agile enough. I wouldn’t like to have chanced it though. And it explains the towel. And once she was missing, they’d look for her on the ground or hiding in one of the sheds. Maybe it didn’t occur to them that she’d gone upwards. They’d expect her to make a run for it,’ he said. ‘Clever girl.’
‘That’s my Nadia,’ Sophie said. ‘Now, what happened next?’
‘They’d spend some time searching for her, but it would have to be quick. The other girls would have to be guarded while they were doing it, and maybe there were only the three of them,’ said Melsom.
‘We know they didn’t find her, so what would they do?’
‘Get the rest of the girls away then come back to make a more thorough search,’ he said.
‘But you and I turned up, Barry. That probably spooked them even more. Once we’d gone they burned the stuff they didn’t want to take, and left by boat. So the big question is, where could they have gone?’
‘Poole Harbour’s vast, ma’am. Isn’t it the largest natural harbour in Europe? It’s got three or four inhabited islands and dozens of small ones. The shore this side is a maze of creeks and inlets, and the far side is one huge built-up area. They could have gone anywhere,’ Marsh said.
‘Yes, but they didn’t, Barry, did they? They probably went somewhere very specific. We need to think it through. Let’s move back to the body on the rock. We’ve already said it was a very public statement. They knew the body would be found, and that we’d start making enquiries when it was discovered. They’d guess that we’d do exactly what we have done and start a house-to-house. They knew we’d get to their place sooner or later, so they’d have another ready. In fact, my guess is that they were going to move anyway. That’s why they put the body where we found it. A twisted sort of farewell gift. Didn’t they say that the place was rented from an agency and was up for sale? I think they’ve got somewhere else, somewhere better. Now comes the guess work. Criminals don’t change their habits much. That applies to most people by the way, not just the slime balls. So the new place won’t be vastly different from the old one. Let’s assume that their system, whatever it was, was working for them. They’d want to keep it going. So their new place is likely to be near the harbour.’
‘But Poole Harbour has a coastline of thirty-six miles, ma’am, so I’m told. And that’s not counting the islands,’ said Marsh.
‘Bear with me, Barry. Let’s look at the map. The islands wouldn’t be any good for them. They’d be a trap. I think we can also discount all the residential areas. I don’t think they’ll want to be too close to their old place either. They’ll still be based at a farm, or maybe industrial buildings of some kind. That’s my guess, anyway.’
‘I can’t fault your reasoning, ma’am,’ said Marsh.
‘I think they’d been planning this move for some time. You know, if it hadn’t been for your Mr Kirby’s new binoculars, and you getting off the mark so quickly with the house-to-house, we might have missed them entirely. Maybe they thought they had plenty of time for a leisurely move, and then Allbright and Holly came calling. If so, Nadia owes her life to their prompt action. If the gang hadn’t needed to get away so fast, they would have taken their time searching and they’d have found her.’
She turned to Melsom. ‘And you, Jimmy. You deserve a ticking off for deciding to wander down to the farm yesterday afternoon without my say-so. But you may just have saved that girl’s life.’
‘So do we start looking along the coastline? It’ll take a long time, ma’am,’ asked Marsh.
‘We’ll wait until this afternoon. I want to hear what Nadia has to say before I decide. If she confirms my thoughts, then I’ll get the go-ahead from HQ to assign the manpower to it. Meanwhile, Barry, you and I have to make an attempt at identifying those two
‘That’s my Nadia,’ Sophie said. ‘Now, what happened next?’
‘They’d spend some time searching for her, but it would have to be quick. The other girls would have to be guarded while they were doing it, and maybe there were only the three of them,’ said Melsom.
‘We know they didn’t find her, so what would they do?’
‘Get the rest of the girls away then come back to make a more thorough search,’ he said.
‘But you and I turned up, Barry. That probably spooked them even more. Once we’d gone they burned the stuff they didn’t want to take, and left by boat. So the big question is, where could they have gone?’
‘Poole Harbour’s vast, ma’am. Isn’t it the largest natural harbour in Europe? It’s got three or four inhabited islands and dozens of small ones. The shore this side is a maze of creeks and inlets, and the far side is one huge built-up area. They could have gone anywhere,’ Marsh said.
‘Yes, but they didn’t, Barry, did they? They probably went somewhere very specific. We need to think it through. Let’s move back to the body on the rock. We’ve already said it was a very public statement. They knew the body would be found, and that we’d start making enquiries when it was discovered. They’d guess that we’d do exactly what we have done and start a house-to-house. They knew we’d get to their place sooner or later, so they’d have another ready. In fact, my guess is that they were going to move anyway. That’s why they put the body where we found it. A twisted sort of farewell gift. Didn’t they say that the place was rented from an agency and was up for sale? I think they’ve got somewhere else, somewhere better. Now comes the guess work. Criminals don’t change their habits much. That applies to most people by the way, not just the slime balls. So the new place won’t be vastly different from the old one. Let’s assume that their system, whatever it was, was working for them. They’d want to keep it going. So their new place is likely to be near the harbour.’
‘But Poole Harbour has a coastline of thirty-six miles, ma’am, so I’m told. And that’s not counting the islands,’ said Marsh.
‘Bear with me, Barry. Let’s look at the map. The islands wouldn’t be any good for them. They’d be a trap. I think we can also discount all the residential areas. I don’t think they’ll want to be too close to their old place either. They’ll still be based at a farm, or maybe industrial buildings of some kind. That’s my guess, anyway.’
‘I can’t fault your reasoning, ma’am,’ said Marsh.
‘I think they’d been planning this move for some time. You know, if it hadn’t been for your Mr Kirby’s new binoculars, and you getting off the mark so quickly with the house-to-house, we might have missed them entirely. Maybe they thought they had plenty of time for a leisurely move, and then Allbright and Holly came calling. If so, Nadia owes her life to their prompt action. If the gang hadn’t needed to get away so fast, they would have taken their time searching and they’d have found her.’
She turned to Melsom. ‘And you, Jimmy. You deserve a ticking off for deciding to wander down to the farm yesterday afternoon without my say-so. But you may just have saved that girl’s life.’
‘So do we start looking along the coastline? It’ll take a long time, ma’am,’ asked Marsh.
‘We’ll wait until this afternoon. I want to hear what Nadia has to say before I decide. If she confirms my thoughts, then I’ll get the go-ahead from HQ to assign the manpower to it. Meanwhile, Barry, you and I have to make an attempt at identifying those two
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