‘Hello?’ Maarten answers the phone.
‘Sir, we’ve got some press on the phone, asking for a quote. They’re running a series of human interest stories on Becky Dorrington. They’re doing it with the support of the parents, to try to make Becky seem real, more vulnerable to her captor.’
‘Put them through,’ he says. He checks his watch.
‘Hello? DCI Jansen here.’
‘Hi, my name is Matt Peters, calling from the Guardian. We ran a story today about Becky and we are going to run another tomorrow. We’re touching on some vulnerable stuff – the fact that she’s so young, that she was anxious and not eating at school. Could we quote you?’
‘No, I’m sorry. I believe the latest press release went out this morning, so that’s the only official source you can use.’
‘And what about Mrs Jenny Brennan? Do you have a quote about her? We’re mentioning her jumping in to save what she thought was Becky. Any quote there?’
Mrs Brennan. Again. It was harder than he thought to keep her out of profile on the case. ‘You can say that the Hertfordshire Police thank her for all of her help, and that anybody with any information should step forward. We are always grateful for the help of the public.’
Maarten taps the phone with his fingers once the call is finished. Anxious at school – he’d just said Becky had been anxious. Her parents hadn’t mentioned that. There could be something… He calls Adrika. ‘Can you and Sunny pop round to the Dorringtons’ and ask them about Becky’s anxiety? Get some info?’ He needed to ask Nic too.
‘Of course, sir.’
‘Oh, and the counsellor in Hong Kong – Dr Bhatti wasn’t it, can we chase him up?’
Whoever did this is watching. Running the story is not a bad idea. They’re watching, and if a sociopath can be reached out to at any time of year, then maybe it is Christmas.