Dead Man's Grip

got into the car safely – and she watched him do that from the school gates.’
    ‘So they just let their pupils get into taxis without checking with anyone?’ Grace quizzed.
    ‘They have strict procedures,’ Branson replied. ‘The parents have to have given prior sanction, which Carly Chase had, on a blanket basis. Apparently Tyler was regularly dropped off and picked up by taxis, so no one had any reason to question it today.’
    Grace sat in silence for some moments, thinking hard and fast. He looked at his watch. ‘The appointment is for 11.30 a.m.?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Has anyone checked with the dentist to see if he’s turned up?’
    ‘Someone’s on that now. He hadn’t as of a couple of minutes ago.’
    ‘Where’s the dentist?’
    ‘In Wilbury Road.’
    ‘St Christopher’s is a private school, right? On New Church Road?’
    Branson nodded.
    ‘That’s a five-minute drive. Ten, max. He was picked up just before 11 a.m.?
    ‘That’s right.’
    ‘Are you on to the taxi companies?’
    ‘All of them. I’ve got Norman Potting, Nick Nicholl, Bella Moy and Stacey Horobin making calls right now.’
    Grace thumped his desk in anger and frustration. ‘Shit, shit, shit! Why wasn’t I told about this dental appointment?’
    Branson gave him a helpless look. ‘We guarded her house with the boy and her mother – the boys’ gran – in it all night. And we had a friend of Carly Chase, who was doing the school run, tailed – to make sure he got there safely. We were going to do the same this afternoon when he came out of school. No one said anything about him having an appointment.’
    Grace shook his head. ‘She was vulnerable. That meant anyone close to her was vulnerable, too. We should have had someone at the school today.’
    ‘Hindsight’s easy. Most people wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning if they knew what was going to happen.’
    Grace stared at him bleakly. ‘Knowing what was going to happen would make this job a damned sight easier.’ He picked up a pen and began making notes on his pad, his brain going into overdrive. ‘OK, do we have a photograph of this boy?’
    ‘No. I have a description of him. He’s five foot tall, looks a little like a young Harry Potter – floppy brown hair, oval wire-framed glasses, wearing a school uniform of red blazer, white shirt, red and grey tie, and grey trousers.’
    ‘Good, that’s fairly distinctive,’ Grace said. ‘We need a photo PDQ.’
    ‘We’re on to that.’
    ‘Has anyone spoken to the gran?’
    ‘She’s at a doctor’s appointment at the Sussex County. I have someone on their way there.’
    ‘Do we have the make of the taxi? Was it a saloon or an estate car or a people carrier?’
    ‘I don’t have that yet.’
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘Because I haven’t had time. I wanted you to know right away.’
    Grace looked up at a map of East and West Sussex on his wall, then at his bookshelf, where he could see a copy of the official Kidnap Manual , which contained all the procedures and protocols for kidnap and abduction. He knew a lot of them by heart, but he
would check carefully through it. Before that he had some urgent fast-time actions to carry out. He grabbed the phone off his desk and, as he dialled, he said, ‘Glenn, we need to plot an arc around the school – how far away someone could be in any direction now and in thirty minutes’ time. We’ve got to get the make of vehicle. Is someone going to see the teacher?’
    ‘Two officers from the Outside Inquiry Team should be at the school now.’
    ‘We need more officers down at that school immediately, talking to everyone around it, in houses, walking their dogs, cats, goldfish.’
    Grace dialled the number for Ops-1 – the Duty Inspector in the Force Control Room, Becky Newman. He gave her a quick summary and asked her who the Force Gold was today. The Gold Commander was normally a Superintendent or Chief Superintendent who would take control of any Critical Incident that happened on his watch.
    He was pleased to hear it was Chief Superintendent Graham Barrington, the current Commander of Brighton and Hove, an exceptionally able and intelligent officer. Moments later he was on the line. Grace quickly brought him up to speed. Barrington said he wanted a Detective as Silver and suggested Chief Inspector Trevor Barnes. He quickly reeled off the Bronzes to complete his command team: one a POLSA for searches, then one for Intelligence, one for Investigations and one for