The van rolled away from its space, the headlights still turned off. He gave Abby one more glance as he drove past her safe place, a slight wiggle of his fingers in her direction, the wave goodbye and see you tomorrow.
***
Nathan entered the briefing room with Jack. The tables had been pushed up against the walls and chairs tucked under them. He counted five persons in the room, all sat at a monitor; their fingers typing frantically.
‘We’re using this as our case room Nathan. Everything we collect comes here’.
‘Where’s the rest of the team?’
‘Out doing the tasks that you gave them!’
Confused he thought hard about issuing tasks……..he hadn’t.
‘Your briefing the other day……..Door to door enquiries, CCTV footage collection.’
‘They’re on it now?’
‘They are. We have five teams in total working the case, some would say it’s an over kill…..but this is the priority at the moment. I have a conference meeting tomorrow. The victim’s family are attending so I want it to look as though we are putting our all into this Nathan.’
‘The word goes out tomorrow that a killer is loose? Do we have anything else to go off?’
‘Not yet, information is trickle fed back to the team based here. They type and produce all the details, basically creating a huge case file’.
They headed toward the large white board at the end of the room.
‘This is the brainstorming board. The information we find to be most fitting gets placed on here, the idea is to build a large picture of a suspect or suspects.’
‘It’s empty!’
Jack looked to his friend with a grimace. The word empty reminded him that as of now they were nowhere in the case.
‘I know Nathan, the information we have is in no way enough to build a suspect list. What are we going to place on it.......a wolf?’
‘I see your point, but in my experience an empty board can be demoralising…..it makes the team feel as though they haven’t achieved anything……but they have’.
‘Ok, what would you suggest?’
Nathan opened the file on the Wolf, the pictures of the girl starring into his face.
‘Start with these…..to remind them why we’re looking for this guy.’ He grabbed some Blue-tac and began sticking the Polaroid’s into one corner. Next he picked up the blue marker pen and wrote The Wolf in the centre.
‘We know he’s a he. We know he’s careful and confident with what he does. We know he has knowledge of the area, most likely spends a couple of days in Reconnaissance mode watching. He will have a large vehicle also.’
The board slowly came to life, small branches protruding from the centre, single words placed on them: Male, Van Driver, Observes and Educated.
‘Right, so where would you go from here?’
‘Well…..it would be nice to have a little piece of the puzzle from either the CCTV or an eye witness’.
‘Can you stay here for the day and do your thing?’ begged Jack
‘I can stay, but I’ll need an empty room……I need to be alone Jack’
His friend understood. Nathan had always worked better when his brain was working alone…..no added comments coming in, no extra cogs cranking his gifted mind.
‘I can sort that for you!’ he assured.
‘Also, a map would be ideal. Start plotting the locations of the victim’s home, the place her body was found and other information we receive throughout the hunt, sometimes a picture can appear, a sort of pattern’.
‘We have one on the way up, large scale…..one in twenty five thousand grid squares, I believe!’
Jack ushered him to a small office barely big enough to house a desk, the walls were bare and in the corner sat a lonesome metal chair, the type that caused you to sit up straight as if you were leaning against an ironing board.
‘I’ll take it’.
‘Thought you would, you’re a bloody recluse Nathan!’ he laughed.
‘That’s the way I like it, you should know better than anyone’.
‘True, look, seeing as though you’re in here and we’re out there just be sure to pass any details you may find, on to us and we will do the same!’
‘Of course Jack, when have I ever left you out of the loop?’
‘Never, I just wanted to make sure that this wasn’t the first time, that’s all. This case is my retirement, I need it.’
‘Trust me Jack. I’m not going to screw you over just to solve this for myself…….those days have long gone!’ he smiled reassuringly.
Nathan grabbed a copy of the file and began dissecting it as he had done in the hotel room. He believed that if things were in a similar, if not perfect order, then it was easier for the information to be absorbed when at either location. Jack left him to crack on with his task, organising a coffee re-fill every thirty minutes to help Nathan keep going. They had a long night ahead of them. Both men preferred to work through the darkest hours, there were less distractions from their surroundings and more of a chance in finding something in total concentration. The waxing moon glowed behind clouds of black, the steady snowfall increased, the ground hid under a blanket of glistening white. The time was approaching; the night was nearly upon them.
Chapter Five
The familiar screams of a school morning surrounded the entrance. The children ran jumping like lambs, their bags thrown to the ground and parents shaking their heads as they retrieved them, dusting the gathered snow from the parts of impact. Mr Oliver Breen stood at the gates welcoming each child as they passed him. The call had come in at twenty to seven that morning. The school needed a substitute teacher for an unknown length of time……he gladly accepted. The parents leaving their children sparked up small talk with the young teacher, his fresh cut look and sharp dress sense caught the eye of many of the women, single and married. He explained his position, re-emphasising the word English Degree, as if it would woo them instantly. He enjoyed the flirting and came across as a well-mannered gentleman, at the age of twenty six and with a well-toned body he was a catch for most ladies.
The bell rang, telling the parents to go home and the children to come in. Mr Breen said goodbye and flashed a slight smile to the parents as he turned to enter the school. Nobody noticed the van parked by the roadside.
The children sat down at their own individual desks, some fidgeting with the child next to them. Mr Breen entered the room and closed the door behind him.
‘Morning Class’
‘Gooood morning Sirrrrr’ they answered, the words dragged.
‘I know you normally have Miss Carrigot today, but sadly she is feeling slightly under the weather, so I will be in her place until she is feeling better’ he turned to face the white board and began writing his name for the kids to see.
‘My name is Mr Breen……let’s try…Good morning Mr Breen’
‘Gooood morning Mista Breeeeeen’ over emphasising several words.
He was sure a child had changed the ‘B’ for a ‘G’, but wasn’t too fussed. He began emptying his satchel, removing an A4 notepad and a packet of Bic Biro’s.
‘Right then, I think we should start today’s lessons with a story’ the large book was pulled from a separate compartment of the satchel. The thud echoed as he lowered it to the desk. The children all oooooo’d and ahhhhhh’d as the large emerald coloured book lay before them.