Mr Winters did so and put the phone to his ear.
‘Continually ringing out,’ he said, after about fifteen seconds.
‘Damn it,’ Kim said, trying to think above the noise.
Although Lorraine Peters died before Saffron was even born, Kim knew that something about the girl was connected to the death of her own sister, Shaun, and probably Joanna Wade.
Kim toyed for a minute with the ethics of sharing what they’d learned, but the situation warranted it. She turned to the parents of the missing girl. ‘I’m sorry but I have to ask, are you aware that Saffron recently had a termination, an illegal one?’
The initial shock on their faces was not at the information. It was at her having the information.
‘We know, Inspector. She asked us to arrange it; but how is that connected to—’
‘Sadie knew,’ Kim said. ‘She was angry; she wrote poems about it and tried to confront her sister.’
‘But we kept it away from her,’ Hannah said as her hand rose to her mouth.
‘I’m afraid you didn’t,’ Kim said.
Right now, she had no clue how it all related to the death of a pregnant girl twenty-five years ago, but somehow she knew it did.
Kim had a sudden thought as she looked from one stricken parent to another.
‘I know where we have to go,’ she said, suddenly.
As she turned and started sprinting she hoped to God that for once she was wrong.
Ninety-Nine
The gymnasium was situated right below the boys’ dorm rooms and took Dawson less than five minutes to get there. He thanked God he had already spent hours navigating his way around the sprawling building.
He arrived just as Philip Havers was locking the door.
‘Where’s Geoffrey?’ he asked.
Havers appeared to look puzzled.
‘Piggott,’ he clarified. ‘The fat kid you pick on,’ Dawson said, making no attempt to hide his dislike of the teacher. He didn’t have the time.
‘Why would I know where he is?’ he asked, ignoring Dawson’s comment.
‘Because he was headed down here, to get a key or something,’
Havers shook his head. ‘Not a clue what you’re talking about. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to—’
‘No, I won’t excuse you,’ Dawson said, blocking his path. ‘Not until you tell me where Geoffrey is.’
Havers didn’t take too kindly to the physical barrier before him. His nostrils flared in response.
‘What’s the particular interest you’ve got in this kid anyway? You into young—’
Dawson pushed him up against the wall and held him there.
‘I dare you to finish that fucking sentence, Havers,’ he spat. ‘Cos unlike you I’m not into bullying poor kids who can’t fight back just because they’re not as you’d like them to be; but getting them to turn on each other to…’ His words trailed away as a sudden realisation hit him. ‘It’s you that’s keeping the bloody Spades going, isn’t it? You’re the fucking Joker? Your speech about belonging and connections and lifelong bonds. Thorpe really has tried to stamp them out and—’
‘There’s nothing wrong with healthy competition,’ Havers spat. ‘Thorpe only hates them because he was never invited to join. Fucking wimp. It’s survival of the fittest. I was the Nine of Spades and it never hurt me.’
Dawson pinned him harder. ‘You set these kids against each other, encourage them to hate and bully for your own sick selection process.’ Everything he’d learned this week flew through his mind. ‘The fucking damage you’ve caused to innocent kids in the name of healthy competition,’ he cried. ‘Now tell me where he is,’ he said, shaking him.
Havers held fast and shook his head.
Dawson realised he was wasting his time. He could deal with Havers later.
‘I will be back, you evil bastard, but I swear if anything happens to that boy I will make your life a living hell.’
Dawson unclenched his fists from the man’s shirt and let him go.
Havers smoothed down his shirt and smiled. ‘You can try, but I have powerful friends just a phone call away.’
‘They won’t get you out of this, you sick shit,’ he said, reaching the door. He turned. ‘And if being the Nine of Spades made you the man you are today, I can assure you it did you no favours.’
Dawson turned away and began to sprint, with the definite feeling that he was running out of time.
One Hundred
‘But wh-why would she be here?’ Mrs Winters asked fearfully, as they reached the swimming pool.
Kim no longer had the need to shout as they had travelled a quarter mile away from the focus of the evening’s attention.
‘You’ve tried her phone a dozen times now and there’s been no answer. If my team had located her they would have called by now.’
‘But why here?’ Mrs Winters insisted.
‘Because everything that’s happened this week is linked to an event more than twenty years ago when a girl named Lorraine Peters was murdered right here.’
Mrs Winters covered her mouth with her hand.
‘I remember her,’ whispered Mr Winters. ‘But wasn’t it some kind of accident?’
Mrs Winters looked at them blankly with no recollection at all.
Kim shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. Now stay behind me,’ she advised, as she placed her palm on the door handle.
Mr Winters tried to get in front of her. ‘No, Inspector, if my daughter is in there, I want—’
Kim jostled and pushed him out of the way, forcefully.
Exactly her point. She had no idea what they might find beyond this door, and she didn’t want either parent going in there first. She had chosen not to share with either of them the depth of her fears for Saffie’s safety with each moment that passed with no phone call from her colleagues. As yet the girl had not been found.
‘Mr Winters, you need to do what I say,’ she hissed, turning the door handle.
Kim stood still as the scene before her illuminated.
Saffron Winters was bound and gagged at the opposite end of the swimming hall.
A figure stepped out of the shower room.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ he asked.
Kim quickly realised that the figure wasn’t looking at her.
One Hundred One
‘Any luck finding Geoffrey?’ Bryant asked, meeting Dawson in the hallway back at the staging area of the show, hoping for a fifty per cent success rate at least.
Dawson shook his head. ‘You find Saffron?’
‘No.’
‘And she’s not been back here,’ Stacey said, joining them in the doorway.
‘Officers, where is she?’ Principal Thorpe cried, thundering towards them.
‘Sir, we’re doing everything we can to find her,’ Bryant answered.
‘Well, I hope you do it soon,’ he interrupted. ‘She’s supposed to be opening the show in ten minutes’ time.’
‘Not our highest priority,’ Bryant snapped. ‘When compared with her physical safety.’
‘Of course, of course,’ Thorpe said, checking himself. ‘But I really do think that she’s just having a moment somewhere and doesn’t realise the time.’
‘The boss is out looking for her, too,’ Bryant offered.
He nodded. ‘Yes, she has Mr and Mrs Winters with her right now. They all took off at speed,’ he said before moving away.
‘Well that answers that,’ Bryant said.
‘What?’ Stacey asked.
‘Wasn’t sure whether to head off and look for the guv but if she’s got the Winters with her…’
‘Oh shit,’ Dawson said, suddenly checking his watch.
‘What?’ Stacey asked.
‘The bell tower—’
‘Is right at the other end of the complex,’ she said.
‘And it’s where Geoffrey Piggott is due to be at exactly eight o’clock to ring the bell that starts the concert.’
All three of them exchanged glances as they considered the repercussions if Dawson’s gut was right.
‘Oh shit,’ they all said as they began to run.
One Hundred Two
Laurence Winters closed the door and stood in front of it.
‘Graham, what the hell are you doing?’ he asked.