He had a point, George realized. What about outsiders?
Lucas shrugged. All we have to do is post a guard on the gate on the road. I dont imagine anybodyll be keen enough to hike in from the next dale. Its a treacherous path up the Scarlaston banks at the best of times, never mind on a frosty winter night.
Im happy to trust your judgement, Sergeant, George said. I take it your men have been searching the houses and outbuildings?
Thats right. Not a trace of the girl, Lucas said, his naturally cheery face as sombre as it could manage. The building out the back of the manor, its where the squire develops his photographs. Nowhere for a lass to hide in there.
Before George could respond, Clough and Cragg appeared from the shadows on the village green. Both looked as cold as he felt, the collars of their heavy winter coats turned up against the chill wind that whistled up the valley. Cragg was flipping back the pages of his notebook. Any progress? George asked.
Not sos youd notice, Clough complained, offering his cigarettes round the group. Only Cragg took one. We spoke to everybody, including the cousins she came back from school with. It was Mrs Kathy Lomass turn to pick them up at the road end, which she did as per usual. The last she saw of Alison, the lass was walking in the kitchen door of the manor. So the mothers telling the truth about the lass getting home in one piece. Mrs Lomas went indoors with her lad and never saw Alison again. Nobody saw hide nor hair of the girl after she came home from school. Its like she vanished into thin air.
4
Thursday, 12th December 1963. 1.14 a.m.
George looked around the church hall with an air of resignation. In the pale-yellow light, it looked dingy and cramped, the pale-green walls adding to the institutional flavour. But they needed an incident room large enough to accommodate a CID team as well as the uniformed officers, and there were precious few candidates within striking distance of Scardale. Pressed, Peter Grundy had only been able to come up with either the village hall in Longnor or this depressing annexe to the Methodist Chapel that squatted on the main road just past the Scardale turn-off. It had the advantage not only of being closer to Scardale, but of having a telephone line already installed in what claimed, according to the sign on its door, to be the vestry.
Just as well Methodists dont go in for vestments, George said as he stood on the threshold and surveyed the glorified cupboard. Make a note, Grundy. Well need a field telephone as well.
Grundy added the telephone to a list that already included typewriters, witness-statement forms, maps of assorted scales, filing cards and boxes, electoral rolls and telephone directories. Tables and chairs were no problem; the hall was already well furnished with them. George turned to Lucas. We need to draw up a plan of action for the morning, he said decisively. Lets pull up some chairs and see what we need to do.
They arranged a table and chairs directly below one of the electric heaters that hung suspended from the roof beams. It barely dented the damp chill of the icy night air, but the men were glad of any relief. Grundy disappeared into the small kitchen and returned with three cups and a saucer. For an ashtray, he said, sliding the saucer across the table towards George. Then he produced a Thermos flask from inside his overcoat and plonked it firmly on the table.
Where did that come from? Lucas demanded.
Betsy Crowther, Meadow Cottage, Grundy said. The wifes cousin on her mothers side. He opened the flask and George stared greedily at the curl of steam.
Fortified by tea and cigarettes, the three men began to plan. Well need as many uniforms as we can muster, George said. We need to comb the whole of the Scardale area, but if we draw a blank there, well have to widen the search down the course of the Scarlaston river. Ill make a note to contact the Territorial Army, to see if they can spare us any bodies to help with the searching.
If were spreading the net wider, it might be worth asking the High Peak Hunt if they can help us out, Lucas said, hunched over his tea to make the most of its warmth. Their hounds are used to tracking, and their riders know the land.
Ill bear that in mind, George said, inhaling the smoke from his cigarette as if it could warm his frozen core. PC Grundy, I want you to make a list of all the local farmers within, say, a five-mile radius. At first light, well send some men out to ask them all to check their land to see if the girls there. If she was running away, she could easily have had an accident, wandering around in the dark.
Grundy nodded. Ill get on to it. Sir, there was one thing I wanted to bring up? George nodded. Yesterday was Leek Cattle Market and Christmas Show. Fatstock and dairy cattle. Decent prize money, an all. So that means there would have been a lot more traffic than usual on the roads in these parts. Theres a lot go over to Leek for the show, whether theyve got cattle entered or not. Some of them will have been doing their Christmas shopping at the same time. They could have been heading for home round about the time Alison went missing. So if the lass was on any of the roads, theres a better than average chance that shell have been spotted.
