never had any worries regarding her schoolwork; she’s also very athletic.’ Lena was visibly less tense as she recounted her daughter’s abilities.
‘Is there anything, even the smallest detail, that you can think of that might help us?’
‘I forgot to mention that one of her drawers in her dressing table is locked and I know she used to keep a journal, so it could be in there. If it is, should I read it? Perhaps it’ll give more information that I can pass on to you?’
‘It would be helpful, and if you do find the journal I’d like to see it myself, not to be intrusive but something that may appear trivial can actually be very productive.’
‘What else are you going to be doing? I mean, should we get posters printed?’
‘We will deal with posters and flyers, but I will need a recent photograph as soon as possible.’
Lena reached into her handbag and pulled out a silver-framed picture of Amy. ‘I brought one in as I thought you might need it,’ she said, holding back tears. Reid gently took it from her and looked at the lovely face of her beautiful young daughter.
‘Thank you,’ Reid said sympathetically; he undid the rear clips and slowly removed the photo from the frame.
At first, Lena was offended by what she thought was a rather cavalier attitude towards her daughter’s picture.
Reid noticed the look on her face. ‘I will take a copy of this for the report and national circulation so you can take the original home with you.’
At once Lena felt more at ease and thanked him for his thoughtfulness as he handed the frame back to her.
‘From what I have gleaned so far you feel it’s out of character for Amy to have run away.’
‘Totally, that’s why I’m so worried something has happened to her.’
‘Do you know if any of her clothing, wash stuff, makeup or anything like that is missing from your house?’
Lena told him that there didn’t appear to be on first sight and Amy would have taken some things in a cabin bag to Serena’s from school. She also informed him that Marcus had checked Amy’s room at his flat and found nothing to suggest she had run away.
Reid picked up on the cabin bag and asked Lena if she had questioned Mrs Newman about it. She hadn’t thought to, as she’d become so worried about Amy’s disappearance. He used the bag as a subtle means of probing into Amy’s state of mind at the time.
‘It would be reasonable to assume that Amy took a case to Serena’s. If it’s not there now, then she must have taken it with her when she told Serena that she needed to go and see her father and if it’s not at Mr Fulford’s then . . .’
‘I know what you’re insinuating, but I simply cannot accept that Amy would run away.’
‘When did you last see your daughter, Mrs Fulford?’
After thinking about it, Lena admitted that it was over two weeks since Amy had actually spent a weekend with her as the one before she went missing was spent with Marcus.
‘But you alternate weekends with your husband?’
‘As best we can, but it’s quite an informal arrangement and isn’t always strictly adhered to. She rang me from school regularly or I rang her and she seemed perfectly fine.’
‘Young people often don’t like to share their worries and fears when they are depressed, especially when their parents’ marriage has broken down.’
‘Marcus and I have lived apart for two years now. At first, yes, she was upset, but we remained on friendly terms and Amy came to accept our separation,’ she insisted.
Reid closed his notebook and was about to stand up when he saw Burrows timidly raise her index finger, and nodded for her to go ahead.
‘You mentioned that Amy has an iPad and I just wondered if she uses any social or chat sites on the internet like Facebook, Bebo or anything like that?’
Reid was impressed with Barbara’s question, as it was something he’d forgotten to ask, having never used or looked at such sites himself. He was also aware that it
‘Is there anything, even the smallest detail, that you can think of that might help us?’
‘I forgot to mention that one of her drawers in her dressing table is locked and I know she used to keep a journal, so it could be in there. If it is, should I read it? Perhaps it’ll give more information that I can pass on to you?’
‘It would be helpful, and if you do find the journal I’d like to see it myself, not to be intrusive but something that may appear trivial can actually be very productive.’
‘What else are you going to be doing? I mean, should we get posters printed?’
‘We will deal with posters and flyers, but I will need a recent photograph as soon as possible.’
Lena reached into her handbag and pulled out a silver-framed picture of Amy. ‘I brought one in as I thought you might need it,’ she said, holding back tears. Reid gently took it from her and looked at the lovely face of her beautiful young daughter.
‘Thank you,’ Reid said sympathetically; he undid the rear clips and slowly removed the photo from the frame.
At first, Lena was offended by what she thought was a rather cavalier attitude towards her daughter’s picture.
Reid noticed the look on her face. ‘I will take a copy of this for the report and national circulation so you can take the original home with you.’
At once Lena felt more at ease and thanked him for his thoughtfulness as he handed the frame back to her.
‘From what I have gleaned so far you feel it’s out of character for Amy to have run away.’
‘Totally, that’s why I’m so worried something has happened to her.’
‘Do you know if any of her clothing, wash stuff, makeup or anything like that is missing from your house?’
Lena told him that there didn’t appear to be on first sight and Amy would have taken some things in a cabin bag to Serena’s from school. She also informed him that Marcus had checked Amy’s room at his flat and found nothing to suggest she had run away.
Reid picked up on the cabin bag and asked Lena if she had questioned Mrs Newman about it. She hadn’t thought to, as she’d become so worried about Amy’s disappearance. He used the bag as a subtle means of probing into Amy’s state of mind at the time.
‘It would be reasonable to assume that Amy took a case to Serena’s. If it’s not there now, then she must have taken it with her when she told Serena that she needed to go and see her father and if it’s not at Mr Fulford’s then . . .’
‘I know what you’re insinuating, but I simply cannot accept that Amy would run away.’
‘When did you last see your daughter, Mrs Fulford?’
After thinking about it, Lena admitted that it was over two weeks since Amy had actually spent a weekend with her as the one before she went missing was spent with Marcus.
‘But you alternate weekends with your husband?’
‘As best we can, but it’s quite an informal arrangement and isn’t always strictly adhered to. She rang me from school regularly or I rang her and she seemed perfectly fine.’
‘Young people often don’t like to share their worries and fears when they are depressed, especially when their parents’ marriage has broken down.’
‘Marcus and I have lived apart for two years now. At first, yes, she was upset, but we remained on friendly terms and Amy came to accept our separation,’ she insisted.
Reid closed his notebook and was about to stand up when he saw Burrows timidly raise her index finger, and nodded for her to go ahead.
‘You mentioned that Amy has an iPad and I just wondered if she uses any social or chat sites on the internet like Facebook, Bebo or anything like that?’
Reid was impressed with Barbara’s question, as it was something he’d forgotten to ask, having never used or looked at such sites himself. He was also aware that it
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