what are they like, any rows or arguments? What’s Keeley like as a child? Is she happy, smiling, or sad and lonely? Any friends? Have they seen anyone suspicious or new hanging around lately? Any strange cars? I want the head teacher of Mary Croft spoken to again. Have any other kids or parents reported strangers hanging around lately?’
‘Ok. By the way, I’ve liaised with the press officer. They’re good to go whenever you are.’
‘Right. I’ll need to have a word with Craig and Linda about that.’
Matilda went into her office and pulled a waterproof jacket from the hook on the back of the door. She wanted to go out to Stannington herself and see the search in action.
‘Christian, before you go,’ she called out to him as he was leaving the office, ‘I want an Armitage family tree. I need to know whether they have family living close by, cousins, aunts and uncles, that kind of thing.’
‘I’ve already started with that. Ellen’s finishing it off for me.’
‘Thanks,’ she put her hands on her hips and looked around the room. ‘Where the sodding hell is Aaron?’
***
DI Christian Brady was a dedicated and trustworthy detective. Matilda had welcomed him into her team with open arms and, like Sian, he gave one hundred per cent. His only distraction was the ravages of age. He was balding slightly, and was getting a little soft around the middle. His once fitted shirts were now worn loosely, and he’d taken to arriving for work wearing a designer flat cap.
He was heading down the corridor, phone in hand, when he almost collided with Aaron who was conducting a private phone conversation behind a vending machine.
‘Jesus, Aaron, you scared the— What’s wrong?’
Aaron was frequently asked if anything was wrong. He had a permanent look of worry on his face, a brooding brow, and slouched shoulders; he was a dead ringer for Idris Elba’s Luther but without the cool coat.
‘Nothing, why?’
‘There is. Has something happened? Is Katrina all right?’ he asked, referring to Aaron’s wife.
‘Fuck,’ he said, kicking the side of the vending machine.
‘Come here.’ Christian grabbed Aaron by the elbow and led him to an office. He opened the door and poked his head through to make sure it was empty before pushing Aaron in.
The small room was dark, cold, and there was an underlying smell of damp. It took a while for the lights to warm up.
‘I’ve fucked up big time,’ Aaron said, sitting on the edge of a desk.
‘What have you done?’
‘It’s nothing work related. Well, it kind of is in a way.’
‘Spit it out, Aaron.’
He took a deep breath. ‘Remember the Mercer case earlier this year?’
‘I’m hardly likely to forget it. I still see blood sometimes when I close my eyes.’
‘Me too. Anyway, I’ve sort of been seeing Leah.’
‘Leah?’ Christian thought for a moment. ‘Leah Mercer? Isn’t she married?’
‘No. She got the marriage annulled.’
‘Even so, you’re married.’
‘I know,’ he said, looking down.
‘I don’t get it; didn’t she leave Sheffield?’
‘Yes. She moved in to her brother’s place in Liverpool. I’ve been seeing her at the weekends.’
‘What about Katrina?’
‘I’ve said I’ve been working extra shifts.’
‘Jesus Christ, Aaron.’ Christian looked on his colleague with scorn. A committed family man, Christian could never contemplate having an affair. He loved his wife and his children far too much.
‘Leah’s pregnant,’ Aaron blurted out.
‘Oh my God.’
‘I’m know. I’m fucking idiot.’
‘What are you going to do?’
‘I have no idea. I’ve been trying to end it with Leah for a couple of months. I love Katrina so much. I hate the fact that I’m hurting her, and she doesn’t know it.’
‘It’s not hurting you that much if you’re still sleeping with Leah.’
‘What do I do?’ Aaron asked, looking up with pleading eyes.
‘If I knew the answer to that I’d tell you. You’re going to have to bite the bullet and admit what you’ve done. You’re going to hurt a lot of people, but you’re going to have to accept that.’
‘Shit.’
‘Come on, Matilda’s looking for you. You’re our land search manager and you’re needed in Stannington.’
‘I don’t think I’m up to this.’
‘You don’t have an option,’ Christian said, his voice stern. ‘You’re at work, you leave your fucked-up life at home. There’s a missing girl out there relying on us to find her. Now, I’ll gladly have a pint with you and try to help you sort out your mess, but right now, we’ve got a job to do.’
He took a step back and held the door open for Aaron to go through.
‘You’re right.’ Aaron said.
***
Stannington was on the edge of the city of Sheffield, on the border with the Peak District National Park and, beyond that, Derbyshire. Up the road from Acorn Drive, where the Armitages lived, was the B6076 Stannington Road which ran straight into open countryside. Farms and fields lay either side and there was a direct route to the Damflask Reservoir.
