Back in the car, sitting outside the Murphys’ house, Caruso and Suze checked in with the station and gave Superintendent Milson a quick update. Their boss was planning a media conference but he didn’t want to issue an AMBER Alert yet. The alert had only been used a few times before in Canberra—after much consideration, and only when they had a description of a suspect or a car rego number. In this case, there were no specific details to share with the community.

Still, Caruso disagreed with the delay.

‘She’s only three years old—she’s vulnerable and at risk.’

‘I know the criteria,’ Milson replied. ‘But we need more time to consider it and to bring in extra resources for the comms centre.’

‘But that’s exactly the problem,’ Caruso argued. ‘Resources on the ground out here. So many teams are working at Parliament House.’

‘You’ve got Search and Rescue and the SES.’

Milson was right. The search teams were hard at work, fanning outwards from the playgroup. And ACT Policing had already issued media releases and notices on its social media sites; these would be shared by the public. But the AMBER Alert sent a message straight to the top of everyone’s Facebook feed in the specified area. They couldn’t miss it. And Caruso needed just one person to have seen something to get a lead.

The AMBER alert had been named for Amber Hagerman, a nine-year-old Texan girl abducted when riding her bike with her brother. Five days later, the girl’s body was found in a creek. That was in 1996 and to this day no-one had been arrested for her murder. But since the alert system had been introduced in America, it had helped to save nearly a thousand kids.

‘Can we issue the alert if she isn’t found by five o’clock?’ Caruso asked. The last thing any of them wanted was for a toddler to be missing in the cold, dark night.

‘I’ll speak to the officer in charge and the duty officers and let you know. Are you at the PFC right now?’

‘Just finished interviewing. We’ll be back shortly.’

‘I’ll be there around four o’clock,’ Milson said. ‘I want to talk to the parents then I’ll speak to the media.’

Caruso ended the call and started the engine. Shit. Milson wouldn’t be happy that he’d left police forward command at the playgroup, but he’d delegated for the forty minutes he was away. As usual, he’d wanted to do the interviews himself—to see who was lying, who was covering their arse, who was antagonistic and who was emotional. Who might be considered a suspect in case Bella hadn’t simply wandered off.