She braced herself.
‘I compared the DNA recovered from the foot to the profiles on the national database, and,’ the technician paused, as he turned the piece of paper over for them to see, ‘there wasn’t a match.’
Kate felt winded by the news. ‘Is the foot Daisy’s?’
The technician shook his head as he handed her the piece of paper to study. ‘If you can obtain a sample of her DNA we can do a direct comparison, but other than that, we have no way of tracing exactly who the foot belongs to.’
Kate passed Ben the piece of paper as she moved across to the window and stared out into the dark sky hanging over Southampton. Daisy Emerson was still out there somewhere, but only time would tell whether they would find her alive, or dead.
7
EIGHT DAYS MISSING
Watching the team gathering around the dry-wipe board, Kate was pleased to hear the energy in their chatter; it meant they were switched on and ready for the task ahead of them. It was just after seven, and Inspector Bentley had agreed to half a dozen of his uniformed officers supporting her investigation over the weekend, but she was certain it had been the supe’s word in his ear, rather than her own plea, that had led to his agreement.
‘Morning,’ Kate offered, cutting the chatter instantly. ‘I take it you all managed to get at least a few hours’ sleep last night; we have a busy day ahead of us. As you all know, Patel and I stumbled upon a horrific scene last night at St Bartholomew’s school, where missing teenager Daisy Emerson is a pupil. A human foot was located, and as yet we can’t be sure whether it was left at the scene on purpose or by accident. Given where it was located in the room, it seems likely that our suspect missed it in the clean-up, but you know my motto—’
‘Assume nothing,’ the group bellowed in unison.
Kate smiled. ‘Exactly!’
‘Do we know whose foot it is?’ Laura piped up.
‘SSD have yet to find a match to anyone on the system, which brings us back to our missing teenager. We know the foot belonged to a female victim, under the age of twenty. I have the unenviable task of visiting her parents this morning to obtain a sample of DNA to compare with the foot. There is nothing, so far, to suggest that Daisy returned to the school after she left Georgie’s house on Friday night, but that’s an angle I want thoroughly examined. Georgie’s house is on Abbotts Way in Portswood, which is a mile and a half from St Bartholomew’s.’ Kate pointed to a map she’d stuck on the board behind her. ‘I’ve marked the three most direct routes on foot from Georgie’s house to the school, and I want one of you to walk those routes today, looking for any evidence that Daisy may have headed that way. I also want you to look for security cameras along the three routes.’
The hand of a young officer thrust into the air. ‘I can do that.’
Kate looked at the young PC, and nodded her acknowledgement. ‘It’s PC Barnes, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ he smiled, visibly pleased she’d remembered his name. Kate knew he was due to sit his detective examination in the next couple of months and relished any opportunity to gain valuable experience.
‘Good,’ Kate said, writing his name on the board next to the task. ‘There are also three possible routes that Daisy could have taken walking home from Georgie’s house. I want two officers stationed at key intersections of each route, showing passers-by the picture of Daisy and asking whether they remember seeing her last Friday. I also want another couple going house-to-house and ensuring we’ve managed to speak to every possible resident who might have seen her. I appreciate it’s a long-shot, but it will help rule out the possibility that she was snatched by someone on her way home. If you get no answer, make a note of the address and we’ll try again tomorrow.’
She paused, reaching for her mug of coffee and taking a gulp. ‘Speaking of which, I want two more officers on the university’s Highfield and Avenue campuses. Not all students watch the news or read newspapers, so we need to make sure they’re aware we have a vulnerable missing child out there. Daisy would have crossed Highfield Lane on her journey home, and that is part of the student route from halls of residence to the clubs and bars in Bevois Valley. We don’t have any reason to believe she would run away, but let’s be clear, until the evidence points us in another direction, we will continue to treat her disappearance as a runaway. So we need to find anyone who can confirm she actually attempted to make the journey home.’
‘I still think there’s more to the parents,’ DS Phil Humberidge interrupted. ‘Nine times out of ten the parents are involved, you know that as well as I do.’
In his mid-fifties, with a full head of white hair, DS Phil Humberidge was counting the days until he could take early retirement and focus on his hobby of painting landscapes.
‘We have no reason to believe that any harm has come to Daisy, and until we do, I will handle her parents.’
Humberidge raised his hands in mock surrender. ‘I was just saying.’
Kate fired him a warning look, knowing that if it was Chloe who’d gone missing, she’d cling to the hope of finding her until the very last moment.
‘Do we know if her bank card has been used since Friday?’ Patel interjected.
DC Ewan Freeborn raised his hand into the air. ‘Nothing yet. The bank has been alerted to look out for any movement on her accounts, and will call us the second they have something.’ Freeborn was the latest recruit to the team. He was slightly built with glasses and a quiff that wouldn’t have been amiss in the fifties, but he had a good head between his shoulders – a natural analyst – and was already proving himself a useful addition to the unit.
‘Good,’ Kate acknowledged. ‘Where are we with her phone and social media activity?’
Freeborn shook his head. ‘As we know, her phone has been switched off since nine twenty the night she went missing, and she hasn’t been active on Facebook, or Twitter since then either.’
‘And do we know what time she last accessed her profiles?’ Kate pushed, hoping it might stretch the timeline of events.
‘Ten minutes past nine,’ Freeborn confirmed. ‘Which ties in with Georgie’s statement that Daisy left the house at quarter past.’
‘I want someone to go over that statement with Georgie Barclay again. Did Daisy give any clue that she might run away? Was anything troubling her at school or in her personal life? We know she had a boyfriend, but was she seeing anyone else on the side? Was she active in any online groups her parents weren’t aware of?’
‘I don’t mind speaking to the Barclay girl,’ Laura offered.
‘Thanks, Laura, try and do it today, if you can? Patel,’ she said, making eye contact with him, ‘I want you to pull in Daisy’s boyfriend for a quiet chat. You don’t need to arrest him, but bring him down to the station so it’s a bit more formal. He’s three years older than Daisy, and while I’m not saying he has anything to hide, I think with gentle persuasion he’ll tell us a lot more than he has to date. Like, for example, what he and Daisy argued about at the ice-cream parlour earlier that afternoon? We have a waitress who witnessed Daisy in tears.’