The Value of Life

  Chapter 13: The Collridges

  The Markham Road address Bentworth had given him led Josef to a run down area not far from the Beachams'. The streets and houses were badly kept and the pavements lined with old cars that hardly looked roadworthy. When he knocked, the door was answered by a uniformed officer Josef recognized from the Martins' house.

  "They're waitin' for you in the kitchen," he said, "second door on the right." In the kitchen Bentworth and Mason were seated. There was a couple sat with them at the table and a huge mess everywhere else. The table was large but cluttered, it had six seats and a high chair round it, although there was only enough space on it for about two cups of tea.

  Bentworth introduced Josef and as they began Josef pulled his digital recorder from his bag and laid it on the table. This was the first of the three boys to have brothers or sisters. Josef was interested.

  "Tell me about your family," Josef said.

  "Well there's us, and there's Bryan, he's the oldest, he's eleven." As Mrs. Collridge spoke her eyes filled up, "then Tony, he's eight, then Patrick, he's four and Lauren, she's nearly two."

  "OK," Josef continued. "In your own words, tell me everything that happened this evening, say from the time Bryan got in from school."

  "He got home from school about four, he always hangs around to play football or something. He's football mad. He has football training on Mondays and Wednesdays."

  Josef raised his eyebrows in surprise, thinking maybe that the boy had been taken from football.

  "They play matches on Saturdays," Mrs. Collridge explained. "The coach likes them to have a rest before the games."

  "OK," Josef said, suppressing the temptation to jump ahead and ask whether Bryan was at training this evening. "What happened after he got in from school?"

  "I made dinner early, he doesn't like to run around on a full stomach see, so I made cheese and onion pasty and chips," she paused, "that must have been around five 'cause there was still cartoons on the telly. He left here about half five. Training doesn't start till six but he likes to get there early for a kick about with the other kids. Mr. Ryder, the coach, said he was there and he left when training finished, just like normal." She stopped there as if lost.

  "So Bryan didn't make it home?" Josef asked.

  "No, I didn't worry because he sometimes stays for a kick about with some of the other boys but when he wasn't home by eight I started to worry. I sent Len," she pointed at her husband, "up to the school to get him but he wasn't there. Len had just got back from the school when we got this phone call from a man who said he'd taken Bryan and we'd be contacted." She started to cry then and her husband put his arm around her.

  After a minute she stopped and Josef continued.

  "Who took the call?" he asked.

  "I did," Len replied, "he said he'd taken Bryan but that he was safe and we'd be contacted. After that he just hung up."

  "What was his voice like?" Josef asked.

  "Polite voice, white I guess, I didn't hear anything else."

  Josef sat for a moment thinking,

  "Can you think of anything at all in the last few weeks that might mean you've been watched or followed?" They both looked blank.

  "Does Bryan always go to football training on his own or with friends, anything like that?" Josef asked

  "He mostly walks up to the school on his own," Mrs. Collridge said "it's only a five minute walk and it's not dark out, he knows all the kids round here and they all like him," she started crying again.

  "Lets take a break there. Could I have a word with you outside sir," he said to Bentworth. They left Mason in the room with Mr. Collridge comforting his wife.

  "What's up?" Bentworth asked when the door was closed.

  "Has anyone checked the garden?" Josef asked.

  "No. You think you'll find something?"

  "If, and I mean IF, it's important to K that these kids are taken from their own doorstep then yes. He left the schoolbag at the first scene, the kid was seen going into the garden in the second, here there are no witnesses again. Maybe he left something."

  "Well let's go look," Bentworth said.

  It took less than two minutes to find the football boots. Bentworth opened the carrier bag with a pen, he looped the pen through the handles and used it to carry the bag inside. They put the bag on the draining board.

  "Are these Bryan's football boots?" Bentworth asked. Mrs. Collridge looked in the open bag,

  "Yes, where did you find them?" she said

  "In the front garden. Did he have them with him tonight?" he said.

