It was starting to look like this could be a genuine abduction.
Sian’s father, Thomas Gibson, had arrived at the school in a panic, and they hadn’t managed to get much useful information out of him. Jenny Dean’s mother, Louise Jennings, had also arrived at the school to comfort her daughter and take her home. A liaison officer had been assigned to each family, and Karen hoped the officers would get more information from the parents when they were back in familiar surroundings. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to help. The shock of the situation made it hard to think straight and process information normally.
Both sets of parents seemed reluctant to leave the school, probably because it was the last place the girls were seen. But it was important to get them home. Once word got out, which it was bound to soon as every parent with a child at the school knew about it, the press would be swarming all over the village.
‘I don’t know what sort of man you think I am, Inspector,’ Dennis said through gritted teeth, ‘but nobody I know would take a grudge out on an innocent child.’
‘So you’ve had no bust-ups recently? You can’t think of anyone you’ve annoyed or had a disagreement with?’
Dennis screwed up his face and looked like he was going to launch into another tirade, but then he suddenly stopped and said, ‘Maybe there is something.’
Karen tensed.
‘We let Odd George live on a plot of land at the back of Dad’s place. It’s just a bit of scrubland, full of weeds, but recently Dad’s got it in his head to get planning permission and build a bungalow there, so he told Odd George to leave.’
‘Odd George?’ DI Morgan asked and raised an eyebrow.
Karen spoke up. ‘George Barrows. He’s lived in Heighington all his life and does odd jobs here and there. He used to live with his mother until she passed away ten years ago, and he couldn’t afford the private rent. I always thought George was a good friend of your father, Dean.’
Dean shrugged. ‘That’s as may be, but they seem to have fallen out. Just yesterday George turned up, hammering on the door, three sheets to the wind. He said he’s getting legal advice for unlawful eviction and promised we’d regret double-crossing him.’
Karen nodded. She didn’t know George Barrows well, but she couldn’t imagine him abducting two young children. Still, they couldn’t discount it out of hand without speaking to the man first.
‘We’ll check it out,’ DI Morgan promised.
Dennis had refused to let a family liaison officer come to his father’s house, which was where he’d been living since Jenny had chucked him out, so they made sure they had all his contact details before he left.
‘You don’t think he’s going to do anything stupid, do you, sir?’ Karen asked, watching the hulking figure of Dennis Dean lumber down the corridor and out of sight.
‘Probably,’ DI Morgan said drily and then turned to Karen. ‘I think we should locate George Barrows as soon as possible. I’d like a word with him.’
CHAPTER FIVE
The children’s teacher, Roz Morrison, was still too distraught to string more than a couple of sentences together. She was taking the girls’ disappearance hard and blamed herself.
When Karen told her Dennis Dean had denied taking Emily and Sian, she grew even more agitated.
‘If only I’d noticed they’d gone missing earlier.’ Her hands fluttered up to press against her forehead and she sighed. ‘But in the rush after the rehearsal, I didn’t notice they weren’t with the others.’ She dropped her arms so they hung limply at her sides. ‘The children were in high spirits and a little boisterous, which was why I asked them to sit in the reading area so we could continue The Magician’s Nephew. I wanted to calm them down, but if they’d been in their normal places, I’d have noticed earlier.’
‘Come on, Roz. It’s not your fault. They’d only been missing a few minutes when you raised the alarm,’ Jackie Lyons said.
The head teacher seemed a sensible woman and Karen was glad she’d kept her calm.
Karen was pretty sure they weren’t going to get much more out of Roz. She hadn’t seen the girls leave and had alerted the head teacher as soon as she’d noticed Emily and Sian were missing. When she’d calmed down a little, it would be worth talking to her again to get some background on both of the girls. It would be interesting to find out if the teacher was aware of any family trouble. They’d already had a few hints that Emily Dean’s home life wasn’t a particularly happy one.
Roz Morrison clasped her hands together and mumbled, ‘I’d like to help in the search, if that’s okay?’
‘I think that would be fine,’ Karen said. ‘We’ve set up a coordination point at the back of Longwater Lane and search parties are being organised from there. It’s important you search in one of the organised groups and listen to what the officer in charge tells you.’
Roz nodded obediently and reached for her coat.
Karen could understand the woman’s need to take part in the search. She needed to feel like she was doing something to track down the children.
‘There are already some photographers and journalists at the front gate. You may want to leave via the playground, Roz,’ Jackie Lyons said, her voice fading at the end of the sentence as she remembered that was the way the girls had left the school.
Roz bowed her head as she buttoned up her coat and then walked slowly out of the room.
‘Thanks for your help, Mrs Lyons,’ Karen said, turning to the head teacher. ‘We’ll probably need to talk to you again soon.’
‘Of course.’ Jackie hesitated. She put her hand over her mouth and then lowered it before saying, ‘There’s something I want to tell you. It might not be important, but it just struck me as a little odd.’
Karen nodded encouragingly, and then waited for the woman to continue.
‘Well, when Leanne Gibson arrived, she was distraught as you’d expect. I told her where to find you and followed her. That’s when I saw her run into Matthew Saunders.’
‘Danny’s father?’
‘Yes, that’s right,’ Jackie said. ‘At that point, she couldn’t have known Danny had seen the girls leave school. But her reaction to Matthew Saunders seemed very strange to me.’
‘In what way?’ DI Morgan asked.
‘Danny’s mother is a GP at the Heighington practice. She works long hours so Matthew is the parent who picks Danny up and drops him off at school. He’s quite friendly . . .’ The head teacher leaned a little closer to Karen. ‘I don’t like to gossip, but he’s quite popular among the mothers at the school gates.’ She raised her eyebrows meaningfully.
‘And is he friendly with Leanne?’
Jackie nodded. ‘Very much so. They’re always teasing each other and laughing and joking at the school gates. That’s why her reaction today seemed so strange. When she saw him in the corridor, she just stopped abruptly and snapped, “What are you doing here?”’
Karen frowned. ‘And what did he say to that?’
Jackie shrugged. ‘Nothing. Nothing at all. He looked very surprised at her outburst, and then he watched her hurry past. Leanne didn’t give him much of a chance to answer. She took off again, running towards you.’ The head teacher shot them an apologetic look. ‘I’m sorry. There’s probably nothing in it. Leanne was just overwrought.’