Jack nodded. ‘Just tell me what you want me to do.’

  Ridley bowed his head, his voice barely audible. ‘Help me, Jack.’

  CHAPTER SIX

  Jack did not get to the station until after eleven that morning. He was still in a state of complete shock about what Ridley had told him, but he had given his word that he would not repeat anything to anyone. It was a heavy burden, but Jack was determined to do whatever he could. He just had to determine how he could do that, and where to start.

  Laura had left a note on his desk to remind him that Penny was out that evening and he was supposed to look after Hannah. Maggie had also called to tell him that she might be late home that night. He had just sat down at his desk when Clarke appeared at his office door signalling that he wanted a word. Jack hurried into his office, expecting to be reprimanded for being late into the station.

  ‘We are not psychic, Sergeant Warr; if it’s not in the CRIS, no one knows where you are. In future, please make sure the teams are able to track you down if they need to. Now, I have been informed today that Rodney Middleton’s trial has been put back several weeks due to the backlog of cases. His lawyer has been on to me to ask for a bail hearing. I denied the request, this being a second violent attack, and because of concerns for his state of mind, but he didn’t like it and will no doubt be pestering me again. I’m aware you’ve been putting our probationary officers to good use and I want you to continue to do so. The sooner we get this cleared up, the better. I’ve given a lot of thought to your request for a search warrant for Middleton’s flat, but we still have no evidence of any crime other than the one he was arrested for. I need something solid, Jack, and I’ll need it sharpish.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  Jack returned to his desk, where Sara was waiting to talk to him.

  ‘You said to focus on young runaways who may have travelled to London from the North.’

  ‘Yes, you got anything?’

  Sara passed him a neatly typed report.

  ‘I ran a mispers search through the National Crime Agency Missing Persons Unit. There is one that’s a strong possible: Jamail Brown, aged fourteen. She disappeared from her home in the Wirral over eighteen months ago. There has been no sighting of her since, and I’m waiting on photographs and further details. The other girl is from Solihull: Diandra Fuller, aged fifteen. She was in foster care but disappeared a year ago. She seemed to have been in trouble with the police and was sent to a young offender institute. Again, I’m waiting to get more details and a photograph sent through.’

  Jack nodded as he skimmed through the report. ‘OK, thanks, Sara. Can you ask the others to see me in the boardroom in fifteen minutes? I need to know how they’re doing on the probation lists, and everything else. I’ll be assigning some new work that I need done.’

  ‘Yes, sir. Shall I bring you a coffee in there?’

  ‘That would be greatly appreciated, thank you.’

  Jack opened his briefcase, took out the large plastic bag Ridley had given him and put it in the top drawer of his desk, which he then locked. Next, he checked his notes on the Middleton case and sorted out what leg work he would assign to the probationary officers so that he would have more time to work on the Ridley situation.

  Anik looked over at Jack as he rocked back in his chair.

  ‘You seem to be monopolising all the young probationers, Jack. You know there’s a suspicious death that’s just been called in, and . . .’

  Jack collected his papers and pushed back his chair.

  ‘Anik, do I have to use this ruddy CRIS to say I’m going into the boardroom?’ he asked, paying no attention to what Anik had been saying.

  ‘You do. DCI Clarke likes to know exactly where everyone is.’

  ‘Shit. It was so easy just marking it up on the bloody board.’ Jack returned to his desk and logged in to show that he was due in the boardroom at 3.30 p.m.

  ‘You heard any update on Ridley?’ Anik asked as Jack headed to the boardroom.

  ‘No. See you later.’

  Jack was in the boardroom sifting through his notes when Sara carried in a tray of coffee and sandwiches. She handed the coffee around and put the plate and some paper napkins in the centre of the table, so they could be easily reached if anyone wanted one.

  ‘OK, let’s start by seeing what you’ve got for me.’ Jack reached for a sandwich. ‘Who’s on the fire brigade situation?’

  ‘I am, sarge.’

  Jack nodded, speaking with his mouth full.

