Read Online Blood Money by Chris Collett - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Chris Collett
Tags: UK
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Jessica’s place?’
‘Oh several weeks ago I think, let me check.’ She reached up on to the shelf beside her and took down a blue lever-arch file, which contained a number of the pink carbons. ‘Let me see ...’ She rifled through them until she found the one she wanted. ‘Yes, Mrs O’Brien made the booking over the phone in the middle of August.’
‘Can I see?’
‘Yes, of course.’ She passed across the bulky file. From it Mariner learned that the baby’s name was Jessica Klinnemann, and that her father was Peter Klinnemann, it gave her date of birth, her home address and the date and times when Jessica was booked into the crèche. A circled ‘No’ at the top also told the reader that Jessica had never been placed there before. Information that would have been invaluable to someone planning an abduction. The form was completed on the eighth of August. A glance up at the wall planner behind Trudy Barratt’s desk told him that it had been a Tuesday.
‘So you would have sent Jessica’s form along with others up to the hospital some time ago?’
‘Yes. At the end of that week they would have gone to the main administration centre.’
‘How do you advertise the crèche?’ Mariner asked.
Trudy Barratt dug around among the piles of papers on her desk and came up with a glossy leaflet bearing the nursery logo, with photographs of various aspects. ‘This leaflet is on display on notice boards up at the hospital in the relevant departments. The hospital also sends them out routinely with their information for visiting lecturers and conference delegates. It has our phone number on the back so that parents can contact us directly. The conference that Mrs O’Brien was speaking at was advertised as having a crèche.’
‘Miss’, Mariner wanted to remind her, instead he said: ‘But anyone else visiting the hospital could also see them?’
‘Yes.’
‘So people outside the nursery would be aware of particular days when the crèche is being used?’
‘Yes.’
‘And anyone working in the hospital administration department could have known that Jessica Klinnemann would be here today.’
‘Yes, I suppose they could.’ That was bad news too.
The buzzer sounded and DCI Sharp’s face filled the CCTV. Trudy Barratt hesitated, her brow knitted to a frown.
‘It’s my gaffer,’ Mariner enlightened her. ‘She’s quite safe.’
Trudy Barratt followed him out into the hallway to meet DCI Sharp and Mariner made introductions. ‘Mrs Barratt was out of the nursery when the incident occurred,’ he said. After a pause of several seconds, Trudy Barratt took the hint. ‘I’ll leave you to it, shall I?’ And she went back into her office and closed the door.
‘So what the hell is going on?’ Sharp asked, when she and Mariner were alone.
‘All we know so far is that at about two thirty a woman came into the nursery, collected a baby, Jessica O’Brien, and walked out with her.’
‘And no one stopped her?’
‘They had no reason to. The girls working in the room had never met Jessica’s mother, so assumed that it was her. Mrs Barratt seems to have been the only person who had met the mother, Emma O’Brien, and as I said, she was out of the nursery at the time.’
‘This woman just walked in off the street?’
‘Security’s there, but it’s not that great. It would be if it worked, but it’s a bit hit and miss. It’s not clear if this woman rang the bell and was buzzed in by one of the staff in the rooms, or if someone leaving the building let her in. There was no one in the office to challenge her, and the deputy manager was elsewhere in one of the other rooms. Added to that, the girls in the room where Jessica was are temporary, and one of them isn’t all that bright either.’
‘So we don’t know if she had the nerve to announce her arrival or if she sneaked in when no one was looking.’
‘Aside from the girl in the room we have another member of staff who encountered her in
‘Oh several weeks ago I think, let me check.’ She reached up on to the shelf beside her and took down a blue lever-arch file, which contained a number of the pink carbons. ‘Let me see ...’ She rifled through them until she found the one she wanted. ‘Yes, Mrs O’Brien made the booking over the phone in the middle of August.’
‘Can I see?’
‘Yes, of course.’ She passed across the bulky file. From it Mariner learned that the baby’s name was Jessica Klinnemann, and that her father was Peter Klinnemann, it gave her date of birth, her home address and the date and times when Jessica was booked into the crèche. A circled ‘No’ at the top also told the reader that Jessica had never been placed there before. Information that would have been invaluable to someone planning an abduction. The form was completed on the eighth of August. A glance up at the wall planner behind Trudy Barratt’s desk told him that it had been a Tuesday.
‘So you would have sent Jessica’s form along with others up to the hospital some time ago?’
‘Yes. At the end of that week they would have gone to the main administration centre.’
‘How do you advertise the crèche?’ Mariner asked.
Trudy Barratt dug around among the piles of papers on her desk and came up with a glossy leaflet bearing the nursery logo, with photographs of various aspects. ‘This leaflet is on display on notice boards up at the hospital in the relevant departments. The hospital also sends them out routinely with their information for visiting lecturers and conference delegates. It has our phone number on the back so that parents can contact us directly. The conference that Mrs O’Brien was speaking at was advertised as having a crèche.’
‘Miss’, Mariner wanted to remind her, instead he said: ‘But anyone else visiting the hospital could also see them?’
‘Yes.’
‘So people outside the nursery would be aware of particular days when the crèche is being used?’
‘Yes.’
‘And anyone working in the hospital administration department could have known that Jessica Klinnemann would be here today.’
‘Yes, I suppose they could.’ That was bad news too.
The buzzer sounded and DCI Sharp’s face filled the CCTV. Trudy Barratt hesitated, her brow knitted to a frown.
‘It’s my gaffer,’ Mariner enlightened her. ‘She’s quite safe.’
Trudy Barratt followed him out into the hallway to meet DCI Sharp and Mariner made introductions. ‘Mrs Barratt was out of the nursery when the incident occurred,’ he said. After a pause of several seconds, Trudy Barratt took the hint. ‘I’ll leave you to it, shall I?’ And she went back into her office and closed the door.
‘So what the hell is going on?’ Sharp asked, when she and Mariner were alone.
‘All we know so far is that at about two thirty a woman came into the nursery, collected a baby, Jessica O’Brien, and walked out with her.’
‘And no one stopped her?’
‘They had no reason to. The girls working in the room had never met Jessica’s mother, so assumed that it was her. Mrs Barratt seems to have been the only person who had met the mother, Emma O’Brien, and as I said, she was out of the nursery at the time.’
‘This woman just walked in off the street?’
‘Security’s there, but it’s not that great. It would be if it worked, but it’s a bit hit and miss. It’s not clear if this woman rang the bell and was buzzed in by one of the staff in the rooms, or if someone leaving the building let her in. There was no one in the office to challenge her, and the deputy manager was elsewhere in one of the other rooms. Added to that, the girls in the room where Jessica was are temporary, and one of them isn’t all that bright either.’
‘So we don’t know if she had the nerve to announce her arrival or if she sneaked in when no one was looking.’
‘Aside from the girl in the room we have another member of staff who encountered her in
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