Make Believe Read Online Free Page A

improvise.  Perhaps the manhole on Kendal Avenue is simply the first hiding place the killer found for the body.’
    Richard held up a report.  ‘From CSIs, a screw from a pair of glasses fell from the sheet as the body was recovered.  We also have fragments of optical glass on the pavement near the manhole cover.’
    ‘ Sammy had his glasses on at the park,’ Janine said.
    There was a moment ’s quiet as everyone absorbed that – the evidence reinforcing the possibility that this child was the missing boy.
    Janine looked at the boards, the photograph of the child, the round glasses. 
    ‘ The sheet,’ Lisa said, ‘well, it’s like a shroud, isn’t it?’
    Janine considered this, nodded at Lisa to elaborate.
    ‘ Not just dumped in a bin bag.’
    ‘ A mark of respect?’ said Janine.
    ‘ Or he just grabbed what was at hand,’ Richard said.
    ‘ Yes.  OK, now the park,’ said Janine, one eye on the clock.  She had a press conference to front.  She gestured to the section on the whiteboards that detailed information on the abduction.  ‘Sammy Wray was abducted, on Saturday the nineteenth of April shortly after one pm. Plenty of reports of Sammy and Claire, of him playing on the slide.  Claire stops to help a child who’s tripped up and that’s when Sammy disappears.  All this is confirmed by independent witnesses.  Butchers?’
    ‘ We’re reviewing eyewitness statements but to date no-one saw the actual abduction.’
    Richard check ed the board.  ‘Three sightings were cross-referenced but not yet traced?’ he said.
    ‘ Yep,’ said Shap, ‘we still need to trace a woman on her own, an elderly couple with a dog and a bearded man seen acting strangely by the swings.’
    Somebody groaned and Louise Hogg spoke up, ‘I know there’s always a bearded weirdo acting strangely but don’t dismiss it completely.’
    ‘ You all clear what you’re working on?’ Janine asked.  Nods and agreement.  People were eager to get cracking, to get the investigation up to full steam.  ‘As always details remain confidential and we’ll be keeping to the basic known facts for this morning’s press conference.  Lots to do,’ she said, ‘let’s get on with it.’
    P eople dispersed.  Millie whispered something to Richard and he roared with laughter.  Janine tried to hide her irritation.  ‘Millie?’
    Richard hesitated a moment but Janine waited until he moved away before speaking.  ‘Can we avoid sensationalising it?’
    ‘ Do my best,’ Millie said, ‘but the nationals will be onto it, the Sundays.  Big story.’  She checked her watch.  ‘You ready?’
     
    In the conference room, Millie stood at the front observing while Janine stepped up to the table to address the journalists.  As soon as Janine opened her mouth, a battery of flashlights went off.
    Janine took a breath and then spoke directly to the crowd.  ‘At approximately eight o’clock this morning, police were called to Kendal Avenue, in Withington, where the body of a young child was recovered from a drainage tunnel.  Cause of death was a fracture to the skull.  We are not yet in a position to confirm identity.’
    ‘ Is it Sammy Wray?’ one of the journalists called out.  Not local, perhaps up from London.
    ‘ We’ve not made a positive identification yet but we are investigating that possibility,’ Janine said, choosing her words with care.  ‘We still have individuals we would like to talk to who were at Withington Park on the nineteenth of April and who we have not yet spoken to.  I would ask those people to contact us as soon as possible.  We would also ask anyone with information, anyone who saw or heard anything on Kendal Avenue, anyone who thinks they know something, no matter how small, that might help the inquiry, to please come forward, contact your local police station or ring the police helpline.  In cases like this the help of the general public is invaluable.’
    Hands went up and people shouted