herself in. ‘What’s your point, Tony? That it’s toodifficult? Shall I drop you back at Daniel’s house so you can tell the parents that, while we’d like to find out who killed their son, we’re not going to because it’s a bit difficult? The last time I checked, this job wasn’t supposed to be a piece of piss.’
They drove in silence for a few seconds. ‘Sorry, guv,’ Woods said at last. ‘I’m just frustrated. I want to catch a break on this thing. I feel like whoever is behind it, they’re really fucking around with us, playing a game. The emails and the whole money-drop business. I just want to catch the sick bastard.’
Collins nodded. ‘I guess the strain is getting to both of us.’ She picked up her phone and started to punch in a few numbers.
DC Natalie Cooper was at her desk at the incident room in Peckham, working her way through computer files of registered sex offenders living close to the church where Daniel’s body had been found, when her direct line started to ring.
‘I need you to check some CCTV,’ Collins explained breathlessly, ‘for any suspicious activity around the Eliots’ home and the parade of shops on Crown Street.’
‘But I’m running HOLMES. And anyway Higgins gave Drabble’s team the CCTV job.’
‘Then you’ll have to ask nicely. We’re not covering the same ground anyway. They’re focusing on the church and the money-drop site. I want to go back to before the abduction.’
‘What am I looking for?’ asked Cooper.
‘A white van.’
There was a pause. ‘This is some kind of joke, right?’
‘No joke. One of Daniel’s friends was out with him an hour or so before he went missing. He saw a white van in an alleyway next to the parade of shops with a dog tied to it. I want to know where it went.’
Collins could hear Cooper scribbling down the information. ‘It might take me a bit of time. Do you have any idea how much footage that will involve? You’re probably talking thousands of hours. It could even –’
‘Yeah, yeah. I’ve already had this conversation with Woods. Just do it. We’ll be back in an hour or so and can help you out then, but in the meantime just get on with it.’
Collins ended the call and turned back to Woods. ‘Did you get anything new out of Sammy’s parents?’
Woods shook his head. ‘Nothing we didn’t already know, apart from a few more horror stories about Daniel’s father. What’s your gut feeling about him?’
‘Not sure at the moment. A violent man, yes, but why would he mutilate his own son so horrifically? Whoever killed Daniel did it in a controlled manner, not in a drunken rage. And anyway his voice doesn’t match the one on the video.’
‘So are we looking for someone else?’
‘Yes.’
10
It was late afternoon by the time Woods and Collins got back to the incident room. Natalie Cooper was painstakingly going through a pile of CCTV tapes that had accumulated on her desk.
‘Anything?’ Collins asked her without any pleasantries.
‘Not on these,’ Cooper replied briskly. ‘DI Drabble got a bit shirty with me. I managed to get a few tapes, but she wasn’t going to let go of the rest. Said she was going to call Higgins. I told her you’d sort it out when you got here.’
‘Thanks.’
‘That’s why you’re the boss, boss.’
DI Yvonne Drabble, thirty-one and stocky with dark hair and darker eyes, was the type of police woman who had made her way up the ranks by being even more of a lad than the men who surrounded her. Collins had run into her a few times at training courses and seminars over the years, but they had never actually worked together. When they had tried to engage in conversation it had all fizzled out to nothing once the two women realized that they had absolutely nothing in common, including their approach to police work.
Collins had only just reached Drabble’s desk when the woman looked up, sneered and folded her arms. ‘What the hell do you think you’re playing
They drove in silence for a few seconds. ‘Sorry, guv,’ Woods said at last. ‘I’m just frustrated. I want to catch a break on this thing. I feel like whoever is behind it, they’re really fucking around with us, playing a game. The emails and the whole money-drop business. I just want to catch the sick bastard.’
Collins nodded. ‘I guess the strain is getting to both of us.’ She picked up her phone and started to punch in a few numbers.
DC Natalie Cooper was at her desk at the incident room in Peckham, working her way through computer files of registered sex offenders living close to the church where Daniel’s body had been found, when her direct line started to ring.
‘I need you to check some CCTV,’ Collins explained breathlessly, ‘for any suspicious activity around the Eliots’ home and the parade of shops on Crown Street.’
‘But I’m running HOLMES. And anyway Higgins gave Drabble’s team the CCTV job.’
‘Then you’ll have to ask nicely. We’re not covering the same ground anyway. They’re focusing on the church and the money-drop site. I want to go back to before the abduction.’
‘What am I looking for?’ asked Cooper.
‘A white van.’
There was a pause. ‘This is some kind of joke, right?’
‘No joke. One of Daniel’s friends was out with him an hour or so before he went missing. He saw a white van in an alleyway next to the parade of shops with a dog tied to it. I want to know where it went.’
Collins could hear Cooper scribbling down the information. ‘It might take me a bit of time. Do you have any idea how much footage that will involve? You’re probably talking thousands of hours. It could even –’
‘Yeah, yeah. I’ve already had this conversation with Woods. Just do it. We’ll be back in an hour or so and can help you out then, but in the meantime just get on with it.’
Collins ended the call and turned back to Woods. ‘Did you get anything new out of Sammy’s parents?’
Woods shook his head. ‘Nothing we didn’t already know, apart from a few more horror stories about Daniel’s father. What’s your gut feeling about him?’
‘Not sure at the moment. A violent man, yes, but why would he mutilate his own son so horrifically? Whoever killed Daniel did it in a controlled manner, not in a drunken rage. And anyway his voice doesn’t match the one on the video.’
‘So are we looking for someone else?’
‘Yes.’
10
It was late afternoon by the time Woods and Collins got back to the incident room. Natalie Cooper was painstakingly going through a pile of CCTV tapes that had accumulated on her desk.
‘Anything?’ Collins asked her without any pleasantries.
‘Not on these,’ Cooper replied briskly. ‘DI Drabble got a bit shirty with me. I managed to get a few tapes, but she wasn’t going to let go of the rest. Said she was going to call Higgins. I told her you’d sort it out when you got here.’
‘Thanks.’
‘That’s why you’re the boss, boss.’
DI Yvonne Drabble, thirty-one and stocky with dark hair and darker eyes, was the type of police woman who had made her way up the ranks by being even more of a lad than the men who surrounded her. Collins had run into her a few times at training courses and seminars over the years, but they had never actually worked together. When they had tried to engage in conversation it had all fizzled out to nothing once the two women realized that they had absolutely nothing in common, including their approach to police work.
Collins had only just reached Drabble’s desk when the woman looked up, sneered and folded her arms. ‘What the hell do you think you’re playing
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