  ‘You are Hendricks . . . James, right?’

  The officer nodded. He looked very young, with a short haircut and ruddy cheeks. He had a wide gap between his front teeth.

  ‘I tracked down one of the firefighters at the scene, Brian Hookam, and he said that if I wanted further information, I needed to talk to a senior fire investigating officer called Vernon Glover, who retired a year ago.

  James handed over his typed report, as Jack ate another sandwich. ‘So, did you talk to Hookam?’

  ‘Yes. He was certain that they had found no evidence of accelerants being used but recalled that the fire started in the young girls’ bedroom due to something being placed over the Calor gas heater. That’s when he suggested contacting Mr Glover who was a senior firefighter at the time.’

  ‘Have you traced Glover?’

  ‘Yes, but I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to him yet.’

  ‘OK, anything else from Mr Hookam?’

  James had his notebook open and thumbed through pages. ‘He said that as far as he could recall, Mr Middleton senior was drunk and hysterical. He had arrived when the blaze was already out of control, and by then the firefighters were using the pumps and hoses. He had tried to go inside, but they had to hold him back; that’s when his wife turned up in a taxi – ’

  Jack held up his hand to interrupt. ‘Did Hookam say anything about Rodney Middleton?’

  ‘He said that, as far as he remembered, Rodney Middleton was treated in an ambulance after he had attempted to get into the house.’

  ‘Did he remember if Rodney was inside or outside when the firefighters got there?’

  ‘I did ask, but he couldn’t remember. He said that the boy’s clothes were on fire, and he was in a very bad state.’

  ‘OK, fine. Right, next up, who’s on the criminal records of Rodney Middleton?’

  ‘I am, sarge.’

  ‘You are DC Lions?’

  ‘No, sir, I’m Leon Elba. Lions was assigned to something with traffic, so I took over. I have here the file of information that I’ve managed to get so far.’

  Leon was dark skinned, with delicate features and cropped black hair.

  Leon passed the file to Jack, who began reading through it.

  ‘As you can see, sarge, the last serious offence for assault was four years ago when he was twenty-one years old, and is similar to his latest assault for which he is presently awaiting trial. He served six months in a young offender institution and there are a lot of references to his medical issues, plus four other offences for petty crimes and threatening behaviour.’

  Jack closed the file.

  ‘He certainly seems to have been a regular visitor to the station. Who’s been tracking down his probation officers?’

  Sara put up her hand. ‘I have. But before I go through that, I now have photographs of the two missing girls. I also have five more girls of similar age, and from different parts of the country.’

  Sara passed the photographs to Jack. She had made notes on each of the photographs, with the girl’s name, age, location and dates from the mispers reports.

  Jack nodded. ‘Good. I want to show these to Amanda to see if she recognises any of them. We do have extra time now due to Rodney’s trial date being put back. So, next, what about the probation reports?’

  ‘Well, it’s quite hard to get to the actual officer, as there have been so many dealing with Middleton. I had to pull a few strings . . . my brother is a probation officer, so he helped me . . . well, as much as he legally could do.’

  Sara passed another file to Jack. He took out the typed documents and looked at the first page.

  ‘What’s this?’

  ‘There was a report in 2017 regarding someone claiming to be a Metropolitan Police officer. He called the NHS 111 service and stated that he believed Rodney Middleton was very dangerous. He wanted to give a warning about his behaviour but said he was unable to offer help himself as he was from a different district, and it would be an abuse of power.’

  Jack continued reading.

  ‘So, this unknown officer was then put through to a clinician who suggested a welfare check on Middleton, but it’s not clear whether this took place? I don’t effing believe it!’ Jack exclaimed angrily.

  Sara nodded. ‘Yes, it appeared that there was no immediate threat to life, so nothing was done.’

  ‘So, we don’t know if this was followed through or not. And next we have an arrest for breaching a public protection notice . . . and his mental state was assessed by a community psychiatric nurse?’

