Chapter 37
THIRTY-SEVEN
Marc had arrived back in the office moments ago, and Ben rushed into the CSI office where a subdued Wendy was still staring at the phone inside of the evidence bag as if it was the creep who had attacked the girls.
Morgan sucked in a deep breath ready to defend her actions and take the consequences of what she’d done.
Ben didn’t look as angry as she’d thought he might; in fact he looked more relieved.
Marc was staring at the evidence bag, arms crossed. He stared Morgan straight in the eye and asked, ‘So, technically, we did this to what?’
Morgan didn’t get time to answer, Cain did.
‘Well, it’s pretty clear once you watch the video that this is about trying to save Janey Moore’s life.
She is in mortal danger and so is Scarlett Peters.
This is about an immediate, real and substantial risk to life and limb and that’s probable cause for viewing the footage. ’
Ben nodded. ‘Good enough for me. Can you send the video to one of us so we can enlarge it and view it on the computer?’
Wendy nodded and pressed the share icon to send it to her work email address. ‘I think it would be better if I send it to myself then I can share it with you.’
‘Whatever you think.’ Ben smiled at her, and Morgan saw Wendy’s shoulders relax a little. Poor Wendy. She had put her in a difficult position, but she was glad she had. Now they knew what they were up against.
Finally, Wendy’s email pinged with the file notification. Her finger hovered above the mouse. ‘This is awful, I just thought you should know that.’
Morgan nodded. ‘We didn’t expect this at all, but you need to watch it yourselves.’
Wendy pressed PLAY then stood up and walked out of the room, unable to watch it a second time.
Morgan didn’t blame her. It was the most harrowing thing she had ever watched in her life, but at the same time, it gave her hope that somehow the tech unit might be able to clean this up enough to give them some facial recognition or at least help to identify the creep.
All of them stood silently hunched around Wendy’s monitor, watching Lizzie’s and Janey’s last moments before they were attacked, and somehow it was even worse this time because Morgan already knew what was going to happen, and she was holding her breath without even realising it.
‘Jesus, that’s horrific,’ muttered Marc as it ended.
Ben was staring at the screen; he scrubbed his hand across his chin then grimaced as it pressed against his bruised jawline.
He looked at Morgan. ‘They were talking about the watcher. You mentioned that both Ettie and the neighbour talked about this watcher. Is it some kind of urban myth? Because I’ve never heard of it. ’
Marc had tears in his eyes, and he blinked a couple of times.
‘Those kids; this happened to them too. That’s horrific, I can’t even think of a word bad enough to describe it.
So, where are Scarlett and Janey, because the whole area has been searched.
We’ve searched Amos’s buildings twice and didn’t find them. ’
Morgan swallowed the lump in the back of her throat and gave a little cough to clear it.
‘I think whoever that is, has taken them, so that means he lives nearby or he had transport because even though Janey and Scarlett are of average build, it would still take a lot of strength to carry them or drag them to wherever he was going, or to a vehicle. How did Amos not hear this happening? He heard Tori screaming but not this?’
‘It sounded windy on the footage, maybe he was asleep or not home,’ said Ben. ‘We need to show this to Claire, is she in the office still?’
Marc shrugged. ‘Probably, I’ll go get her.’
When Marc left, Ben put his hand on top of Morgan’s. ‘You did good, I’m going to say I approve of what you did, and under the circumstances this was the best course of action. I’ll defend that all the way.’
She smiled at him. ‘Thank you, but I don’t need you to do that. I’ll gladly take whatever consequences come my way. Just don’t get Wendy involved. I kind of blackmailed her, so it’s not her fault.’
‘I didn’t need you to blackmail me, Morgan, I did what we had to do.
Sometimes it’s not always possible to follow the rules a hundred per cent.
I’ll take whatever consequences too.’ Wendy had walked back in, and she smiled at Morgan and shrugged.
‘We could get a mobile coffee van and park up on Bowness pier near to the ice-cream van. I bet we’d make a killing. ’
Cain rolled his eyes. ‘You two are so dramatic, stop it. Your actions may have helped to solve this case; nobody is going to fire you for that. The worst you’re going to get is a slapped hand, and if we can figure out where the hell he has taken them then you might also have saved their lives and you can’t put a price on that.
You’re both bloody heroes. Thank the Lord you don’t always play by the rules, Morgan, time is of the essence and we’re running out of it. ’
Marc walked back in with Claire. She nodded at Morgan. ‘You found crucial evidence, even if it was a little unethical. Well done, I am not, for one, going to reprimand you for using your initiative.’
Morgan couldn’t watch the video a third time, and she smiled at her and walked back to the office.
She needed to sit down and think, clear her head and figure out where the hell Janey and Scarlett were being held captive, because there was no doubt about it in her mind that they were being held somewhere.
If they were dead, they would have found their bodies, like they had found Lizzie’s and Dawson’s, and they hadn’t so that had to be hopeful, didn’t it?