and time to relax are all she needs. I’ll prescribe her some more sedatives to help her sleep. I imagine that will be a problem. Psychologically? She will need some counselling once things settle. Today, though, we’ve got to decide what we do with her. There was an overnight fishing boat accident and the hospital really needs her bed.’
‘I can put her up myself, Mark, but only for a couple of nights. It would be convenient while we’re questioning her. But we’ll have to find somewhere for her to go after that.’
‘Do you think the Romanian embassy might have some suggestions?’
‘Possibly, but I’m worried about her safety. I think she’ll be in extreme danger, though I don’t know any of the facts yet. We’ve got an interpreter coming in this afternoon. I have to let the embassy know that we have her, so that they can inform her family back in Romania. But if any information leaks out, the gang that did this to her could find out where she is. And I’m not having that happen.’
‘Sounds fair to me, if you’re happy to do it. I’ll come back in after lunch to do another check, and I’ll discharge her then if all is okay. Suit you?’
‘Fine. And thanks.’
* * *
When Sophie arrived at Swanage police station a little later, Marsh told her that the forensic team was still at Brookway Farm.
‘We’ll have to leave them to get on with it, ma’am. They’ll let us know the instant they find anything. David Nash is in charge again.’
‘Fine. It’s just that with so little to go on, I feel as if I’m in limbo. Until we interview Nadia this afternoon we can’t really make any progress.’ She paused. ‘Let’s work through the probable order of events yesterday, okay? Take me through it, Barry. We’ll see if anything occurs to us.’
He began. ‘Jack Holly and Jen Allbright called at the farm at about ten thirty in a marked squad car. The man who answered the door raised their suspicions, but not in any direct way.’
‘Okay, stop. That probably means he wasn’t either of the two men that you and I saw in the afternoon. Their attitude would have made anyone suspicious. How did they describe him?’
‘Late thirties. Gap in his front teeth. Medium height. So you’re right. The one who talked to us didn’t have a gap in his teeth, and the other one was short and bulky. So there are at least three,’ he said.
‘And Holly didn’t comment on his accent, so it’s unlikely that he was foreign. Let’s move on.’
Marsh continued. ‘They decide to leave. They decide to move the girls out? I’m guessing here. You probably know more than me from your talk with the girl.’
‘She did say “we”, as if she was part of a group. I got the impression that it was a group of women or girls, but I might be wrong. Somehow she escaped, and I’m guessing it was during the move. But why didn’t she have any clothes on?’
‘Maybe they were stripped. It would reduce the chances of escape. It’s a well-known method of intimidation, isn’t it?’ said Marsh.
‘She says that she hid on the roof. Do we have any photos of the place?’
‘I asked Jimmy to take some while he was over there first thing this morning. I’ll get him to print them out.’
While Marsh was gone, Sophie went in search of Jack Holly. She asked him to start examining photofit images on the national police database to see if he could pick out the man at the farm. When she returned Marsh was back with Melsom and the prints.
‘Can either of you remember where the bathroom was?’ she said.
‘Top floor, back wall, halfway up the stairs,’ replied Melsom.
‘So is that its window, do you think?’ She pointed at one of the images. ‘It’s like a little dormer, sticking out from the building.’
‘I think so, ma’am,’ he replied.
‘So if she got out, she could clamber up using that downpipe, then onto the small roof, and from there up onto the main roof?’
‘Looks like it could be done if someone was
‘I can put her up myself, Mark, but only for a couple of nights. It would be convenient while we’re questioning her. But we’ll have to find somewhere for her to go after that.’
‘Do you think the Romanian embassy might have some suggestions?’
‘Possibly, but I’m worried about her safety. I think she’ll be in extreme danger, though I don’t know any of the facts yet. We’ve got an interpreter coming in this afternoon. I have to let the embassy know that we have her, so that they can inform her family back in Romania. But if any information leaks out, the gang that did this to her could find out where she is. And I’m not having that happen.’
‘Sounds fair to me, if you’re happy to do it. I’ll come back in after lunch to do another check, and I’ll discharge her then if all is okay. Suit you?’
‘Fine. And thanks.’
* * *
When Sophie arrived at Swanage police station a little later, Marsh told her that the forensic team was still at Brookway Farm.
‘We’ll have to leave them to get on with it, ma’am. They’ll let us know the instant they find anything. David Nash is in charge again.’
‘Fine. It’s just that with so little to go on, I feel as if I’m in limbo. Until we interview Nadia this afternoon we can’t really make any progress.’ She paused. ‘Let’s work through the probable order of events yesterday, okay? Take me through it, Barry. We’ll see if anything occurs to us.’
He began. ‘Jack Holly and Jen Allbright called at the farm at about ten thirty in a marked squad car. The man who answered the door raised their suspicions, but not in any direct way.’
‘Okay, stop. That probably means he wasn’t either of the two men that you and I saw in the afternoon. Their attitude would have made anyone suspicious. How did they describe him?’
‘Late thirties. Gap in his front teeth. Medium height. So you’re right. The one who talked to us didn’t have a gap in his teeth, and the other one was short and bulky. So there are at least three,’ he said.
‘And Holly didn’t comment on his accent, so it’s unlikely that he was foreign. Let’s move on.’
Marsh continued. ‘They decide to leave. They decide to move the girls out? I’m guessing here. You probably know more than me from your talk with the girl.’
‘She did say “we”, as if she was part of a group. I got the impression that it was a group of women or girls, but I might be wrong. Somehow she escaped, and I’m guessing it was during the move. But why didn’t she have any clothes on?’
‘Maybe they were stripped. It would reduce the chances of escape. It’s a well-known method of intimidation, isn’t it?’ said Marsh.
‘She says that she hid on the roof. Do we have any photos of the place?’
‘I asked Jimmy to take some while he was over there first thing this morning. I’ll get him to print them out.’
While Marsh was gone, Sophie went in search of Jack Holly. She asked him to start examining photofit images on the national police database to see if he could pick out the man at the farm. When she returned Marsh was back with Melsom and the prints.
‘Can either of you remember where the bathroom was?’ she said.
‘Top floor, back wall, halfway up the stairs,’ replied Melsom.
‘So is that its window, do you think?’ She pointed at one of the images. ‘It’s like a little dormer, sticking out from the building.’
‘I think so, ma’am,’ he replied.
‘So if she got out, she could clamber up using that downpipe, then onto the small roof, and from there up onto the main roof?’
‘Looks like it could be done if someone was
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