Joseph started to play, but soon gave up, made a few scribbled notes, then shut down the computer. It may be clever, in a macabre, puke-making kind of way, but the bit he’d seen both turned his stomach and made him boiling angry. Tomorrow he’d pass it over to Cat. She’d handled this sort of crap before, and if the Griffyx was there, she’d find it. Well, he sincerely hoped so. Because they were getting nowhere fast, and Kerry Anderson was still missing.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

THE GENERAL NOISE in the CID room ceased the moment she entered.

Nikki moved to the front of the room and faced them. ‘There’s no good news this morning. In fact things are going from bad to worse. I think it’s time we recapped on what we know, throw in anything that has come to light in the last few hours, and make sure that we are all up to speed.’ She looked across to Dave Harris. ‘Could you give us the latest from uniform regarding the hunt for Kerry Anderson?’

Dave stood up, his face drawn and his eyes tired. ‘Along with the volunteers and the dog handlers, three main areas have now been covered. The sea-bank and the marsh, for four miles in each direction from where we believe Kerry Anderson was abducted, the surrounding farmland and buildings in a three-mile radius, and the area surrounding the University. The Coastguards have patrolled the Wash banks, the estuary and the river. Nothing of note has been found.’ He looked apologetically at Nikki, and sat heavily back down.

‘Thank you, Dave. What about the other major incidents that have occurred?’

‘Well, there’s a cordon in place around the spot where the unidentified youth was attacked, ma’am. The recreation ground is closed and boards have been put up to ask the public for assistance. And with regards to your particular find out at Amber Fen, the barn and the farm land is off-limits to everyone until a full forensic examination has been conducted and the crime scene released.’

‘Okay, right. Let’s take these occurrences in order, shall we?’ Nikki walked across to where a large glass evidence board was in place. ‘Here …’ she pointed to the right hand side of the board where the title, Unknown young white male, had been written, ‘… we have the brutal attack on a youngster. For those of you who were not here late yesterday, the boy, who we believe to be around twelve years of age, was found at around 7 p.m. last evening. He had been beaten and stripped of his clothes. All he was wearing when he was discovered, was a mask. His status is critical, but despite all our enquiries, a local radio station alert, and a slot on the television news this morning, no one has come forward to identify him.’

‘CCTV cameras, ma’am?’