12

Craig got to the lodges just after eight in the morning. Milly’s car was still there, but the curtains were open, so she must be up. He was about to knock when he saw his note still stuck in the doorjamb. Alarm bells began to ring in the back of his mind.

Doing a fast about turn, he headed back up to reception. It wasn’t open, but Mary didn’t seem to mind being disturbed at home.

“Milly hasn’t checked out,” she said. “I saw her yesterday when I gave her the mail. She went out in the morning, but came back around three. I know she was planning on doing some of the walks around here, so maybe that’s where she’s gone.”

“Do you have a spare key I could borrow?” he asked, hoping she wouldn’t ask why.

“Sure, I’ll just get it for you.”

Craig took it and ran back to the lodge. He let himself in. All of Milly’s things were still there, including the laptop, papers, cufflink in an evidence bag, and drawings of a cottage and rink of some kind. To him it looked like a disused curling rink, but not one he recognized. He assumed it was related to the case as it was with her notes.

He gathered up all the papers, along with Milly’s laptop and locked up. Keeping the key, he drove back to the nick. No one recognized the cottage and her laptop didn’t reveal a location for it. Frustrated, he bought up a search engine and looked for online satellite maps of Perth. Still nothing. He widened the search engine and then sat back in his seat. River Edge Lodges was clearly visible on the screen with a cottage and curling rink.

He grabbed the picture and compared the two images.

Vickery tapped on his door. “Guv, do you have a moment?”

“Come and look at this. A near perfect match wouldn’t you say?”

His sergeant crossed the room and his face darkened as he studied the images. “Where did you get that?”

“It was in with the DI’s case notes.” Craig rose. “It has tae be where he’s holding them. She must have found oot. Living there she might have seen something or heard something.” A horrid thought occurred to him. If Millie knew and she’d gone investigating on her own…what if the bloke had caught her? “You’re coming with me.”

“But Guv…”

“Dinnae argue with me. Let’s go.”

Driving around the lodges, Craig grew more and more frustrated. He couldn’t find the cottage.

Vickery fidgeted in the seat beside him. The man was increasingly edgy and sweat beaded his upper lip. “It’s no here, guv. Leave it.”

Craig shook his head. He parked by the fence opposite lodge four. “Wait here, I won’t be long.” He jogged back to reception and caught Mary just as she was about to go out. “Mary, where’s this? Satellite maps put it here, but I cannae find it.”

“It’s the old Bridge of Earn Curling Clubhouse and rink. It belongs to the care home, but because our land surrounds it, it’s fallen into disrepair.”

“How do I gain access?”

“There’s a gate behind lodge nine, but we don’t have the key. John gave it to the care home after he built the fence to keep the wee ones and residents of the lodges out.”

“Thanks.” Craig pulled his phone from his pocket as he headed back down to the car. “Lodge nine,” he told Vickery. He barked instructions into his phone, wanting back up ASAP.

He leaped up the wall in front of lodge nine and ran down the side. There was the gate, and beyond that, the cottage and disused curling rink. He grabbed the padlock and looked at it. New.

“Wait for backup,” Vickery said. “Or for the key.”

Craig shook his head. “No time. It looks as if the latch is loose.” He pulled hard, breaking it. Throwing the gate open, he ran across the ground towards the cottage. He leapt up on to the verandah and kicked the door in, headless of his own safety. The room was empty and it didn’t take him long to discover the rest of the cottage was too, although there were indications someone had been there recently.

Of Vickery, there was no sign. Craig went back outside and over to the lodges. He rang the nick, again requesting backup and also asking for forensics. He headed back around to Milly’s lodge, on the off chance she’d come back the other way and missed everything that was going on.

He glanced at her car as he walked past it and stopped dead. On the front seat lay a chunk of her hair and her watch. He closed his eyes. He was too late.

Vickery appeared behind him. “I got the key…”

“It’s too late.” He hit the fence hard and then leaned against it. “Where are you, Milly? And if you ken where this place was, why didn’t you tell me?”

****

Uniformed officers, and white suited SOCO’s swarmed over the cottage and grounds. There were plenty of prints and fibers. Craig was hoping they’d get a match to the perp, if not the victims, but somehow doubted the perp would be that stupid. He watched for a bit, and then headed back to the nick to work on the files and Milly’s laptop. The answer had to be somewhere in her notes, why else would the bloke take her?

As he worked in her office, he prayed desperately that God would intervene somehow, either by letting Milly escape, or by helping him find the answers.

Vickery tapped on the door. “Let me help, guv. I could do the laptop.”

Craig shook his head. “She was on tae something with the cottage. Mibbe there is something else here.”

“It’s no the same bloke. The timing is all wrong.”

“Mibbe we just havenae found Vanessa’s body yet. Mibbe Milly—DI Jenson disturbed him. He was hiding on the same site she was living on. Mibbe she saw or heard something.”

“And mibbe you’ve been spending too much time in her company. You need tae look at this like a cop, guv and no like a bloke in love.” Vickery turned and flounced out before Craig could call him on it.

