Free Vanishing Point by Alan Moore Page B

what you need to see?’
    â€˜Oh yeah. I seen them tyres before. No problem if tracks still out there.’
    Murray walked to the Kombi and looked inside. Turning to Alec he asked, ‘Is this how you left it?’
    â€˜Yes, essentially. It looks like it, but some things have gone. The bassinette and blankets for the baby are missing, a bag with baby things, nappies and the like, so are some of Katherine’s things, her small suitcase with some clothes. But her bag’s there with her purse and cash.’ Alec tried to speak calmly and rationally in spite of his churning emotions. At one level he felt almost as if he was a distant observer, out of his own body and not involved in the drama being played out. On another level he was very personally involved, deeply agitated and very concerned.
    Where were Katherine and Carolyn? What had happened to them? He found his voice, saying, ‘All I can think of is that someone came along after I left, tried to tow the Kombi and found it too difficult. So they moved it, maybe partly hid it for safety and gave Katherine and Carolyn a lift here. She’s probably somewhere in town wondering where the hell I am! We should check the hotels and caravan parks again in case she went to one after I’d checked. If she couldn’t find me surely she would have called in at garages or even the police station…’ His voice trailed off.
    Murray took the purse and looked inside. There were two pound notes and some coins. Not a lot of money. Apart from the cash there was a stick of lipstick and a few hair clips, certainly not enough to interest a thief. It was unlikely that robbery was a motive. Why would she leave it if she had willingly accepted a lift? ‘Is this all she had in the purse?’
    â€˜Yes, as far as I know. She never carried much cash. I’ve got most of what we need in my wallet.’
    â€˜Don’t worry,’ Murray said, trying to sound comforting and confident at the same time. ‘We’ll find them. More than likely they’re looking for you somewhere in town. I’ll get one of my officers to check the hotels and motels again. It’s odd that she left her purse behind. Do you have a photo of your wife we could copy?’
    â€˜Yes, there’s this,’ Alec took a small coloured photograph out of his wallet. ‘It was taken about a year ago, before Carolyn was born. Kath’s hair was shorter then, but it’s a pretty good likeness.’
    â€˜A pity driving licences don’t have photos here,’ said Murray, ‘but this will do nicely, thanks.’ The sergeant looked at the small photograph. ‘Pretty girl.’ He paused before asking, ‘How tall is your wife?’
    Harrison strained to look at the picture over Murray’s shoulder.
    â€˜A little bit shorter than me,’ Alec said, holding his open hand up to his forehead, just above his eyebrows. ‘About yay high.’ He looked at the photograph and commented. ‘Her hair is shorter in that photo than now. She’s grown it so now it’s down to about her shoulders. It’s a sort of brownish blonde colour, I suppose you could say ash-blonde. She doesn’t seem to have a hairstyle, just a fringe and then sort of loose around her head. Sometimes she pulls it back into a ponytail. If she’s going out she curls the ends outwards and teases it but most of the time it is just loose. She’s got blue eyes, bluer than they look in the picture.’
    â€˜And have you any idea as to what clothes she might have been wearing?’
    â€˜Most of our trip she wore denim shorts and a sort of flower-patterned or plain coloured shirt with a floppy straw hat. Sometimes she wore slacks because she was worried about sunburn. Black slacks. And sunnies. I guess she’d be wearing much the same.’
    â€˜How old was she when this picture was taken?’
    â€˜It was just after her birthday, about