Read Online From the Cradle by Mark Edwards, Louise Voss - Free Book Online Page A

Sarah Trentner, DC Martin Hale checking social networks and phone records. The third DI on the team, Leanne Cornish, had the job of continuing to eliminate known offenders, not just in Richmond but all surrounding areas, including the parts of Surrey that came outside the Met’s jurisdiction. None of it was a surprise. On day one of the investigation, after Isabel had vanished, the energy in the room was fizzing, like a team of hounds straining at their leashes. Now, though, everyone was tired, concussed through banging their heads against the brick wall of this case. The truth was, they had no leads. No idea at all what had happened to these children.
    ‘Right, listen up,’ Patrick said, forcing himself to make the speech. ‘We’ve now got three sets of parents relying on us. Three desperate sets of parents. We need to keep our focus. We will find these kids. We will find the person who’s taken them. We just need one stroke of luck, one little crack to appear in the case and then we can . . .’ He wasn’t quite sure where he was going with this. ‘Put our fingers into the crack—’
    Winkler smirked. Patrick could see ten pairs of raised eyebrows.
    ‘—and prise it open. Um, prise that crack wide open until we see daylight.’ He paused, gathered himself, ignoring the staring faces. ‘So let’s get out there. Team.’
    He turned to the whiteboard and rubbed his eyes. Suzanne, standing by the door, gave him a curious look. He felt a little stab of resentment. She should be the one doing the motivational speeches. But then she gave him a little reassuring smile and he forgave her.
    As the team dispersed, he walked over to her, gesturing for Carmella to join them. Before he could reach her, Winkler stepped in to his path.
    ‘Do I really have to look after the fucking search team?’
    ‘Yes. You do.’
    Winkler opened his mouth to protest again, then some gears appeared to grind in his head and he changed tack.
    ‘Alright, sir. Thanks for the speech by the way. We’ll prise that crack open for you. You don’t have to worry about my motivation.’ He looked into Patrick’s eyes. ‘I mean, you know how I feel about people – men or women – who hurt their kids.’
    He exited, leaving Patrick clenching his fists and counting to ten.
    Winkler was one of those people who specialized in finding weak spots and poking them. Well, he had just got himself assigned to search party duty for the rest of this investigation. An image of Winkler crawling across Bushy Park on his hands and knees, dodging used condoms and dog shit, made him feel a lot brighter.
    ‘I’ll call a press conference for later this morning,’ Suzanne said. ‘The media are already going bonkers. We’ve got Sky News running a ticker about the case – they’re camped outside here and the Philipses ’ house. Same with the BBC, ITV, all the papers.’
    ‘Don’t tell me, Perez Hilton is flying over to cover it too.’
    Suzanne ignored him. ‘Let’s get a statement from the parents, read it out.’
    ‘I can handle that,’ said Carmella. She looked fresh this morning, Patrick thought enviously. She had probably had a nice long leisurely bath with lots of scented bubbles and a cup of tea brought to her by her wife.
    ‘OK, good.’ Suzanne nodded at Patrick. ‘You were right. We will find them.’
    Before he could respond, Mike poked his head around the door.
    ‘Sir, your witness is here.’

    Before going in to talk to Alice Philips, Patrick went to the Gents to splash some cold water on his already clean face, try to stop the tiredness pulling him into its murky depths. The shower hadn’t done the trick. As he dried his cheeks on a scratchy paper towel, one of the cubicles opened and DI Winkler emerged.
    ‘Keeping you up, are we?’ he said, standing at the basin next to Patrick.
    As Patrick moved towards the door, Winkler stepped into h is path.
    ‘Why’d you have to give me the search teams? Total waste of my skills. You know