Caroline closed the door of her car and held her hand in the air. She needed to think and she didn’t want Dexter interrupting her train of thought unnecessarily. But it was the ringing of her phone that jolted her back to the here and now. She looked at the screen. It was Aidan.
‘Aidan. What is it?’ she said, immediately realising she’d perhaps sounded a little brusque.
‘We’ve had data back from one of the online nurseries we contacted about those roses, the Black Baccaras? There’s a small handful of people within a reasonable radius of Rutland, but only one who’s ordered repeatedly over the past few years, just before Valentine’s Day.’
‘Let me guess,’ Caroline said, rubbing her temples with her free hand. ‘Tom Mackintosh.’
‘Well, it says Thomas here, but yeah,’ Aidan replied, sounding slightly deflated.
‘He’s the IT guy from Allure Design.’
‘Why would he have been sending roses to Amie Tanner every year since her dad died?’
Caroline sighed. ‘I don’t know. Presumably for the same reason he got her the job at Allure in the first place. And the reason why the email from Gavin Tanner to Martin Forbes saying he hadn’t turned up had been deleted at Martin’s end, but not Gavin’s. Because Tom had access to Martin’s computers and accounts.’
‘Christ. Where are you? Did you find the car?’
‘Yeah. We’re in Uppingham. Tom didn’t turn up for work today. He called in at about nine o’clock and said he’d be working from home, but there’s no way that’s where he is. It’s him who’s taken Amie. I know it is. Think about it. She willingly got into someone’s car, so it must’ve been someone she knew. I bet you any money he’s made damn sure he was driving behind her and has flashed her over and told her he’s spotted something wrong with her car. “Jump in with me, we’re going the same way anyway”. I can see it now. Aidan, can we get an emergency trace on Tom’s phone please?’
‘Alright. I’ll go to the Chief Super now.’
‘Cheers. Please be as quick as you can.’
They sat in silence for a minute or two, listening to the sound of the occasional passing car.
‘Want to place a bet?’ Caroline said.
Dexter shrugged. ‘Wouldn’t like to guess. I doubt he’ll have gone into Uppingham. Not if he wanted to get away and take her somewhere. We know he’s not taken her to work, so it’d be too risky going that way. If he took the A47, he’s heading towards either Leicester or Peterborough. I don’t think he’ll be going to either city, but there’re a thousand places along that corridor where he could’ve turned off. Thing is, the second he doesn’t go straight over that Uppingham roundabout, Amie’s spooked. As far as she knows, her colleague’s giving her a lift to work.’
‘Shortcut? Petrol en route?’
‘More like a longcut. And the petrol station’s in the centre of Uppingham. They’d literally drive straight past it on the normal route in. My money’s on the A47. The only question then is how he managed to get away with it. He’s either come up with a cracking excuse, threatened her or incapacitated her.’
‘Last one’s difficult while driving,’ Caroline replied, leaving them both to think for a few moments longer. ‘I just feel like we should be doing something other than sitting here,’ she said eventually.
‘Got to sit tight. Can’t risk flying off in the wrong direction. Phone trace won’t take long.’
Moments later, Dexter’s phone rang. It was a response from the control room. He listened and jotted down a couple of details, then ended the call.
‘Right. Tom’s phone’s been off since six this morning. Last place it was online was at his home. Amie’s, on the other hand, was on until a few minutes before nine. It goes off on the A47, east of the Uppingham roundabout.’
‘Okay,’ Caroline said, piecing the puzzle together in her mind. ‘South from Preston to the Uppingham roundabout, left onto the A47 heading east. Peterborough direction. Train station? Unlikely. CCTV, too many people. Too much of a risk of his car being spotted. His phone’s been off for hours, so he’s keen not to be seen or found. He’s planned this. He’ll be going far away from it all.’ She pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened Google Maps. She ran her finger along the A47 corridor, looking for possible places Tom might have gone. Her heart jumped in her chest as she saw the green area just south of the junction with the A43. ‘Fineshade Wood. Where do I know that name, Dex?’
‘Isn’t that the place he was talking about when we first met him? I thought he said he camps out there sometimes. Yeah. Yeah, he did. He said you should get one of those Swedish huts.’
‘Danish shelters.’
‘Same thing.’
‘We can’t go in heavy. What if he’s armed?’
Dexter’s eyes narrowed. ‘Tom Mackintosh? What’s he armed with, a floppy disk?’
Caroline started the car. ‘He’s a keen survivalist. He’ll have hunting knives. We’re going to need armed response.’
As Caroline pulled out onto the road, Dexter nodded and made the call.