stupid, superficial things.
‘So, any news about Ruby and Lewis?’ says George, finishing his toast and rubbing the crumbs off his fingers. ‘I heard they were released yesterday. Does that mean they’re in the clear?’
‘It means we don’t have enough evidence to charge them,’ Sally says. ‘And they weren’t “released”, because they weren’t held in the first place. I gather they were both very cooperative, but that’s all I can tell you at this stage. We’re still analysing evidence and witness reports. We’ve had a huge response from the public, but it’s going to take a while to sift through the material. Most of it won’t be relevant and some will be from cranks, but that’s how it is, I’m afraid.’
Amber feels a surge of hope. At least they didn’t make a confession. She really, really doesn’t want it to be Ruby and Lewis, because that would mean that something terrible has happened to Mabel.
‘And what about Sonya?’ she asks.
Sally purses her lips. ‘Hmm … I’m afraid it’s not looking likely. We’ve been examining her recent expenditure and it seems she booked a flight to India two weeks ago.’ She registers the disappointment on their faces. ‘I’m sorry. I know you were hoping …’
‘Maybe she didn’t actually catch the flight,’ says George.
‘Yes,’ Amber agrees. ‘It could have been a trick. You know, to cover her tracks, mislead the police.’
‘Yes, you’re right, absolutely, we’re not making any assumptions either way. As soon as we’ve tracked her down, we’ll let you know.’
‘What about the CCTV footage you showed us yesterday?’ asks George. ‘Any more news on that? Does it look like it could be Lewis? Some other cameras must have picked the guy up; there may be a better shot of him.’
‘Or her,’ Sally adds.
‘Exactly,’ says Amber. ‘It could easily be Sonya. The figure was quite slight, looked more like a woman to me.’
‘The images are being analysed and another appeal has gone out for security footage. Everyone’s working around the clock; there’s a massive team involved.’ Sally looks at her phone. ‘Right. I need to make a few calls … Anything else you want to know?’
‘It just feels so odd to be trapped here doing nothing,’ says Amber. ‘It’s driving us both crazy.’
George nods. ‘Perhaps we should do another press conference?’
The boss is considering it, but he’d rather have something positive to say,’ Sally replies. ‘We’ve got the still from the footage, but it’s not certain it’s somebody carrying a child, and anyway, it’s not a clear image – we’ll only get hundreds of people calling in to say they know who it is, and it’ll clog up the system.’
‘We need to do something, though,’ he persists.
Sally stands up and puts her empty mug and plate back on the tray. ‘He’s also talking about staging a reconstruction.’
George’s face lights up. ‘Great. Let’s do it today.’
‘It would be better to wait until Saturday, when there’ll be more people around – regular weekend park-goers in particular. We think the abductor may have been stalking Mabel, watching the house, waiting for his or her chance. Someone might remember seeing somebody hanging around.’
‘Yeah, it’s definitely worth doing,’ says George.
‘Not that we were ever aware of someone stalking us,’ admits Amber, thinking of all those times she pushed Mabel listlessly around the park, eyes fixed firmly on the path because she didn’t want to engage with anyone, trying to pretend that this wasn’t really her boring, humdrum life. How she regrets her attitude now. Anyone could have been following her and she wouldn’t have had a clue. She covers her face. ‘Oh, I can’t bear it, it’s so creepy.’
‘There’s one other thing,’ says George. ‘I think we’d both like to go home, if that’s possible. Being here is just an extra strain, and not just on us.’ He nods in the direction of the kitchen, where Vicky is doing some noisy clearing-up.
‘Yes, of course,’ Sally replies. ‘I’ll find out if we can release the property. But bear in mind you’ll have even more media attention if you go back. There are already crowds in the park, just hanging around. Once they know you’re at home …’ She sighs. ‘We’ll give you protection, of course, but you still might find it very uncomfortable. There’s a lot of vile stuff online. It could turn nasty.’
‘We’ll think about it,’ says Amber.
‘Fine.’ Sally gathers up the other mugs and takes the tray to the kitchen. George leaves the room and goes upstairs, leaving Amber locked into her own thoughts.
She doesn’t know