Matilda had to cover all the bases. It was possible that Keeley had been kidnapped, and, for whatever reason, the kidnappers hadn’t called back. Maybe Keeley had died in an accident; maybe they’d murdered her. Or, maybe, Linda or Craig Armitage had made the whole story up and they’d killed her. She’d spent the majority of last night tossing all the scenarios around in her mind but couldn’t settle on one. It was little wonder she’d only managed four hours’ sleep. If she was dead, there was a strong possibility her body was around here somewhere, and Matilda would find it at any cost.
It was eight o’clock when the first minibus containing uniformed officers in all-weather gear turned up. DS Aaron Connolly had a map of the areas to be searched and dispatched officers in teams.
Matilda climbed out of her car and watched as officers were split up and dispersed. She shivered as a gust of cool wind whipped around her. According to the weather forecast, a storm was predicted for later this week. Hopefully Keeley would be found before the bad weather set in.
There were many areas in and around Stannington where a small girl could be hiding, lying injured or dead. Stannington Park and patches of green for children to play on were dotted about, all of which had to be searched.
Vanloads of uniformed and specialised officers with trained dogs descended on the area. They were all given maps and targeted areas to search. It was co-ordinated chaos. Matilda watched as Finn Cotton began his first case as a fully qualified detective constable after several months as a trainee. The wind was nipping at his face, turning his cheeks red. He zipped up his coat and pulled the hood up, covering his strawberry-blond hair. He was in a team with Scott and Rory. They were to search the grounds surrounding Underbank Unitarian Chapel and Townhead Farm, up to Riggs High Road. Finn took a laminated map from Aaron and they headed off, heavy boots resounding on the broken road.
Beyond Stannington Park, the houses disappeared and the horizon opened up to farms and countryside and scattered copses of trees. All of these needed to be searched. Well House Farm, Oldfield Gate Farm, Parkside and Little Parkside Farm and Goodyfield Farm would all have outbuildings and fields, all of which would need to be searched. Beyond those was the River Rivelin, and a specialised underwater search team were dispatched to the area in the hunt for the missing girl.
Above Stannington, SY99, the force’s helicopter, was flying low as it looked from the skies for anything they could relay to the officers on the ground.
Matilda looked up and squinted in the sunshine. She didn’t hear Sian approach.
‘We’re like an occupying force,’ she said.
Matilda turned around and saw what she meant. The police had taken over Stannington. Marked cars and vans were haphazardly parked everywhere. Uniformed officers were knocking on doors, talking to people on the street, handing out leaflets. The campaign to find Keeley Armitage had begun. It was more than forty hours since she had gone missing. Matilda hoped all this effort wouldn’t be in vain.
‘Is this the most up-to-date map we’ve got?’ Matilda asked.
‘I’m not sure. Why?’
‘It’s still showing Dyson Ceramics on here. If you look over the hill, you’ll see the whole site has been levelled and they’re building houses on there. How can we search for someone when the fucking map is wrong?’ she said in frustration, thrusting the map at her DS.
She turned and took large strides up the steep incline. Sian quickly followed.
‘The search teams aren’t stupid. They’ll know these maps aren’t one hundred per cent accurate. They’ll search the areas they’re designated to do whether it’s a factory or now a housing estate.’
‘Is there any wonder the Armitages don’t have faith in us when they see the rag-tag bunch we’ve got looking for their daughter?’
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Didn’t you hear Rory? He asked Aaron to give him and Finn the area down near Hill Top as that’s close to Our Cow Molly and they can pop in for a Ferrero Rocher ice-cream cone.’
Matilda came to a rest at the side of the road and leaned against a brick wall.
‘Mat, it’s just gallows humour. He didn’t mean it. Everyone is committed to finding Keeley,’ she said, putting her arm around her. ‘Look, why don’t you take an hour or so off? There’s not much you can do here.’
‘No. I need to be doing something. I just …’
‘What?’
‘I just can’t believe this is happening again,’ she said, looking out at the swarm of officers searching for a missing child. Matilda had a lump of emotion stuck in her throat that was making her feel sick to her stomach. She’d always believed history repeated itself but this was cruel.
‘It’s not happening again. It’s completely different. If you treat every missing person case like Carl Meagan’s, then you’re going to drive yourself insane. We’ll find Keeley. I know it,’ Sian said defiantly.
‘I wish I shared your optimism,’ Matilda said. She relaxed slightly.
‘Now, what’s this you were saying about Ferrero Rocher ice cream? Is that actually a thing?’