Good thinking, George said, making a note. You might want to ask the farmers about that when you talk to them. And Ill mention it at the press conference.
Press conference? Lucas asked suspiciously. Hed been reluctantly approving of the Professor this far, but now it looked like George Bennett was planning on using Alison Carter to make a name for himself. It was a move that failed to impress the sergeant.
George nodded. Ive already been on to headquarters asking them to arrange a press conference here at ten oclock. We need all the help we can get, and the press can reach people quicker than we can. It could take us weeks to contact everybody who was at Leek Market yesterday, and even then wed miss plenty. Whereas with press coverage, nearly everybody will know theres a missing girl in a matter of days. Luckily, todays press day for the High Peak Courant, so they should be able to get the news on the streets by teatime. Publicitys vital in cases like these.
It doesnt seem to have done much for our colleagues in Manchester and Ashton, Lucas said dubiously. Other than waste officers time chasing down false leads.
If she has run away, itll make it harder for her to stay hidden. And if shes been taken anywhere else, it increases our chances of finding a witness, George said firmly. I spoke to Superintendent Martin, and he agrees. Hes coming out here for the press conference himself. And hes confirmed that for now, Im in overall charge of the operation, he added, feeling slightly awkward at his assertiveness.
Makes sense, Lucas said. You being here from the first shout. He got to his feet, pushing his chair back and leaning forward to stub out his cigarette. So, shall we head back to Buxton now? I dont see theres much we can do here. The day-shift men can set it up when they come on at six.
Privately, George agreed. But he didnt want to leave. Equally, he didnt want to appear to push his authority by insisting they hang around pointlessly. With some reluctance, he followed Lucas and Grundy out to the car. Little was said on the way back to Longnor to drop Grundy off, still less on the seven miles back to Buxton. Both men were tired, both troubled by their private imaginings.
Privately, George agreed. But he didnt want to leave. Equally, he didnt want to appear to push his authority by insisting they hang around pointlessly. With some reluctance, he followed Lucas and Grundy out to the car. Little was said on the way back to Longnor to drop Grundy off, still less on the seven miles back to Buxton. Both men were tired, both troubled by their private imaginings.
Back in the divisional headquarters in Buxton, George left the sergeant to type up a list of orders for the day shift and the extra officers drafted in from other parts of the county. He climbed behind the wheel of his car, shivering at the blast of cold air that issued from his dashboard vents when he turned the engine on. Within ten minutes, he was drawing up outside the house that Derbyshire Police decreed was appropriate for a married man of his rank. A three-bedroomed stone-clad semi, it sat in a generous garden, thanks to the sharp bend in the street. From the kitchen and the back-bedroom windows, there was a view of Grin Low woods stretching along the ridge to the beginning of Axe Edge and the grim miles of moorland where Derbyshire blurred into Staffordshire and Cheshire.
George stood in the moonlit kitchen, looking out at the inhospitable landscape. Hed dutifully taken the sandwiches out of the fridge and brewed himself a pot of tea, but he hadnt eaten a bite. He couldnt even have said what the sandwiches contained. There was a thin pile of Christmas cards on the table, left by Anne for his attention, but he ignored them. He cradled the fragile china cup in his broad square hands, remembering Ruth Hawkins ravaged face when hed brought the dog back and broken into her private vigil.
Shed been standing by the kitchen sink, staring out into the darkness behind the house. Now he came to think about it, he wondered why she wasnt devoting her attention to the front of the house. After all, if Alison was going to return, shed presumably come from the direction of the village green and the fields shed set off towards earlier. And any news would come that way too. Perhaps, George thought, Ruth Hawkin couldnt bear to see the familiar scene criss-crossed by police officers, their presence a poignant and forceful reminder of her daughters absence.
Whatever the reason, shed been gazing out of the window, her back to her husband and the WPC who still sat awkwardly at the kitchen table, there to offer a sympathy that clearly wasnt wanted. Ruth hadnt even moved when hed opened the door. It was the sound of the dogs claws on the stone flags that had dragged her eyes away from the window. When she turned, the dog had dropped to the floor and, whimpering, crawled towards Ruth on her belly.
We found Shep tied up in the woods, George had said. Someone had taped her mouth shut. With elastoplast.