Brooks tapped on the door. “Guv, the DI did ring in yesterday. Vickery took the message. I thought you knew.”

Craig straightened. “What? No, I didnae know. When did she call?”

“You were in a meeting. The sarge was doing what he calls the crank line.”

As he stood, Craig remembered coming in on the end of one of the calls. “Where’s the log?”

“It’s right here.” Brooks went over to the desk. “Or it should be.” He rummaged through a pile of files on Vickery’s desk and picked it up.

Craig took it, running his finger down the list. “According to this the last call was eleven yesterday morning. Yet, I wasnae out o’ the meeting until three. And I distinctly remember him saying something about a crank call when I came back.”

Vickery came back in. “The fingerprints are back. From all the missing girls, but none from the perp…” He stopped dead. “What are ye doing by ma desk?”

“When was that last call you took yesterday?”

“It’s in the log,” he replied defensively.

“No, the one from the DI.” Craig moved over to him. “The one I walked in on and you told me was a crank call.”

“I wrote it doon.”

Craig waved the log in front of him before slamming it to the desk. “No, you didnae! I ken you were talking to the DI. Where is she?”

“How should I know? If it was her then…”

Craig knew he was a hair’s breadth from losing his temper, but didn’t care. Vickery was the last person to talk to Milly, so why was the man blocking him at every turn? Unless he had good reason to. And Craig could only think of one reason. “Dinnae lie tae me or I shall arrest you for obstruction.”

Vickery snorted. “You cannae do that. That Sassenach plod and her ways are rubbing off on you. You havenae a shred of proof.”

Craig scowled and looked at Brooks. “Talk me through this phone call.”

“I can go one better than that, sir. DI Jenson insisted all the incoming calls be recorded.”

“Why did you no mention this afore? Play the tape.”

Vickery paled and tried to back away.

Craig blocked his path and grabbed his arm. “Och no. You are going nowhere.” He pushed the older man into a chair and cuffed him. “Dinnae you move a muscle.”

Brooks found the place on the tape and hit play.

“Hello, MIU incident line. DS Vickery speaking, how may I help you?”

“Can I speak to DCI Fraser?” Milly’s voice was unmistakable.

“Who is this?”

“You know exactly who it is, now put me through.”

“I cannae do that if you willnae give me your name.”

“DI Jenson.” Milly’s tone became irate. “Now put me through to DCI Fraser. This is urgent.”

“He’s no here right now. You’ll have tae leave a message.”

Craig could almost hear the smirk in Vickery’s voice. He watched as the man squirmed on the chair.

Milly, on the other hand, was frustrated as well as annoyed. “I know where the perp’s hiding the women. It’s a cottage behind the fence at River Edge Lodges. The access point is via the gate behind lodge nine. He’ll need a search warrant. I’ll wait until tonight for him, then attempt to get in myself.”

“Aye. I’ll see the message is passed on.”

The tape ended. Pure rage filled Craig. He turned and hauled Vickery to his feet. “Francis Vickery, I am arresting you…” He finished the rights and then looked at Brooks. “Take him down.”

“I want ma brief.” Vickery glared at him.

“I want doesnae get.” Craig shoved him. “Get him oot of my sight.” He picked up the report on the fingerprints. Milly’s prints were on the list. Along with the prints of the other six girls, including Vanessa Bradbury’s. Only those prints belonging to the perp was missing. Would this bloke never slip up?

The only hope he had was that Vickery would talk before lawyering up. But the man had already asked to see one.

He closed his eyes. Lord, what have I done? She knew where tae find him, she was right all along and I sent her packing. Now it’s too late. Forgive me. Dinnae let me find her too late.

He sucked in a deep breath and reached for the phone. He had to let McCaskill know and he wasn’t looking forward to it at all. Not only was another officer missing, Craig had a dirty cop in his team and hadn’t noticed.

****

Milly struggled back to consciousness. Her hands were bound tightly behind her. She ached and her head pounded. Her throat dry, she tried to swallow, but only gagged. It was dark, with a pale light coming from a single window. She groaned.

“Are you all right, guv?”

Milly squinted, trying to make out where the voice was. “Bradbury?”

“Aye. You’ve been out of it for hours. I thought mibbe he’d killed you.”

“Where are we?” She struggled against the bonds, but they were too tight.

“I dinnae ken. He moved us so they wouldnae find us. Because you’d rung the station and told them.”

How did he know that? Unless he had someone on the inside again? And which one of the team was it? Her mind was full of questions. But instead she asked, “How far were we moving for?”

“Twenty minutes, mibbe more.”

Milly groaned. “Then we could be anywhere. Have you seen his face? What does he look like?”

“There are two of them. One always wears a mask and never says a word, but his eyes are kind of familiar. The main bloke doesnae have a face,” the younger officer said. “Or fingers…”

Milly frowned. Didn’t have a face? That made no sense.

The door opened and a tall figure stood there, silhouetted against the light from outside. Then the door shut and the blind pulled down across the window. The main overhead light flicked on.

Milly shut her eyes against the glare for a moment, then squinted at the man. She froze and gasped. “You…it’s you.”