The Child Taker & Slow Burn by Conrad Jones Page A

The woods opened up a little beneath the majestic oaks, competition for floor space was fierce in the natural world, and vegetation struggled to survive beneath them. The brambles didn’t extend this far into the woods, and the forest floor was a dark mat of rotting twigs and leaves in various stages of decomposition. There were clear scuffmarks leading away from the clearing towards a dry streambed.
    “Over there,” Grace said. At the edge of the dry stream was a large chestnut tree. Its roots were exposed by the power of the flowing water that had once run by it.
    “What can you see Grace?”
    “The perfect hiding place.” She approached the tree roots and bent down to touch a dark line on the bark. “Look here, something was resting against this for some time.”
    “I see, and it was rectangular in shape judging by that line in the moss.”
    “Exactly, just like a speaker.”
    “Why didn’t the police look in here?”
    “Because they had the speaker, and their priority was the wood through which the twins were taken and finding a getaway vehicle. They’ve planned to come back here later. ”
    “Okay, so we think we know where the decoy was hidden, now what.”
    “Well my theory is that the speaker was put here well before the abduction was attempted, and then they waited for the right time to turn it on.” Grace stood up and looked around the clearing. “We followed the father’s tracks easily enough, so let’s try and find the kidnapper’s trail. They had to come here to leave the speaker.” Grace walked along the dry streambed in the opposite direction to the one that they’d come in. Tara walked the other way at ninety degrees to Grace’s path.
    “How far away would the source of the signal have to be?”
    “Wireless speakers generally fall into two categories.” Grace answered as she walked. “Infrared and radio frequency, both operated by remote control, which beams a signal to the speakers. But if they used infrared, there couldn’t be any obstacles between the source and the receiver.”
    “So we have to assume they used radio frequency.”
    “We’ll assume that for now, but unless we locate the source we’ll have to wait until the police have done their forensic tests.” Grace noticed that a boulder in the streambed had been dislodged. The exposed soil beneath was dark and damp. Someone had walked here recently.
    “Over here,” Grace shouted. She crouched next to the boulder and followed the streambed with her eyes. “Since infrared requires a direct line of sight, any objects in the way can prevent the wireless speakers from receiving. I’m guessing that wireless speakers using radio frequency waves to transmit the signal would have to be no more than a hundred metres from the source. You take that side of the stream, and I’ll take this side.”
    Tara nodded and stepped carefully down into the dry stream. They paced slowly, heads down, studying the ground before them. “There.” Tara pointed to the top of a rock where the moss had been scraped off. Grace followed her lead. “Do you think that the source will still be here?”
    “Well, think about it. If you had snatched two five year old children from their tent, would you hang around to retrieve it?”
    Tara shook her head. She spotted a piece of paper in the long grass which lined the dry streambed. It was a chocolate bar wrapper. She moved the grass away from it and looked again.
    “Have you found anything?” Grace asked.
    “No, all the ink has been washed away from it. It’s been here for months.” She left the wrapper where it lay and moved on. “I haven’t been evidence gathering since I left the Met.” Tara had joined London’s Metropolitan police force as a degree entrant, and was a promising young officer until she was seconded into the Armed Response Unit. She quickly became one of the top-ranking sharpshooters and reacted well in live fire situations, gaining a commendation for taking down a bank robber