“Was there anyone in particular that she talked about before she disappeared—anyone she criticised?”

“I suppose she wasn’t happy about Patsy—Patsy Lumis. And, yes, they were quite similar really, not just in age and interests, but in the way they looked too. They had a bit of a set-to in the refectory. I remember Madison called Patsy all sorts of names. She never said what it was about though—well not to me anyway.”

Calladine gave Ruth a nod. “Where can we find Patsy?”

“At this time of day she’ll be in the library. I’ll take you.”

The two detectives followed Alice out across the main reception area and into the newly-equipped modern library. It occupied a large area, and had an IT suite off to one side. Alice looked around for a moment, and then gestured towards a girl seated in front of a monitor.

“‘She’s not here but that’s Anna Morris, Patsy’s friend. She’ll know where she is.”

“Thanks, Alice. Look—leave the work thing with me and I’ll be in touch soon, okay?”

Alice nodded and left them to it.

* * *

“Anna Morris?” Ruth flashed her warrant card. “I’m DS Bayliss and this is DI Calladine. We’re from Leesworth CID, and we wonder if you’d mind answering a few questions?”

Anna’s eyes darted from one detective to the other.

“What’s this about? I haven’t done anything wrong—well not that I know of.”

“We just want to ask you about your friend Patsy. Is she around?”

“Well, no. She’s gone off somewhere for a day or two. Is she in trouble?”

Calladine sat down on the empty seat beside the girl. He had a bad feeling. This was how it started. “When did she go, Anna?”

“Last night. She has a new boyfriend and she’s gone to stay with him. He’s a little odd if you ask me. He gave her a load of funny instructions to get to his place, down to what train to get and what station to get off at. So she went—packed her stuff and left. I wasn’t happy—I mean she hardly knows him. She can’t have seen him above twice, and now she’s off spending time at his.”

“Have you met him?”

“Yes, once—in the pub the other night. That was the first time Patsy’d met him too. They’d been chatting online for ages before he asked to see her. She fell for his chat-up lines big time. She’s such a fool when it comes to men. He turned up dressed to the nines. He bought us some drinks and we swapped a few words, then I left them to it.”

“What pub was that?” Ruth asked.

“The one under the railway arch a few yards up the road from here. We always go in there. It’s not much but it’s popular with the students.”

“Could you describe him, Anna? It’s important. It’s possible that Patsy could be in trouble.”

“What’s she done?”

“Nothing. But the man she’s with could be dangerous.”

“I thought he was creepy that night. It wasn’t anything he said

—it’s hard to explain really, it was just a feeling. I told Patsy but she wouldn’t listen. I mean, who goes off with some random man after knowing him less than a week?” Her voice rose to a wail.

“Can you come back to the station with us? We’ll get our e-fit people to sit with you and see if we can get a reasonable likeness.

You can give us all the details you recall about that night too.”

“Did she have her own laptop?” Calladine chipped in.

Anna nodded. “It’s in her room. I have a key; I can get it if you want.”

“Ruth, you go with Anna and I’ll go tell Joanna Johnson what we’re doing. If you come with us now, we’ll have you back by the afternoon.”

Calladine took his mobile from his coat pocket and rang Imogen.

“Have you got a name for the other girl yet?”

“I can only get a first name, sir. From what he wrote it looks like she was called Patsy. He goes on about how lovely she is, and how easy it would be to go for her instead of Madison.”

“It looks very likely he’s done just that—not instead of, but as well as. Look, Imogen, can you have one of the e-fit boys standing by? I’m bringing someone in who can give us a description. We’ve found a young woman who’s actually met this creep.”

“You think he’s taken another one then? Another one of ours?”

Joanna Johnson’s eyes became wide with horror when Calladine told her what had happened.

“Possibly, but we need to investigate further. In the meantime, if Patsy Lumis turns up, let me know straight away. I’ll send another of my team down to speak to Serena Hall’s friends. I don’t have time to see them today because it’s more important that I get back to the station and speak to Anna. Don’t forget what I advised about speaking to your students. By tomorrow it’ll hit the press, so I suggest you get in there first.”

Chapter 14

They had an image. Anna Morris had been able to give a reasonable description of the young man she’d met in the pub two nights ago.

But they still had no proper name—just ‘Jack.’

“It’s time to call in the press. We no longer have a choice. You know how I feel about those harpies, but they could help—and right now we need all the help we can get. If we get this image circulated, particularly around Leesworth, it could pay dividends.”

“You’d better clear it with Jones first.”

“As long as it doesn’t cost it’ll be fine.”

“The travel instructions he gave Patsy are weird,” she said, reading through the statement. “Why send her to the other side of the Pennines? Why not just get off the train in Leesdon?”

“He didn’t want to be seen. There are cameras at Leesdon Station and all down the High Street. He’s clever. He studied his route, so I doubt we’ll get anything, but we’ll go take a look anyway.”

“It takes about forty-five minutes from Manchester Victoria. I wonder if she spoke to anyone? We could ask—include it in the press briefing; ask for anyone to come forward who might have seen her, or struck up a conversation.”

Ruth’s idea wasn’t bad. Calladine left the incident room and went to find DCI Jones. He should tell him how things were progressing, and what he intended to do. Calladine also needed to know what Jones had decided about the phone calls to the States.

“Frankly it’s not on, Tom. Can’t allow them all I’m afraid. Far too costly.”

“That’s stupid, sir. We know there are others, and we could do with knowing which of those young women are safe at home and which aren’t.”

“Not our problem. Try going through the embassy—they can do the work. Then if the authorities in the States ask, we’ll give them what we know—that’s all I can do.”

The man was a first-class fool. Going through the American embassy would take ages. One way or another, Calladine decided he’d get the information he wanted.

“The press briefing’s arranged for tomorrow morning, sir. And Alice Bolshaw’s been on the phone. She wants to know if you’ve made a decision yet.”

Joyce’s head came up from amidst her paperwork. “That the young woman Ruth said was looking for work experience?”

Calladine nodded. “But, given she was Madison Benneti’s friend, I’m not keen. Can you imagine what her reaction will be when she sees that?” He nodded at the board, which was now covered in grisly pictures of the two bodies. “No, I don’t think so. Not while this case is ongoing.”

“Well if you change your mind, sir, I’ll take her. I’ve a pile of simple routine stuff I can give her to do.”

He’d think about it, but even working with Joyce, there was no avoiding the hideous photos on that damn board.

“When do you want to go look at the railway station, sir? It’s getting late, so do you want to leave it until tomorrow?”

“Might be better to weigh things up in daylight, and the press release will have gone out by lunchtime tomorrow. If it brings anyone in who saw her get off the train, then we can meet them there—get the full picture.”

“Rocco has gone to get the CCTV footage from the pub, and ask a few questions. We’ll give it to Julian and see what he comes up with. Imogen—would you make sure Julian knows what Patsy Lumis looks like, so that he can log anyone she spoke to?”