Only the Good Die Young Read Online Free

down.
    The daughter tapped her foot on the floor, anxious.
    ‘I do know it might not be good news,’ she said. ‘As much as I pray, I just can’t get it out of my head that she’s died, that she’s died horribly too. Please find her. I need to find her body. We need to do this properly, to bury her with Dad.’
    Dave nodded.
    Shirley was rubbing a tear away.
    It made Dave want to cry too.
    ‘We’ll leave you,’ he said. ‘And we will find her. We will.’
     
    Back at the station, Dave shook his head.
    ‘Who would kill an old lady like that?’ he said.
    ‘It must have been a mugging that went wrong,’ said Shirley.
    ‘It doesn’t sit right,’ said Dave.
    ‘A random attack? She got in the way of a crime? Who knows? With all the gangs around that area I wouldn’t be surprised,’ said Shirley.
    ‘No. It was premeditated. The way the van followed her then stopped. This is something strange. I’ve got a bad feeling.’
    ‘A bad feeling? You’ve been listening to that daughter with her candles and prayers. This isn’t the Mr Rational I know,’ she said.
    ‘No. It is. I am being rational. We need to find that van. There’ll be more otherwise,’ he said.
    ‘I can see your thinking. It isn’t the family.’
    ‘We need to go public on this one. I’ll have to talk to the Chief.’
     
    Dave knocked on the office door.
    ‘Yes?’
    Dave opened the door and walked into the messy office to see the red face of an alcoholic staring back.
    ‘We need to issue an alert to the public. We are looking for a white van. If we don’t approach the public now, well, I’m actually concerned about this one, sir.’
    The Chief leaned back in his seat.
    ‘Is this about your missing dementia patient?’
    Dave drew breath.
    ‘We have evidence that the lady in question had her wits about her. There is evidence that she was abducted. It is urgent that we find this white van before anyone else is abducted.’
    ‘Scaremongering, are we?’
    ‘It is my strongest recommendation, sir.’
    ‘I’ll think about it and get back to you,’ said the Chief.
    ‘Thank you,’ said Dave.
     
    An hour later they issued an alert asking the public to phone in with sightings of a white van, last seen in the Camberwell area.
    ‘So now, we wait for the calls,’ said Dave.
    It didn’t take long. Within three hours they had hundreds of sightings.
    ‘How we doing?’ Dave asked the police officer handling the calls.
    He rolled his eyes.
    ‘Ever seen a white van with no markings in London?’ he said. ‘Every busybody in London has. Do you want us to follow them all up?’
    ‘Nothing interesting at all?’ asked Dave.
    ‘We even had a call from a woman to say she can’t get hold of her dad and can we go round and see if he’s OK!’ he said.
    Dave stood up straight. This was it. His bad feeling.
    ‘What is the address?’ he said.

Chapter 3
    Shirley wished she had trusted Dave. If he thought there was a serial killer around, he was most likely correct. She followed him up the path to the ground floor flat in Peckham.
    There was no answer from knocking. Shirley looked through the bay window. The net curtains were thick and dirty. She could make out silhouettes of furniture but no sign of anyone. Knocking on the window didn’t help.
    ‘I’m going in,’ said Dave.
    Shirley waited for Dave to kick the door in. The wood splintered and the door swung open. They searched the flat. No sign of anyone. The bed was neatly made. The remains of a bowl of cereal and mug of Horlicks were the only sign that anyone had been here recently.
    Shirley looked at Dave and shrugged.
    ‘Have we spoken to the daughter?’ she asked.
    ‘I haven’t. I’ll call the station and get her number,’ said Dave.
    ‘Nah,’ said Shirley.
    She pointed at the telephone number attached to the fridge.
    She got out her mobile and called the number.
    ‘Hello?’ said a female voice.
    ‘Hello. Did you make a call to the police about your father?’
    ‘Yes. Yes,