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Chapters (60)
  1. CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR LEIGH RUSSELL
  2. Glossary of acronyms
  3. Prologue
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. Acknowledgements

‘Can you describe her?’

‘I can do more than that,’ Mandy answered with a bright smile, clearly pleased that she was finally able to help.

Opening her phone, she scrolled through a long series of photographs until she found the one she was searching for.

‘I’ve only got this one of them.’

Studying the screen, Geraldine saw an image of a group of smiling women. Two women were sitting to one side of the group, away from the others. One of the pair was Jessica. The other was a skinny blonde girl with a frightened expression.

‘Can you send me a copy of this?’

Mandy hesitated.

‘I only need the image of those two women.’

‘I suppose I could crop it –’

‘No, please don’t alter the image in any way. There’s a chance we may be able to isolate one section and enhance it sufficiently, if you send it in its original format.’

When Mandy continued to hesitate, Geraldine added, ‘If you don’t feel comfortable sending me the image, I can take your phone and –’

‘You can’t take my phone!’

‘Or you can bring it to the police station yourself. My car’s outside and I can drive you there right away. This needs to be done as soon as possible,’ she added. ‘A child’s welfare could be at stake,’ she added vaguely, ‘so we do need to have that image from you, one way or another.’

With a sniff, Mandy asked for the address where she could email the photo. With the image safely on her phone and forwarded to the Visual Images, Identifications and Detections Office, with instructions about what she wanted, Geraldine thanked Mandy for her help and took her leave.

‘Wait,’ Mandy detained her at the door. ‘What’s this about? It’s not got anything to do with that missing baby, has it?’

‘No,’ Geraldine lied.

It was the quickest way to extricate herself and she was in a hurry to track down Jessica’s companion. The simplest course would have been to ask Jessica directly for details of the unknown woman, but some instinct warned Geraldine to pursue this without telling anyone outside the police team.

As soon as she was back in her car, she spoke to an officer in the Visual Images, Identifications and Detections Office. ‘I just sent you an image. Are you clear about what I want? I’m interested in the two women sitting on the extreme right of the picture. There are two women sitting apart from the group, and it’s the one on the very end of the row that I need to see more clearly. Can you do something with the image? I know it’s a bit blurred. It was taken on a phone.’

‘Leave it with us,’ her colleague replied. ‘I’m sure we can enhance it so you can see her clearly; enough to identify her anyway.’

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