Ridpath read through the Jane Ryder file again, writing down the questions in his notebook as they occurred to him.
Which festival did she go to?
Who had she gone with or met there? Obviously not Rose Gray or Andrea Briggs.
What had happened?
Where had she gone afterwards, and who had taken her?
A ping on his computer brought him back to the present. He checked his mail, finding a message.
Tried to track down the backpack. Not having a lot of luck. CLAK is a skateboard brand popular in the early 2000s. Will check retailers tmrw. regards Emily.
There were four attachments: pictures of the backpack from different angles and a close-up of the logo.
‘Cool backpack, Dad, where did you get it?’
Ridpath jumped; he hadn’t heard Eve come in the room. She leant over his shoulder, looking at the screen.
‘I’ve not seen a CLAK like that before. Is it one of the limited editions?’
He pointed at the screen. ‘You know this brand?’
‘Yeah, it’s cool. A lot of kids at school have this backpack. Mum refused to buy it for me, said it was too expensive. So I got this Jansport instead.’ She pointed to the backpack sitting on the couch with her school books peeping out of the open top. ‘She let me decorate it with some mint patches though. I love the anime characters from Demon Slayer, and the Manchester Bee.’
‘You wanted to buy a backpack like this?’
‘Yeaaahhh.’ She lengthened the answer into a long sound like a rolling Derbyshire dale.
‘Where would you buy it?’
‘Only one place in Manchester. You and Mum used to take me. You dropped us off and went off to do your stuff.’
He frowned. ‘Afflecks? The old department store now full of trendy shops?’
‘Right first time, and only you would use a word like trendy, Dad. Remember, you hated climbing the stairs the one time you went with us and kept complaining about how expensive it all was.’
‘Sounds like me.’
‘Mum loved it though. She used to get her scarves there.’
Ridpath remembered Polly’s multi-coloured scarves. They had been a running joke between the two of them for a long time, bright purple being her favourite colour. ‘Where would you go to buy this backpack?’
‘Only one place, and it’s been there for years. Bagsy on the second floor. I don’t remember you ever going that far upstairs with us.’
‘Didn’t I stop at the weird cafe? They didn’t have any bacon butties.’
‘Not surprising, since it served vegan food.’
‘You should have seen their faces when I asked.’
‘One of your dad moments, Dad.’
‘You sure it’s the only place you can get this brand?’
‘Is United a football team? Does the earth circle the sun? Are BTS the bestselling music artists in 2020?’
‘I guess that’s a yes.’
‘Correct. You know, you could make a pretty good detective with a little training.’
‘Right, smart arse, brush your teeth and off to bed.’
She kissed him on the forehead. ‘Can I have scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast tomorrow, like you used to make…?’
She didn’t finish the sentence. Like you used to make when Mum was alive, was what she meant. He smiled. ‘Of course, one Dad’s special scrambled eggs tomorrow morning. You have to get up in time to eat them.’
‘I will, promise.’ She held out her hand with the thumb and pinky pointing forward. It was that strange teenage ritual again.
‘You’re supposed to do the same.’
‘Right.’ She touched the ends of her fingers and then twisted. ‘It’s a promise now.’
‘Words aren’t good enough?’
‘Not any more.’
He heard her pad across the room and up the stairs. He was left staring at the backpack on the screen.
Emily would have to visit Afflecks tomorrow.