frustration. It would make people sit up and take notice. We certainly need to keep a watch on anyone who’s involved, even on the periphery, which brings us to the parents. How do you think they’re handling it?’ Sharp addressed her question to Millie.
‘They’re beside themselves with worry, which is about what you’d expect.’
‘Their home life is not as happy as it might be,’ Mariner said. Suddenly everyone was interested.
‘It’s a second relationship,’ Millie said, ‘but that doesn’t necessarily mean—’
Mariner shook his head, slowly. ‘No it’s more than that. There’s tension with his ex and the children from his first marriage. Emotions were running so high when they were mentioned I could practically feel it. Klinnemann told me; his wife didn’t even know he was having the affair with Emma O’Brien until Jessica was on the way.’
‘Oops.’
‘His two adult kids didn’t think much of the development either. The son - Paul - has gone AWOL,’ Mariner said. ‘I’d like to track him down.’
‘So maybe it’s not the nursery that’s under attack, but the Klinnemanns.’
‘Anyone else get a sense that money is tight too?’ Mariner asked. ‘A couple of times during our initial conversation Emma O’Brien mentioned economising - with the crèche place and by staying overnight with friends.’
‘Setting up a second family doesn’t come cheap, and she’s not back working regularly yet.’
‘It seems to me that we could do with a bit more background on the Klinnemanns,’ Sharp said.
‘I’ll give Cambridgeshire police a call, ma’am,’ Mariner said.
‘And we’ll get the press conference done.’
‘On the plus side, none of the options we’ve discussed would lead us to believe that Jessica would be deliberately harmed in any way. She might be working alone or with an accomplice, but we just have to hope her abductor has the skill, instinct and inclination to look after her properly.’
All the time they’d been speaking, Mariner had been scribbling on the whiteboard, creating an image that resembled a spider with far more legs sprouting from it than was biologically possible. So many avenues to follow up, while at the same time the clock was ticking, challenging them to get to baby Jessica before any harm could come to her. Alongside the diagram had been put a map of the immediate area, but so far it was blank. They had not a clue yet where Jessica had been taken.
Chapter Six
While the rest of the team went off to pursue some of those avenues, Mariner remained with DCI Sharp and PC Khatoon to plan the press conference.
‘How do you intend to play it?’ Sharp asked.
‘Well, whatever has happened, the approach we should adopt is the sympathetic one. We need the abductor on our side,’ Mariner began. ‘At the moment we have no way of telling why this baby has been abducted, but what we don’t want is to panic this woman or anyone she may be working with into abandoning Jessica. The baby wouldn’t survive more than a few days alone. We try to make contact with the abductor, but we start from the angle that all we want is to know that Jessica is safe, and we try to convey the anguish Jessica’s parents are going through. She needs to see them as real people and understand that we won’t be judgemental but sympathetic.’
‘What about the Klinnemanns?’ Millie asked.
‘Let’s have them there, but not speaking yet. We’ll do a further appeal if nothing comes of this.’ He couldn’t shake the thought that in so many of these appeals the guilty party had turned out to be one of those sitting alongside the police. ‘I’d better go and smarten myself up.’
Millie went to talk to Emma O’Brien and Peter Klinnemann about what would be happening. While she was doing that, Mariner went to splash water over his face in an effort to wake himself up a bit. Back in his office he put on a clean shirt, kept for just such an occasion as this, and was
‘They’re beside themselves with worry, which is about what you’d expect.’
‘Their home life is not as happy as it might be,’ Mariner said. Suddenly everyone was interested.
‘It’s a second relationship,’ Millie said, ‘but that doesn’t necessarily mean—’
Mariner shook his head, slowly. ‘No it’s more than that. There’s tension with his ex and the children from his first marriage. Emotions were running so high when they were mentioned I could practically feel it. Klinnemann told me; his wife didn’t even know he was having the affair with Emma O’Brien until Jessica was on the way.’
‘Oops.’
‘His two adult kids didn’t think much of the development either. The son - Paul - has gone AWOL,’ Mariner said. ‘I’d like to track him down.’
‘So maybe it’s not the nursery that’s under attack, but the Klinnemanns.’
‘Anyone else get a sense that money is tight too?’ Mariner asked. ‘A couple of times during our initial conversation Emma O’Brien mentioned economising - with the crèche place and by staying overnight with friends.’
‘Setting up a second family doesn’t come cheap, and she’s not back working regularly yet.’
‘It seems to me that we could do with a bit more background on the Klinnemanns,’ Sharp said.
‘I’ll give Cambridgeshire police a call, ma’am,’ Mariner said.
‘And we’ll get the press conference done.’
‘On the plus side, none of the options we’ve discussed would lead us to believe that Jessica would be deliberately harmed in any way. She might be working alone or with an accomplice, but we just have to hope her abductor has the skill, instinct and inclination to look after her properly.’
All the time they’d been speaking, Mariner had been scribbling on the whiteboard, creating an image that resembled a spider with far more legs sprouting from it than was biologically possible. So many avenues to follow up, while at the same time the clock was ticking, challenging them to get to baby Jessica before any harm could come to her. Alongside the diagram had been put a map of the immediate area, but so far it was blank. They had not a clue yet where Jessica had been taken.
Chapter Six
While the rest of the team went off to pursue some of those avenues, Mariner remained with DCI Sharp and PC Khatoon to plan the press conference.
‘How do you intend to play it?’ Sharp asked.
‘Well, whatever has happened, the approach we should adopt is the sympathetic one. We need the abductor on our side,’ Mariner began. ‘At the moment we have no way of telling why this baby has been abducted, but what we don’t want is to panic this woman or anyone she may be working with into abandoning Jessica. The baby wouldn’t survive more than a few days alone. We try to make contact with the abductor, but we start from the angle that all we want is to know that Jessica is safe, and we try to convey the anguish Jessica’s parents are going through. She needs to see them as real people and understand that we won’t be judgemental but sympathetic.’
‘What about the Klinnemanns?’ Millie asked.
‘Let’s have them there, but not speaking yet. We’ll do a further appeal if nothing comes of this.’ He couldn’t shake the thought that in so many of these appeals the guilty party had turned out to be one of those sitting alongside the police. ‘I’d better go and smarten myself up.’
Millie went to talk to Emma O’Brien and Peter Klinnemann about what would be happening. While she was doing that, Mariner went to splash water over his face in an effort to wake himself up a bit. Back in his office he put on a clean shirt, kept for just such an occasion as this, and was
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