Gone Astray Read Online Free

because the
family lived on the Corley until a year ago.’
    The Corley was a housing estate on the east side of Mansell and was where Maggie had lived for the first twelve years of her life. She flicked back through her notes.
    ‘Their surname’s Kinnock? It rings a bell.’
    ‘They’re the couple who won the EuroMillions last year. Got fifteen million and spent a chunk of their winnings on a huge pile on the outskirts of Haxton.’
    ‘Of course – Lesley and Mack Kinnock. They were in the papers for weeks. Is their daughter going missing anything to do with the money?’
    A shriek suddenly rang through the open windows of the school hall, followed by shouting. Maggie frowned at the disturbance, but stayed put.
    ‘Too early to say. DCI Umpire will tell you more when you get there. He’s at the house with forensics.’ He gave her the address. ‘Do everything by the book this time,
Maggie,’ he cautioned. ‘I can’t reinstate you a second time.’
    The thought sent a chill through her.
    ‘I know, and thank you, sir. It won’t be a problem.’
    ‘I should hope not. I’ve assigned DC Belmar Small from Trenton to work with you on this. It’s only his second case but he’s good, very intuitive. He’s already on
his way to Haxton.’
    Maggie wasn’t familiar with DC Small but was used to being paired with officers she didn’t know. Gant liked his FLOs to work in twos because dealing with distraught and grieving
families, often for weeks on end, could be emotionally draining for them, too, and sometimes they needed propping up by a colleague who could empathize with how they were feeling. For the same
reason Gant rotated his roster so his Major Crime FLOs were never deployed more than three times a year.
    ‘Once the media finds out Rosie is the daughter of EuroMillions winners there’s going to be a shit storm,’ he said.
    Maggie knew what he was getting at. It was a lamentable rule of thumb that if a missing child – even one as old as fifteen – wasn’t found within twenty-four hours, the chance
of them turning up safe diminished with every passing hour. The Kinnocks’ big money win would elevate them onto the same high-profile platform as celebrities and politicians, and the media
and public pressure to find Rosie would be immense.
    ‘I’ll forward a picture of her to your phone,’ Gant added, ‘then I’ll let DCI Umpire know you’re on your way. Check in with me later.’
    As she hung up, Maggie wondered what the reaction would be back at the station to her suspension being lifted. Gant would need to clear her joining the case with her own DCI, but she knew he
wouldn’t object, even though her FLO duty sometimes took her away from his command for long stretches. He knew how important being an FLO was to Maggie and had backed her application to
complete the training.
    The sound of raised voices floated through the open windows. Thirty seconds later her phone pinged to signal a text had arrived. Attached was a headshot of Rosie Kinnock. She had straight, dark
brown hair that fell past her shoulders and while she wasn’t conventionally pretty she had beautiful almond-shaped green eyes, a lovely wide smile and an unruly splash of freckles across the
bridge of her nose. She looked younger than her age.
    Maggie got to her feet and hurried inside. To her surprise, the lights in the hall had been turned up and people were chatting loudly in their seats. Some teachers were standing on the stage;
one was holding a mop. She pushed back along the row.
    ‘What’s going on?’
    ‘The Tin Man just threw up on Dorothy,’ Lou said, grinning. ‘They’re clearing up, then Scotty’s class is on.’ She clocked Maggie’s tense expression.
‘What’s up?’
    ‘Umpire wants me to be FLO on a case.’
    Lou’s eyes widened with surprise. ‘No way! What about his complaint?’
    ‘Dropped, apparently. A teenage girl is missing in Haxton and it looks suspicious. He wants me to be FLO to her