Danielle Levy's house was situated a mile and a half south of the police station in Mildenheath, a tired-looking lamp-post the only eyesore on a row of houses sporting downstairs bay windows and oak trees to the front and rear. The lawn was neatly tended to — something Wendy would not have noticed before she had a lawn of her own, but which she now appreciated.
Culverhouse pressed the doorbell, shuffled his feet and cleared his throat. Wendy raised an eyebrow in warning that Culverhouse should exercise some tact.
The man who opened the door looked as though he was in his mid-thirties, although small flecks of grey hairs in his closely-cropped black cut belied his true age.
‘Mr Levy?’
‘Parker. Darren Parker. Danielle's mum and I aren't married. You must be the two detectives. Please, come in.’
The white, glass-paned front door led into an open hallway. The staircase rose up the left-hand wall away from the door and the kitchen door was open at the far end of the hall. Darren Parker led Wendy and Culverhouse to the right-hand door and into the living room. Wendy took a seat by the bay window, Culverhouse preferring to stride around the living room inspecting ornaments and greetings cards as he began to speak to Darren.
‘Someone had a birthday?’
‘Danielle. Her seventeenth. Last month, actually, but we tend to keep the cards up until we get sick of the sight of them. Not much else to look forward to apart from Christmases and birthdays these days, is there?’
Culverhouse emitted a non-committal murmur. ‘“From your mum and step-dad” it says. I thought you weren't married?’
‘We're not, but Danielle always calls me her step-father. Me and Miriam are as good as married anyway, so what's in a name?’
Wendy smiled. It had been a long time since she had heard the words of a truly caring father. ‘So, when did you last see Danielle?’ she said.
‘In the morning before she went to school. Only briefly. We said good morning at the top of the stairs as I went to work.’
‘You're a carpet fitter, aren’t you? Is that your van on the drive?’
‘That's the one. Got my own business.’
‘I see. And was there any sign that Danielle had been home at all on Friday after she finished at college?’
‘Well, her rucksack was in the hall, so she must have been home. I think she said she had lessons up until lunchtime, though. I got back from work around one o'clock and her rucksack wasn't there then. I went out to walk the dog over Mildenheath Common for an hour or two and when I got back it was there, so she must have come back in between. Odd thing is, her shoes weren't there so I can only imagine she must have dropped her bag off and gone out somewhere.”
‘Can you think of anywhere she might have gone? A friend's house?’ Wendy asked.
‘We've tried all those. Danielle was always very streetwise and told us all her friends' names and phone numbers. We've spent the last day or two phoning round. We've even been up to the hospital to see if any unknown people have been admitted. We've just drawn an absolute blank. In retrospect, we probably should have phoned the police earlier, but we were so sure she had just gone into town or round to a friend's house. You hear it all the time, don’t you? People going missing and then turning up because the parents have panicked too early. I guess… Well, you never think it's going to happen to you, do you?’
‘I’m sure she'll be found safe and sound, Mr Parker,’ Wendy said. Deep inside, she knew that the chances of this were fast diminishing. ‘Are you sure that you and Mrs Levy don't know of anywhere else Danielle might have gone to?’
Darren shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and thought for a moment. ‘I’m pretty sure, yes. We've gone through the list a hundred times. Miriam's out now, walking the dogs on the Common in some sort of vain hope of finding something.’
‘You can leave the searching to us, Mr Parker,’ Culverhouse said. ‘I’m sure we'll find her soon. Do you mind if we have a quick look around her bedroom? Standard practice for a missing person.’
‘Yes, of course. It's the first room on the right.’
Wendy and Culverhouse ascended the stairs and passed the bathroom door at the top before opening the door into Danielle's room. The door creaked slightly as it opened, revealing a room which looked remarkably like any other seventeen-year-old girl's room. It had the air of youth and innocence, but without the mess and untidiness of the early adolescent. The posters of pop stars and male idols were gone, replaced with newspaper cuttings of drama productions and photographs of shows she had appeared in. Wendy recognised Danielle in a few of the photographs. She looked happy, carefree.
Her wardrobe contained the usual fare for a seventeen-year-old girl: jeans, short skirts, party dresses and low-cut tops along with an assortment of coats, shoes and handbags. Danielle Levy was clearly a girl who cared about her appearance; an effort which her photographs showed to be every bit a success. Nothing seemed to be missing or out of place. Except for Danielle herself.
The stairs creaking underfoot on his descent, Culverhouse began to ask the question before he was even visible to Darren Parker.
‘Do you know whether Danielle had a boyfriend at all?’
‘Not as far as I know, no. She was quite open with us as her parents, but you know what young girls are like. I don't imagine for one minute she always told us everything.’
‘Do you think her friends might have a better idea?’
‘Quite possibly. I should imagine she'd have told at least one of them if she was involved with someone. I did ask them all when we phoned around, if any of them knew of a boyfriend or someone she might have gone to see.’
‘And?’
‘No-one knew of anyone. We really don’t know who else she could be with. It's as if she's just vanished into thin air.’
‘And there were no signs of a break-in at all?’ Wendy asked.
‘No, but then again... Oh, this is going to sound so stupid.’
‘Go on, Mr Parker,’ Culverhouse said calmly.
‘Well, when I came home from walking the dogs the back door was unlocked. We usually lock it, and I know it was locked when I left for work in the morning as I hadn't unlocked it from the night before. I mean, it'd be pretty difficult for someone to get in that way, but not entirely impossible.’