Page 134 of Stolen Ones
‘Birds will travel up to one mile with bedding.’
‘So you’re saying find the right silver birch tree and our location will be no more than a mile away from where the seed was picked up.’
‘Stands a very good chance, Inspector.’
‘Thanks, Sharon,’ Kim said, ending the call.
‘Three specific areas, boss,’ Penn said. ‘Two quite close to Alvechurch, the other one around Belbroughton.’
‘Stace, what have we got around Alvechurch?’
Alvechurch was a village under the Bromsgrove district of Worcestershire. With a population of just over five thousand, it was located in the valley of the River Arrow. The village was steeped in history, and had much to be proud of, but was probably most well known for being the home of Tracie Andrews, who infamously killed her boyfriend, Lee Harvey, in 1996, and then tried to blame it on a road-rage incident.
‘Give me one sec. Just one more minute. The report is coming through from Sophie right now.’
‘Stace.’
‘Got it. Harte owns thirty-seven acres of the valley between the village and the Lickey Hills.’
‘Properties?’
‘Looks like two, boss,’ Stacey said. ‘A barn and a small farmhouse. The rest is fields.’
‘Show me.’
Stacey enlarged it on the screen. The barn was only seventy metres away from the road into the village. The house was at the end of a half-mile lane.
‘No footpaths or bridle paths this side of the hills, boss,’ Stacey said. ‘No passing ramblers or vehicles anywhere near the farmhouse.’
Kim turned to Penn. ‘Is this inside your travel radius for the timeline on Monday?’
‘Just about, boss.’
‘Does it work with your clock theory?’
‘It does, boss,’ Penn said.
‘Okay, Bryant, looks like we’re going to Alvechurch.’
His phone tinged with the address and postcode for the property. Kim found herself praying that they were on the right track, and that Grace would sleep in her own bed tonight.
She reached for her coat. ‘Great work, guys, and—’
‘He’s lying,’ Alison said to her computer screen.
Kim’s head snapped round. ‘About what?’
‘The murders.’
‘Go on,’ Kim said, even though this was not something she wanted to hear.
‘There’s something not right. He’s happy to give as much detail as you like about the abduction. Believe it or not he shows micro-expressions of regret, but there is no detail and no emotion when it comes to the murder of any of the girls.’
‘Maybe he’s not up for reliving it in the same detail. It’s one thing to borrow a life, but it’s another thing to extinguish it completely,’ Kim offered.
‘But it doesn’t match. His demeanour when talking about the murders is much tighter. There’s a tension creeping into his jaw. His left fist has clenched twice. He’s rubbed at his nose more than any other time.’
‘Are you trying to say he didn’t kill them?’ Kim asked.