  ‘Yes, sir. And in her report, she wrote that she had observed Middleton staring at young children in a playground, and then discovered him staring at her own children. It was reported that another assessment should take place to decide whether or not he should be detained, and warned that he could be a risk to other children.’

  Jack shook his head as he continued to read. ‘That evening he was detained and interviewed by two doctors and a mental health practitioner. They were unable to contact the nurse who had submitted the report, and as there had been no signs of Middleton acting strangely while in custody, they released him. Middleton had told them that his two young sisters had died in a fire and he was still suffering from the tragedy. They said he should contact his local GP and passed their details to a probation officer who had been attached to Middleton when he had committed his first assault.’

  Sara nodded, then gestured to the file. ‘So that’s where we have the probationary reports starting. His local GP referred him for psychiatric help through CAMHS, and he was given an appointment with a Dr Angus Seymour. The clinic was to report to his probation officer, a Linda Harvey, and I have her contact details for you . . .’

  There was a knock on the door and Jack turned with a look of irritation as Laura walked in.

  ‘Sorry to interrupt, but I did leave a message for you, Jack. Maggie called this morning to remind you about getting home on time. She just called again to make sure you got the message, as she’s held up at the hospital. You left your mobile on your desk.’

  Jack jumped up. He had completely forgotten Penny was out that evening and he was supposed to look after Hannah.

  ‘Thank you, Laura. I’ll have to leave in a few minutes.’

  Jack closed the file. ‘I’ll take this home, Sara, and finish reading it this evening. Thank you all. I want you to check out if Amanda Dunn is still at the hostel, and if not find out where she is. I’ll also want to have a meeting with Mr Glover, and see if you can check out the anonymous officer who contacted 111 – as well as the woman who reported seeing Middleton looking at her children. From what I can see, he doesn’t seem to stray far from his original home, the one that caught fire. The basement flat is only a few miles away, and . . .’

  Jack checked his watch. He needed to be home before Penny left so he gathered up all the files and put them into his briefcase. He hurried into the incident room to collect the information Ridley had passed him, as well as his mobile phone. Unlocking his desk drawer, he took out the plastic bag and shoved it into his bulging briefcase.

  He was just heading out when Anik stopped him and asked if he could work on Saturday as he had a friend arriving to stay. Jack snapped that he had not had a weekend off for weeks and it wasn’t convenient. He was further irritated when Anik said he had run it by the DCI, and it was on the schedule.

  ‘Fine, I’ll come in, but what about Laura?’

  ‘She’s off this weekend. It’s all on the duty roster.’

  Jack was in too much of a hurry to get home so just shrugged and walked out. But he was pissed off, as he had wanted the weekend to focus on Ridley’s situation. Somehow he had to help him prove his innocence, but right now, he didn’t even know where to start.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Thankfully Jack arrived home in good time. Penny was waiting for him, about to take a bath and get ready for her evening out.

  Jack dumped his briefcase in the hall, threw off his leather coat and went straight up to see Hannah. She was in the play area of her bedroom, with a small TV on and so many toys littered around her that it was like an obstacle course just to go and pick her up. He played with her for a while, then when Penny called out that it was free, Jack carried Hannah into the bathroom.

  Jack ran the bath as he undressed Hannah. He tested the water before putting her into the bath, piled high with foam as he had overdone the bubble bath. Hannah was quickly covered in bubbles, splashing around and having a wonderful time. He washed her hair, which caused a few tears as she got soap in her eyes. But he was able to calm her down as he used one of the big bath towels to wrap her up and take her back to her bedroom. He rubbed her hair dry, covered her in talcum powder, and found some fresh pyjamas, whilst Hannah wriggled and chattered away. Penny popped her head round the door to let him know that she was leaving. Hannah began screeching that she wanted her nana, and Jack had to promise that he would read three bedtime stories after making a special eggy bread supper.

  Maggie arrived home about an hour later. She hurried into the kitchen as she could hear Hannah shouting. Jack had his shirt sleeves rolled up and had managed to get talcum powder in his hair. He was now attempting to whisk another batch of egg and milk together, as he had burnt the eggy bread on his first attempt.

