The Investigation
DI Priestly gathered his team in record time. DC Claire Swift met him at Rachel Roberts’ address, with DS Owen Hardy and two uniformed officers. The stone-built end terraced house was in an affluent area of Penrith, a large family property over three floors, which appeared to be well-maintained, as did the neighbouring properties. It seemed a large house for a single woman and a child, but Rachel was already something of an enigma to Jack. He rather relished the chance to interview her and find out exactly what made the woman tick.
Unsurprisingly, the property appeared empty but Jack, supposing there could be a child at risk, decided not to wait for a warrant and proceed inside. The team affected their entry rapidly and began a quick search of the rooms. Claire Swift and the uniformed officers took the first and second floors while Jack and Owen Hardy scanned downstairs.
The lounge was beautifully furnished, show home standard and almost unnaturally tidy. If a child did live here, there was very little evidence of her. Jack remembered when his boys were little; their home never seemed tidy, with signs of their presence in every room. This room wasn’t sparse enough to be minimalist but very modern with a few tasteful and presumably expensive objects d’art. A bronze figurine caught Jack’s eye; it was of two little girls, the elder one shielding her eyes whilst gazing into the distance. Her free hand held the younger child, who was looking up with an expression of adoration. Both girls’ features were finely sculpted and similar enough to be sisters. It was an enchanting piece, one of many.
A doll lay on the floor beside the sofa, a single abandoned toy, the only clue that Millie had ever been there. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands. It was an old-fashioned rag doll, obviously well-loved and worn in several places. He imagined the little girl must have had it since she was a baby.
Next, Jack searched an understairs cupboard, always bracing himself for whatever he might find, while DS Hardy went through to the kitchen and utility room. It was only a few moments before an anxious shout from upstairs caused them to break into a run.
On the first floor, Jack hurried into an open bedroom to find DC Swift leaning over the motionless body of a child on the bed.
‘She’s alive, but her pulse is very weak,’ Claire said, trying to rouse the girl. Owen Hardy was already on the phone for an ambulance, urgently barking out the address’s details and the little girl’s condition. The others were right behind them and Jack sent one of the officers outside to await the ambulance while he looked around the room. He’d noticed a bolt on the outside of the door, not something you’d usually expect on a five-year-old’s bedroom, and, in comparison to the living room he’d just left, this room was positively spartan.
The walls were drab, with washed-out curtains hanging at the window. A narrow bed, a chest of drawers and a single wardrobe were the only furnishings, with a small pile of books on the floor in the corner. Surely, Jack thought, this couldn’t be Millie’s room. Again, his mind briefly drifted back to when Jake and Dan were that age, the football-themed wallpaper in their rooms, the teddies that smothered their beds, games, books, and posters everywhere. This room sent a shiver through him and he hoped they’d find another, proper little girl’s bedroom when they resumed their search.
‘Was this room bolted from the outside, Claire?’ Jack asked.
‘Yes, sir, it was…’ Claire’s eyes sparkled with tears as she cradled Millie in her arms, still gently trying to rouse her. Passion always crept into a case when children were involved, ensuring the team remained motivated and worked hard.
DC Swift went with Millie in the ambulance. The paramedics were reassuring as to her condition. It appeared that some kind of sedative had been administered – tests would be performed at the hospital to determine precisely what the substance was.
Jack rang Alice to tell her they’d found her granddaughter and that she was safely on her way to the hospital. Trying to be truthful without upsetting Alice, he said that the child was found unconscious, but the paramedics were hopeful. After finishing the conversation, he and his team continued searching the rest of the house.
The top floor consisted of two empty rooms, used only for storage, while the three bedrooms on the first floor were entirely different. The master bedroom was every bit as elegant as the downstairs rooms, with plush carpet, new fitted furniture and an immaculate en suite. Rachel’s wardrobe was still quite full with indications of hasty packing, so it seemed that she’d not taken much with her. The second bedroom appeared not to be in use with no evidence of it being for a child, so Jack could only assume that the room they’d found Millie in was her bedroom. The family bathroom was also pristine, probably recently refurbished. The only item of interest was an exceptionally large number of drugs in a cabinet, partly concealed behind a hefty mirror. The DI decided to have them all bagged and taken away for analysis.
Back downstairs, Owen Hardy was busy searching an office and collecting various papers which might prove helpful.
‘No laptop or passport so far, boss,’ he said before pulling out more drawers. Jack nodded; Rachel would probably have taken those with her. There were an address book and a mobile phone in a desk drawer, which on examination, Jack believed to belong to Alice. He decided to leave the search for the time being and get back to the station. A crime scene investigation team would perform a more detailed search the following day. With the state they’d found the girl in and the fact that Tom Roberts was still unaccounted for, Jack’s priority was to find Rachel Roberts, so they sealed the house as a possible crime scene and left.
On his way back to the station, Jack took a call from Claire Swift.
‘I’m at the hospital, boss and it’s good news. Millie’s going to be fine!’ Jack could hear the relief in Claire’s voice and imagined her smile. ‘It seems she’s ingested a large amount of a drug to make her sleep. They haven’t identified exactly what yet, but with Rachel being a pharmacist and presumably knowing what she was doing, it appears her intention wasn’t to kill the child. Still, she abandoned her daughter, drugged her to keep her quiet and locked her up not knowing when she’d be found. It’s unbelievable! Who knows what might have happened if you hadn’t decided on a search?
‘Mrs Roberts and her friend are here now and intend to stay the night, even though Millie will probably sleep for some time, so I’ll get off for the night. It’ll be lovely for her to have her grandmother there when she wakes, if Mrs Roberts can stop crying!’
Jack thanked Claire. He assumed that Sarah would have gone home when Alice left for the hospital; he’d ring her later. Goodness only knew when he’d get home.
