Thirty-Four
Miller could not help but be impressed by how quickly Susan Akers and a few of her senior colleagues had put the operation together.
To be fair, those responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Lancashire could rarely be accused of sluggishness when it came to investigating the most significant offences, but there was, nevertheless, a sliding scale.
Some things were taken more seriously than others.
The response to the kidnapping of Justin Cutler had certainly been a lot more rapid than it might have been to a spate of burglaries in Chorley, for example.
Or a stolen puppy.
Or an attempt on the life of the individual responsible for the slogan See It. Say It. Sorted.
‘Justin Cutler was snatched three nights ago,’ Akers said.
‘Just before nine p.m., after leaving a coffee shop near Marton Mere Holiday Park, where he’d spent the previous hour or so with friends from uni.
We’ve put together CCTV footage from a number of cameras in the vicinity, so shall we have a look?
’ She glanced up at the four other officers gathered around the table in the conference room, then hit a key on her laptop.
Everyone leaned in to watch as the footage began to play on the wall-mounted screen at the end of the room.
‘Jacqui Cutler wasn’t overly concerned when her son didn’t come home that first night,’ Miller said.
‘She just presumed he’d copped off with someone.
Students do a lot of that, apparently.’ Miller was sitting next to Sara Xiu and directly opposite Tim Sullivan.
Sullivan was seated next to the only officer present who, until recently, had been unfamiliar to all of them: a DI named Amar Chopra who looked thoroughly disgusted with proceedings and had been glaring at Miller ever since he’d walked into the room.
Miller knew exactly why Chopra was so put out, as a result of which he believed the glaring to be completely justified.
Winking at him had definitely not helped.
‘We see Justin walking towards the corner and we switch to a different CCTV feed,’ Akers said. ‘His bike is locked up on the side street …’
Miller and the others watched as Justin Cutler turned on to a dimly lit street and was immediately picked up by a different camera. He hoisted up his backpack and began to fasten a cycle helmet. He stopped and turned at the sound of a vehicle braking hard just behind him.
‘Here comes our suspect,’ Akers said.
The footage switched to that taken from a third camera, showing a dark van screeching to a standstill, and a figure jumping out and throwing open the rear doors before walking purposefully towards Justin Cutler.
Miller pointed to the figure, who was wearing black and whose face was obscured by a ski-mask. ‘Another balaclava,’ he said. ‘I tell you what, those things are definitely making a comeback.’
Chopra stared at Miller, horrified, then turned to Xiu who was trying to get his attention.
She shot him a look which, later on, she would realise was an attempt to convey an overly complicated message.
She was hoping it would say, ‘I know, but you’ll get used to him.
Or maybe you won’t. It doesn’t make much difference either way. ’
On the screen, Justin Cutler was standing very still; transfixed and seemingly unconcerned as the balaclava-wearing figure got closer.
‘Why’s he just stood there like a tit in a trance?’ Sullivan asked. ‘Why doesn’t he run? It’s pretty obvious the bloke in the bally isn’t going to ask him for directions.’
‘It’s probably shock,’ Xiu said. ‘I’m sure he knows that something bad’s coming, but he’s rooted to the spot.’
‘It’s classic fight or flight,’ Akers said.
Sullivan looked unconvinced. ‘It’s definitely not flight.’
Almost immediately the ‘something bad’ arrived, in the shape of a short and superfast straight jab to Justin Cutler’s face.
It was more than enough to put the boy down, but the man in the mask moved quickly to take hold of him under the arms, turn him round, and begin dragging him backwards towards the van.
‘Not much of a fight, either,’ Sullivan said.
‘I don’t think Justin’s much of a fighter,’ Miller said. ‘Even if he was, I seriously doubt it would have lasted any longer. That bloke knew what he was doing.’
Less than half a minute after the van had arrived, the doors had been slammed shut with Justin Cutler inside and it was roaring away again.
There were a few more clips and stills of the vehicle, caught on other cameras as it sped away from town, but after several sharp turns that Miller guessed had been pre-planned, the blacked-out number plates were no longer being picked up by any cameras at all.
‘The abduction was reported to police on the night,’ Akers said.
‘Several people saw Justin being chucked into the back of that van and phoned it in, but without a reg and with no -missing-persons reports to tie anything to, there wasn’t a fat lot the local uniforms could do. So we’re left with this …’
Once the DCI had called up the right file, they all took one more look at the footage that had been sent to Jacqui Cutler from an untraceable burner phone two nights before. The sequence of messages followed by the reveal of her son’s bruised and battered face.
‘That’s already with the nerds at the audio/visual forensics lab, so fingers crossed they come back to us with something useful.
’ Akers closed her laptop and reached for the handbag at the side of her desk.
She quickly took out a small fan, unfolded it and began fanning herself, those hot flushes clearly not getting any easier to cope with.
‘In the meantime, DS Miller, what’s your plan? ’
‘Well—’ There was a loud sigh and some major-league headshaking from the officer sitting across from him. ‘Something bothering you, DI Chopra?’
‘You know very well what’s bothering me.’
‘Let’s not drag all this up again,’ Akers said.
Chopra was still shaking his head and it was clear that, despite the DCI’s entreaties, he was bang up for as much dragging as was necessary.
‘I don’t need to remind you which unit I work for, do I?
’ He waited, and the fact that nobody replied seemed only to annoy him even more.
‘I’m with the Kidnap Unit, OK? The bloody Kidnap Unit. ’
Miller snapped his fingers, like the fact had temporarily escaped him. ‘Oh, yeah. Course you are.’
‘I’m with the Kidnap Unit and this is most definitely a kidnap. Ergo …’
‘Ergo?’
‘It’s Latin for therefore.’
‘Did you go to the same school as Detective Sergeant Xiu?’
Chopra looked to Akers for help. ‘What’s he wittering about?’
‘Jacqui Cutler specifically asked for me,’ Miller said.
‘We have history, most notably involving the murder of her other son. Which I solved, so go me. But it means that she trusts me, and because she’s been warned about what might happen to Justin if she brings in the police, it’s imperative that this case is worked with finesse and subtlety. ’
Sullivan actually snorted. ‘And with that in mind she still asked for you?’
‘Indeed she did.’
‘An officer with all the finesse of a reversing bin lorry?’
‘I’m going to ignore you now, DI Sullivan,’ Miller said, ‘and answer our senior officer’s initial question.’ He turned to Akers. ‘My plan, Susan … is to find out who’s taken Justin Cutler.’
Chopra barked out a laugh. ‘Oh, now that’s genius.’
‘Yes, I am quite pleased with it.’
‘I’ll tell my boss on the Kidnap Unit. I’m sure he’ll be desperate to snap you right up.’
‘I’m ignoring you too, DI Chopra.’ Miller turned back to Akers. ‘Whoever’s behind this is obviously trying to muscle in on Cutler territory. I plan to find out who that is by working the streets, talking to the people at the sharp end.’
‘The dealers?’ Akers asked.
‘The small-time dealers, yes, and the users. The people that genuinely have a vested interest, so tend to keep their ears to the ground. I have one particular source who I think will prove very useful.’ He looked across at his partner, well aware that she would know exactly who he was talking about.
‘It sounds like an excellent idea,’ Xiu said.
‘There’s someone else I need to have a word with first, though. I very much doubt he’s involved, but it can’t hurt to pop in for a chat.’
‘Are we talking about a visit to the Majestic Ballroom?’ Akers asked.
‘Well, it’s what I’m talking about, certainly,’ Miller said. ‘But you’re more than welcome to join me, Susan. I’m sure you’re busy, but you know I’m always very happy to add you to my dance card.’