Free The Trafficked by Lee Weeks Page A

her?’ asked Mann as they stopped just inside the side exit. ‘Strange that noneof them got a good look at him. Did they say if he was English? Chinese? Did he have a beard? Was he bald?’
    ‘I’m afraid they didn’t take much notice. They were on their way to tea after a hard-fought netball match. They were hungry.’
    ‘Not the kind of child that stuck out then?’ Becky asked.
    ‘I suppose not, but she is a contented child—solid. She has her friends in the chess club. She is never alone for long.’
    They moved outside to the top of the steps.
    ‘One last thing.’ Mann turned to Mr Roberts before leaving. ‘Have you heard of CK Leung?’
    Mr Roberts shook his head. ‘We always dealt with Amy’s mother.’
    ‘Thought so…You’d have taken better care of his daughter if you had.’

17
     
    They spent the afternoon at the office in south London. The building had been constructed in the sixties and hadn’t been refurbished properly since then. It was seriously jaded: polystyrene ceiling tiles on the linoleum flooring. It was a warren of small offices and long corridors.
    Becky worked in a unit of ten. Her usual partner was Sergeant Jimmy Vance. He looked like a seventies cop: his hair was dangerously close to being a mullet, short on the top, long on the sides, and he wore brown slacks and a paisley shirt. There were sixty others in the SOCO department, most of whom were working on the kidnapping.
    Superintendent Proctor called Mann into his office to welcome him and have a one-to-one. Proctor was a tall, long-legged man with a head of short-cropped wavy silver hair. He thanked Mann for coming and asked him to pull up a chair.
    ‘Sorry about the state of this place. We are waiting to be relocated to a purpose-built office a few miles away.’ He had a straight-talking Yorkshire accent. ‘We haveassigned DC Becky Stamp to be your partner whilst you are here because we feel she has the insight into the case you are looking for. She was instrumental in finding out about the other kidnaps, befriending and liaising with the Chinese parents in those cases, and we are fortunate she managed to get the information she did—as you know, the Chinese community often chooses to keep itself to itself.’
    ‘I’m sure we will work well together. She seems very competent, thank you.’
    ‘We will be happy to cooperate with any line of inquiry you wish to pursue. Our sole aim is to get this girl back. We have allotted you an office, but basically we will meet here every morning and keep in touch by phone throughout the day. I don’t expect you to be here more than you have to, but I do expect to be kept informed night and day. I hear that you are a man who likes to do things his own way—I have no problem with that, so long as you run things past me first.’
    Mann thanked Proctor for his support whilst thinking,
Don’t hold your breath. I’ll phone when I want
something—till then, don’t expect to see me.
    Jimmy Vance was waiting for Mann in the corridor outside. He pulled him to one side and grinned at Mann.
    ‘Watch her—she doesn’t take prisoners.’
    ‘Thanks for the advice.’
    ‘Another thing…’ He leaned in to say what he had really come to say—the reason why he was waiting for Mann in the corridor. The smile disappeared. ‘…her husband, Alex, watch him. Becky knows how I feelabout him—he’s a nasty bastard. He was done for GBH when he was young. Beat the other guy with an iron rod and almost killed him and it wasn’t for lack of trying, if you know what I mean. I wouldn’t put it past him to knock her about. She’s like so many strong women. She’s tough at work and soft at home…
    Jimmy was all set to open the floodgates of information when Becky came looking for her new partner.
    ‘Not telling tales on me, are you, Jimmy?’
    He held his hands up in a ‘Who me?’ gesture and grinned.
    ‘I wouldn’t know where to start.’ Jimmy stood and watched them leave.
    ‘He’s a nice