to identify him even if we get the IP address?’
Asante makes a face. ‘If he’s in a public place it’ll all depend on whether there’s CCTV, and even if there is –’
‘Right,’ says Gislingham. ‘So we’d better get a bloody move on, and organize a warrant.’
‘DC Asante’s also been monitoring the board,’ I say, ‘and YeltobYob hasn’t been online since he posted these comments.’
Asante looks around the room. ‘He doesn’t post that often but I’m going back through his past activity to see if we can find anything about him that way. Something that might indicate which Botley he’s talking about, for a start. But so far, it’s all the same poisonous misogynist venting.’
‘What about registered sex offenders?’ asks Baxter. ‘Shouldn’t we be checking all these Botley places in case anything pops?’
I shake my head. ‘Already done. And nothing doing.’
There’s a silence.
‘It’s not just what he says about the extensions,’ says Somer quietly, staring at the board. ‘It sounds like he was interrupted. Like Faith’s attacker was.’
I turn to Baxter. ‘Have we managed to track down the emergency vehicle Faith heard?’
He nods. ‘Squad car, sir. There was a burglary reported in Headington High Street and they got stuck behind the roadworks on the Marston Ferry Road.’
‘But the officers didn’t notice anyone entering or leaving the allotments? No van of any kind?’
‘Sorry, sir. I spoke to the two guys and they don’t remember seeing anything. But I’m getting the footage from the speed camera along there and the petrol station on the Cherwell Drive roundabout. And if he got away in the opposite direction he’d have passed Summertown High so the school CCTV may have picked him up.’
‘Challow and the CSI team are on-site,’ says Gis quickly. ‘And we have the cable ties and the plastic bag. We’re also going to question the neighbours in the immediate vicinity of where she was abducted. You never know, someone might have seen something.’
And yet they never bothered reporting a girl being kidnapped off the street right under their noses? Some hope. But there are motions to be gone through in this job, and that’s one of them.
‘And there’s the question of Faith’s handbag, as well,’ Somer continues. ‘Her mum went back that afternoon and found it chucked in one of the bins round by the garages. Minus the valuables, of course.’ She sighs. ‘Forensics will check it in case but it’s possible her attacker just left it where it fell and someone else came along later and stole the money and the mobile. But no one’s used the phone since.’
So GPS isn’t going to be any use either. Another cul-de-sac.
‘What about Faith herself?’
Somer makes a face. ‘She’s reluctant to be examined, sir, for obvious reasons – and in any case she’d showered at least twice before we spoke to her –’
‘But what about her clothes? There could be saliva – DNA –’
Somer shakes her head. ‘She threw the whole lot in the wash. It’s only natural, to react like that, but it does make our job ten times harder. The only thing we have is the shoes. We’ll get them tested, but I suspect it’s a very long shot.’
* * *
Interview with Jackie Dimond, 35 Rydal Way, Oxford
2 April 2018, 4.15 p.m.
In attendance, DC V. Everett
JD: I’m not sure what I can tell you, I hardly know the Applefords.
VE: We’re speaking to all the neighbours, Mrs Dimond. Sometimes people have seen more than they realize.
JD: This is about Monday morning, yes? I wasn’t even in then.
VE: Yes, you did say that. I was more interested in whether you’d seen anything unusual in the last few weeks.
JD: Unusual, as in?
VE: Anyone hanging around you didn’t know? Someone asking about the Applefords? Taking an interest in their house? Perhaps someone parked up in a van?
JD: Sorry, love. I’d have told Diane if anyone was snooping about.
VE: I thought you said you hardly know them?
JD: I don’t. But she’s on her own, isn’t she. Like me. No bloke to fall back on. I’d have definitely said something if I’d seen some pervert hanging about.
VE: Do you know the girls – Faith and Nadine?
JD: Not really. Mine are a bit younger so there isn’t much of an overlap, if you see what I mean. Faith is always very pleasant. Smiles and says hello. And always looks lovely, too. I wish my Elaine would smarten up a bit, but you know what teenagers are like.
VE: And Nadine?
JD: I can’t say I’ve had much contact with her, to be