  Maggie kissed Hannah, who was trying to escape from her highchair, and gave Jack some tips on how to make the perfect eggy bread. ‘She had it for breakfast, so I’ll see if we have some nice cookies or maybe add honey.’

  Jack eventually got the hang of it and cut the eggy bread into slices, poured some honey over it, and put it on Hannah’s high-chair tray. She ate eagerly, and Maggie left them to it while she had a quick shower. She had been on her feet all day, and was tired out. By the time she came down, Hannah had eaten all of her eggy bread, had downed a glass of milk and was now ready for her promised three stories.

  Maggie ordered a Chinese takeaway, set the table and opened a bottle of wine. She went to the bottom of the stairs and listened to Jack reading aloud from Hannah’s favourite book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, smiling as she heard him do all the funny voices, then she almost laughed out loud when she heard her daughter demanding, ‘Again, again . . .’ Jack began to read the story again and Maggie went and poured herself a glass of wine. She fetched her handbag so that she could be ready to pay for the takeaway delivery, but in the end she couldn’t resist going back upstairs.

  Standing outside the bedroom, she peeked through the partially open door. Hannah saw her and began shouting ‘Mama!’

  Maggie went in and kissed and cuddled her daughter, then told Hannah that daddy and mummy had to go downstairs to have their dinner. Hannah was having none of it and demanded that Maggie read her a story. Jack told her firmly that she had already had her promised three stories, and it was time for her to go to sleep.

  The doorbell rang and Maggie told Jack that her purse was in her bag on the table in the hall. He went downstairs and paid the delivery boy, then went into the kitchen to lay out all of the cartons. By the time he had warmed the plates, Maggie was back.

  ‘She’s asleep,’ she said with a smile. ‘I was worried you wouldn’t get home in time. You weren’t answering your mobile this morning, so I spoke to Laura.’

  ‘I know, I’m sorry. I switched my mobile off for my meeting this morning and forgot to turn it back on. Then I was in the boardroom with the team, and I left it on my desk.’

  Maggie sat down at the table and began spooning out noodles and rice onto her plate, then beef, chicken and some crispy duck.

  ‘I think I over-ordered!’ she said, pouring herself a glass of wine.

  ‘Well, I’m starving. It’s been a busy day. Thank goodness Laura reminded me about getting home this evening.’

  ‘I thought you might be trying to avoid me or had run off with a young beauty,’ Maggie said with a pout.

  ‘Ha! Chance would be a fine thing! I’ve been up to my ears in this Rodney Middleton case. To be honest, I’m beginning to think I’m just creating more work for myself. If I’d just taken it through to the trial, it would be over and done with.’

  Maggie watched Jack eat huge mouthfuls of noodles, whilst talking at the same time.

  ‘Well, I had a heavy-duty day, too,’ she said. ‘We are totally inundated at the moment, and really short of beds. There are patients being left on trolleys in the corridors while we try and find room for them, and we’re short staffed as usual, down three nurses and two doctors. We’re all completely run off our feet.’

  Jack nodded sympathetically.

  ‘This new DCI is a real pain, too. He’s obsessed with every little thing being reported back to him, and we have to use this bloody CRIS system so he can monitor where we are at all times. I mean, with Ridley we just used to mark it up on the noticeboard. Anyway, just as I was leaving, I was told that I have to be in tomorrow, having not had a weekend off for weeks.’

  ‘Same for me . . .’ Maggie poured herself another glass of wine then topped up Jack’s glass.

  Jack took a mouthful then continued. ‘What if I’m misjudging him?’

  ‘You haven’t actually told me all that much about it. We’re like ships passing in the night at the moment. What’s he like?’

  ‘He’s about six feet two, very trim; he obviously works out. He was one of the first black officers to be fast-tracked. He has impressive credentials.’

  ‘No, not your new boss! The boy who’s been arrested.’

  Jack sighed. ‘Well, I haven’t actually interviewed him yet.’