Ruths eyes widened and her mouth twisted in a rictus of pain. No, she protested weakly. That cant be right. She dropped to her knees beside the dog, who was squirming round her ankles in a parody of obsequious apology. Ruth buried her face in the dogs ruff, clutching the animal to her as if it were a child. A long pink tongue licked her ear.
George looked across at Hawkin. The man was shaking his head, looking genuinely bewildered. That makes no sense, Hawkin said. Its Alisons dog. It would never have let anybody harm a hair on Alisons head. He gave a mirthless bark of laughter. I lifted a hand to her one time, and the dog had my sleeve in its teeth before I could touch her. The only person who could have done that to the dog was Alison herself. It wouldnt even stand for me or Ruth doing something like that, never mind a stranger.
Alison might not have had any choice, George said gently.
Ruth looked up, her face transformed by the realization that her earlier fears might truly be reflected in reality. No, she said, her voice a hoarse plea. Not my Alison. Please God, not my Alison.
Hawkin got to his feet and crossed the room to his wife. He hunkered down beside her and put an awkward arm round her shoulders. You mustnt get into a state, Ruth, he said, casting a quick glance up at George. That wont help Alison. Weve got to stay strong. Hawkin seemed embarrassed at having to show concern for his wife. George had seen plenty of men who were uncomfortable with any display of emotion, but hed seldom encountered one so self-conscious about it.
He felt enormous pity for Ruth Hawkin. It wasnt the first time George had watched a marriage crack under the weight of a major investigation. Hed spent less than an hour in the company of this couple, but he knew instinctively that what he was witnessing here was not so much a crack as a major fracture. It was hard enough at any time in a marriage to discover that the person you had married was less than you imagined, but for Ruth Hawkin, so recently wed, it was doubly difficult, coming as it did on top of the anxiety of her daughters disappearance.
Almost without thinking, George had crouched down and covered one of Ruths hands with his own. Theres very little we can do just now, Mrs Hawkin. But we are doing everything possible. At first light, well have men scouring the dale from end to end. I promise you, I wont give up on Alison. Their eyes had met and hed felt the intensity of a clutch of emotions far too complicated for him to separate.
As he stared out towards the moors, George realized there was no way he could sleep that night. Wrapping the sandwiches in greaseproof paper, he filled a flask with hot tea and softly climbed the stairs to pick up his electric razor from the bathroom.
On the landing, he paused. The door to their bedroom was ajar, and he couldnt resist a quick look at Anne. With his fingertips, he pushed the door a little wider. Her face was a pale smudge against the white gleam of the pillow. She lay on her side, one hand a fist on the pillow beside her. God, she was beautiful. Just watching her sleep was enough to make his flesh stir. He wished he could throw his clothes off and slide in beside her, feeling her warmth the length of his body. But tonight, the memory of Ruth Hawkins haunted eyes was more than he could escape.
With a soft sigh, he turned away. Half an hour later, he was back in the Methodist Hall, staring at Alison Carter. Hed pinned four of Hawkins photographs of her to the notice board. Hed left the other at the police station, asking for it to be copied as a matter of urgency so it could be distributed at the press conference. The night duty inspector seemed uncertain whether it could be done in time. George had left him in no doubt what he expected.
Carefully, he spread out the Ordnance Survey map and tried to study it through the eyes of a person whod decided to run away. Or a person whod decided to steal someone elses life.
Then he walked out of the Methodist Hall and started down the narrow lane towards Scardale on foot. Within yards, the dim yellow light that spilled out of the high windows of the hall was swallowed by the blanketing night. The only glimmers of light came from the stars that broke through the fitful clouds. It took him all his time to avoid tripping over tussocks of grass at the roads edge.
Gradually, his pupils expanded to their maximum extent, allowing his night vision to steal what images it could from the ghosts and shadows of the landscape. But by the time they resolved themselves into hedges and trees, sheep folds and stiles, the cold had sneaked up on him. Thin-soled town shoes were no match for frosty ground, and not even his cotton-lined leather gloves were proof against the icy flurry that seemed to use the Scardale lane as a wind tunnel. His ears and nose had lost all sensation except pain. A mile down the lane, he gave up. If Alison Carter was abroad in this, she must be hardier than him, he decided.