THE AREA COMMAND Inspector’s tone of voice was evidence enough that it hadn’t gone well. Two hours before the planned street ID it had begun to snow steadily and by ten o’clock he was dubious of a good outcome. Emily and Rachel met him in the prison car park, travelling under their own steam in Robert’s Land Rover. It was a smart move. The Traffic car reported all sorts of problems getting there. Regulations prevented Daniels from taking part, fairness demanding that she stay away. No chance to influence the witness, no fear of being accused of that. Fair enough, she thought, time to back off and let uniform sort it.
PARKING IN A bay near the prison gatehouse, the man in charge looked out of his window as the Land Rover Defender pulled up alongside. The doors opened almost immediately, two females emerging, transferring to his car as instructed, brushing snow from their clothing as they slammed the doors.
As they waited for the shift change, the officer turned to face them, having a word with Emily, then telling Rachel exactly how it would go down when staff walked out of the gatehouse. That included the reason why she was there, even though it probably sounded like he was stating the obvious. Experience had shown that in circumstances like these it was advisable to be prescriptive.
There was no room for error. He didn’t want the witness doing or saying anything inappropriate, anything that might render the evidence inadmissible.
He smiled at the girl, an attempt at reassurance. ‘Rachel, you’re here to see if you can identify the man who abducted and held you captive in a garage in Northumberland. You must appreciate that you may not see the person responsible. However, if you do, you must indicate to me – in the clearest way possible – that you have seen someone you recognize. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, perfectly’
‘I can’t prompt you in any way. For example, I couldn’t ask is he the man in the red jumper or anything like that. You must describe and point him out to me: That’s him, he’s wearing a red jacket, a blue jumper, a yellow scarf or carrying a suitcase or whatever. Agreed?’
Rachel gave a little nod.
But as the minutes ticked by, the weather worsened. It was a complete white-out by the time the finishing shift trooped out. As they filed past the Traffic car en route to their own vehicles, they all looked the same dressed in uniform parka jackets with hoods pulled tight around their faces. The whole thing was a bloody disaster, an outcome the Inspector conveyed to Kate Daniels at the earliest opportunity.
‘THIS IS ALPHA ONE, ma’am. No joy here, I’m afraid. We weren’t able to make a street ident. By the time the shift cleared the gate they all looked like Nanook of the North. It was impossible for Rachel to tell one from another.’
Kate punched her steering wheel in frustration.
‘OK, return to base,’ she said. ‘And thanks for the assist.’
‘Don’t thank me yet. I was clocked by security in the car park. They kicked up a fuss when I arrived, gave me a bit of earache for not clearing it with them first. Think you’re in for the high jump for not giving them any notice, ma’am.’
‘That’s received, Alpha One. I’m shaking in my boots. Actually, I’m on my way there now to eat humble pie. Apologies if you got it in the neck.’
Parked just a short distance away, Kate had already received a summons from the Governor. He was screaming for answers, wanting to know why she’d locked up three of his bods, thrown them out again and then positioned a Traffic car on his doorstep without a word in his shell-like. She was about to tell him to butt out. It was prison service property, that was true, but she was on police business, investigating a very serious matter. He’d just have to put up with her doing her job.
Well, almost.
Naylor wanted her to wear kid gloves and calm troubled waters. She hoped the Governor wouldn’t turn out to be a prat or she’d find that extremely difficult in her present mood. With very little rest in the last few days, she was exhausted and ready to call it a day. ‘Can you ask Rachel and her mother to hang on for me, Alpha One? I’ll rendezvous with them in the car park in five.’
‘No problem,’ came the reply. ‘Sorry we weren’t able to help this time.’
‘Don’t worry about it. You did your best.’
Half a mile from the prison, Kate passed the Traffic car going the other way. He flashed his lights in lieu of a wave. She did likewise and drove on, arriving a few moments later. Emily and Rachel were sitting in the Defender in the staff car park. Pulling up alongside, Kate wound her window down and offered a few words of apology for another aborted attempt at identification. Then she made her way into the jail to keep her appointment.
THE GOVERNOR WAS FURIOUS. He had every right to be. It wasn’t every day that a member of staff was locked up by the Murder Investigation Team, let alone three. But he was an OK bloke and – without giving too much away – she managed to placate him. Her investigation had been an arduous one, an intense couple of weeks, but she reassured him that it was as good as over with just a few loose ends left to tie up. That was stretching the truth a bit, but he accepted it with good grace, even offered to walk her from the admin block to the main gate.
No hard feelings.
They fell in step, chatting about the recent spate of bad weather as they walked. But as they neared the gatehouse, Kate stopped listening to the man by her side, or rather his voice faded out of her consciousness as she noticed something odd through the chain-link perimeter fence . . . Emily’s Land Rover was only just pulling away. More worryingly, there was someone following . . . a suspicious second vehicle . . . skirting the car park . . . no lights on. Kate did a double take – just to be sure her eyes weren’t deceiving her – then she started running.
CHARGING INTO THE gatehouse in a panic, she banged loudly on the inner security window. The duty officer jumped to attention, abandoning his newspaper when he saw the Governor racing into the building behind her.
‘Rewind the CCTV!’ Kate yelled, pressing her ID to the glass. ‘Now, man! DO IT!’
Taking his cue from the Governor’s nod, the officer did as she asked.
Three pairs of eyes scanned the image as it rewound at speed until Kate told him pause it, then run it on at normal speed.
‘Freeze it there!’ she said.
Pressing the pause button again, the officer stopped the tape, leaving the image of the unlit car on screen. Without being asked to do so, he zoomed in on the car. One person only inside.
Instinctively, Kate knew who it was.
‘Let me out of here, quick!’ She moved towards the exit. ‘Call for backup and keep hold of that tape.’
It seemed to take for ever for the inner and outer doors to open and close. Then she took off, sprinting to her Q5. She started the ignition and sped off like a woman possessed.
The narrow country lane was winding and unlit, the Q5’s wipers struggling to cope with the bleaching snow. Each load that was wiped away was quickly replaced by more big white flakes that settled on the windscreen, obscuring her vision. Peering through it as best she could, she did a double-take, closing on a sight up ahead that was confusing: white lights rotating in the darkness.
‘Shit!’ Panic set in.
As she depressed the brake, slowing the Q5, her phone rang.
‘I know who did it,’ Carmichael said.