  "He always does," she replied. Bentworth went outside and called SOC to check the front garden.

  Josef spent the next hour telling Mr and Mrs Collridge about the other two kidnappings. He asked as many questions as he could think of about the Beachams and the Martins, borrowed photographs and took a list of names and phone numbers of friends. After that he left them with the tape the Martins' had made and a notebook and went into the garden. SOC hadn't found anything and Josef didn't expect them to.

  "Good call on the Garden," Bentworth said. "Does this mean we're making progress?"

  "A little," Josef replied, "but I can't think what links the boys. We know now there's significance in where the boys are taken from, but I don't know what, and it doesn't fit in with the boys being abused. I don't know what's going on and we need time to follow up all the little leads and go door knocking and talk to friends and teachers, but at the rate this guy's going we'll be miles behind in days!" Bentworth looked at his feet a moment.

  "I know Josef but I really can't have any more officers. I asked today after the second ransom note came in, we're strapped as it is and there's too many other cases to pull any CID. Uniform is helping all it can, we just can't have any more."

  "Maybe when the press puts us under the cosh," Josef snapped. "Nothing like bad PR to loosen the purse strings."

  "That's as may be," Bentworth soothed, "but until then we've got to work with what we've got." Josef nodded and they both stood silent in the garden for a moment, then Mason opened the front door.

  "Find anything more?" he asked.

  "Not yet," Bentworth replied. In the few seconds silence that followed Mason assessed the two men. He didn't like Josef much, he was too green to be working a case like this. Bentworth called him an advisor but he was doing most of the detective work and Mason in his heart believed this situation should be handled by experienced officers.

  "I don't think they're having much luck with the tape," Mason said opening the door and coming out into the garden.

  "Thanks, I'll go check," Josef said and left the two senior detectives outside.

  "I don't think he's helping that much," Mason said, "detective work is 90 percent questions. I don't think he gets that."

  "I think he's doing okay actually," Bentworth said. "It was his idea to search the garden. He's slowly but surely figuring this thing out. Give him a chance, we've had three kidnappings in three days, we haven't had a chance to do anything yet."

  "That's exactly my point Sir," Mason persisted, "we need to be working this with the best officers we've got."

  "Point taken but none the less, I want him involved." Mason gave up and wandered off the talk to SOC.

  Inside Josef sat with the Collridges, their notepad in front of him. He learned nothing more than he had with the Beachams, a sports shop, the DIY store, nothing more. Josef helped them make their own tape, asking for as much detail as they could.

  Bentworth popped his head round the door to say he was leaving but the tape took another hour and by the time Josef was ready to leave it was after midnight and everyone else had gone except the uniformed PC assigned to the house. Josef left his instructions with the PC. He took the family computer, some pictures Mrs. Collridge had given him and then left himself.

  The night had turned cold and it was starting to spot with rain. Josef cruised past the Beachams and saw a light on so he stopped. Mrs Beacham an
swered the door.

  "Oh," she said, "come in. It's a bit late isn't it?" She was fully dressed and looked awake.

  "I hoped you might be up," he said, "I'm afraid there have been some developments and I need some more of your time."

  "Now?" she asked, frowning.

  "If it's not a problem, is that OK? I can come back tomorrow."

  "No that's fine. We can't sleep anyway."

  In the kitchen Josef described the third kidnapping for the Beachams, they took it well. He left out as much detail as possible and when he'd finished he put the dictaphone on the table and asked them to listen to the tape. They listened but noted nothing of significance. Josef showed them pictures of Bryan, they were surprised by his likeness to Jamie but they didn't know and hadn't met the Collridge family. Josef thanked them and left.

  Outside it was raining full pelt, Josef drove past the Martin's but there were no lights on so he didn't stop. Instead he drove home and crawled into bed, he didn't know what time it was when he finally fell asleep, but it was after two o'clock.