with the covering such as these had had. Her guess of a decade or so was just a guess, until she concluded her study of the detritus from the deposition site.
McNab took the list back to his desk. Janice had identified twelve possibilities. Eight girls and four boys. Over half of the list were believed to have been abducted by an estranged parent and taken abroad. One girl was thought to have been taken to California by her Russian father.
A child being abducted by a parent was often the most likely explanation for their disappearance, especially when custody had been awarded to the other parent. Most people who ran off with their children were never found. If your partner took your child abroad, the UK government could not bring them back, only offer you legal advice. But estranged parents rarely murdered the children they were fighting so hard to keep.
McNab concentrated on the others.
Four girls, two boys. All would have been between six and ten at the time of their abduction. All had disappeared south of the border, and the abduction sites were varied: London, Birmingham and the North of England. McNab stared at the photographs. Little faces, frozen in time. He thought about his first sight of Emma sitting under the tree. His elation that they’d found her alive – every mother’s dream – then his horror when he saw what she was holding.
One of the photographs was of a smiling, elfin-faced girl with light-coloured hair, cut so short she could have passed for a boy. She’d last been seen in the company of a middle-aged man in St Pancras station in London. The second girl was dark haired and older, of Indian extraction. She’d disappeared in Birmingham on her way home from school. One boy had a freckled face and ears that stuck out like the handles of the Scottish Cup. He was from Sunderland. These three disappearances had taken place over a two-year period.
The road where the accident had happened ran from Glasgow to the village of Muirkirk. The village itself wasn’t remote. It lay on the A70 between Edinburgh and Ayr, just ten miles from the M74 motorway, the main artery between Scotland and England.
McNab fished out a map. On his way to the scene of the accident, he hadn’t passed a single car on that road. True, it had been a bad night and folk had been warned not to travel, but even on his subsequent visits to the site vehicles had been scarce.
He thought about Claire’s conviction that there had been a man on the road. She’d insisted McNab take his description down on his PDA. He suspected believing in the figure was one way of convincing herself she wasn’t to blame for the accident and its consequences.
The man was short, Claire had said, and wore a dark, heavy coat. Initially his back had been towards her. That was why she hadn’t seen him. He’d turned and her headlights had lit up his face. He was middle aged and bald.
When McNab asked whether she’d hit the man, she’d shaken her head. ‘I wrenched the wheel round to avoid him. That’s why I went off the road.’
He logged into the incident files and had another look at the photographs. The team had taken a whole series from multiple angles showing where the car went off the road, the marks on the bank indicating how it had overturned and slid down. The one of the wreckage against the tree was pretty scary. Claire was lucky to have climbed out of that unscathed. As for the rear of the car crushed against the tree – Emma’s survival was little short of a miracle.
McNab replayed the geography in his head. Claire had said the figure had his back to her. So where was he facing? McNab rotated the 3D image on the screen, placing himself in the picture where Claire said the man had stood. Why had the mystery man been standing in the middle of the road looking towards the wood?
14
The majority of foods are plant based, and food remains undigested after death until the body starts to decay. Digestive erosion and volume of food can also
McNab took the list back to his desk. Janice had identified twelve possibilities. Eight girls and four boys. Over half of the list were believed to have been abducted by an estranged parent and taken abroad. One girl was thought to have been taken to California by her Russian father.
A child being abducted by a parent was often the most likely explanation for their disappearance, especially when custody had been awarded to the other parent. Most people who ran off with their children were never found. If your partner took your child abroad, the UK government could not bring them back, only offer you legal advice. But estranged parents rarely murdered the children they were fighting so hard to keep.
McNab concentrated on the others.
Four girls, two boys. All would have been between six and ten at the time of their abduction. All had disappeared south of the border, and the abduction sites were varied: London, Birmingham and the North of England. McNab stared at the photographs. Little faces, frozen in time. He thought about his first sight of Emma sitting under the tree. His elation that they’d found her alive – every mother’s dream – then his horror when he saw what she was holding.
One of the photographs was of a smiling, elfin-faced girl with light-coloured hair, cut so short she could have passed for a boy. She’d last been seen in the company of a middle-aged man in St Pancras station in London. The second girl was dark haired and older, of Indian extraction. She’d disappeared in Birmingham on her way home from school. One boy had a freckled face and ears that stuck out like the handles of the Scottish Cup. He was from Sunderland. These three disappearances had taken place over a two-year period.
The road where the accident had happened ran from Glasgow to the village of Muirkirk. The village itself wasn’t remote. It lay on the A70 between Edinburgh and Ayr, just ten miles from the M74 motorway, the main artery between Scotland and England.
McNab fished out a map. On his way to the scene of the accident, he hadn’t passed a single car on that road. True, it had been a bad night and folk had been warned not to travel, but even on his subsequent visits to the site vehicles had been scarce.
He thought about Claire’s conviction that there had been a man on the road. She’d insisted McNab take his description down on his PDA. He suspected believing in the figure was one way of convincing herself she wasn’t to blame for the accident and its consequences.
The man was short, Claire had said, and wore a dark, heavy coat. Initially his back had been towards her. That was why she hadn’t seen him. He’d turned and her headlights had lit up his face. He was middle aged and bald.
When McNab asked whether she’d hit the man, she’d shaken her head. ‘I wrenched the wheel round to avoid him. That’s why I went off the road.’
He logged into the incident files and had another look at the photographs. The team had taken a whole series from multiple angles showing where the car went off the road, the marks on the bank indicating how it had overturned and slid down. The one of the wreckage against the tree was pretty scary. Claire was lucky to have climbed out of that unscathed. As for the rear of the car crushed against the tree – Emma’s survival was little short of a miracle.
McNab replayed the geography in his head. Claire had said the figure had his back to her. So where was he facing? McNab rotated the 3D image on the screen, placing himself in the picture where Claire said the man had stood. Why had the mystery man been standing in the middle of the road looking towards the wood?
14
The majority of foods are plant based, and food remains undigested after death until the body starts to decay. Digestive erosion and volume of food can also
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