Convictions Read Online Free PDF

through the list of car owners and checking out the leads the appeal brought in. There’s a presence at Heworth Metro station and all known sex offenders in the area are being contacted and questioned.’ She saw the look of horror on Derek’s face. ‘It’s routine,’ she said quickly. ‘We wouldn’t be doing our job properly if we didn’t speak to them.’
    ‘The more time passes without hearing anything, the less the chances are of finding Annie alive. That’s right, isn’t it?’
    ‘Each case is different.’
    ‘But as a general rule.’
    ‘As a general rule, yes, okay, that’s probably true. But we’ve got quite a bit to go on here. Often we have no idea what’s happened, some poor kiddie just seems to have vanished into thin air. With Annie, we know quite a bit. And with what we know about the car, we’ve got a direct lead to the culprit.’
    ‘I wish I could do something more positive. I don’t feel like I’m helping at all.’
    ‘Look after your wife and daughter, Derek. Leave the investigation to us, we know what we’re doing. Why don’t you see what’s on at the pictures? It would do you good to get out somewhere together. Take your mind off things.’
    ‘But what if anything happens? What if Annie rings, or comes home?’
    ‘There’ll be people here and I’ll be with you. If anything happens, we’ll know immediately.’
    ‘Well, okay. I’ll see what Penny says. Even if we just go out for a pizza or something, it would be good for Tina.’
     
    ***
     
    Around the same time, police constables Ian Atkinson and David Cross pulled up outside a neat semi-detached house. They could see the car on the driveway, a red Ford Focus. It was the tenth red Ford Focus they had looked at that day.
    ‘Christ, not again,’ complained Atkinson. ‘I’m bloody sick of this. Whoever took that little lass would have used a stolen car and dumped it by now. This is a complete waste of time.’
    Cross shrugged. ‘Got to be done.’ He got out of the car and sauntered over to the Ford on the drive, gave it the once-over. It looked like all the others. And Ian was probably right: the car the nonce had used most likely had been torched and left on waste ground somewhere, as yet undiscovered. He glanced inside the vehicle on his way to the front door, then stopped, stepped back and looked again.
    ‘Ian? Come over here, mate.’
    ‘What’s up?’
    ‘What was the name of that band the lasses had been to see?’
    ‘MC Boyz.’ Ian Atkinson and his missus had two little girls of their own, both of them crazy about MC Boyz.
    ‘Look.’
    Atkinson squinted through the glass. There, on the floor behind the front seat, was a small, crumpled, blue T-shirt with writing on the back. Atkinson could make out the letters ‘OYZ’ and ‘our’ above a string of dates. ‘Gotcha!’ he said softly.
     
    ***
     
    Derek and Ruth were drinking glasses of coke while Tina dunked the last of her pizza crusts into a pot of mayonnaise and demolished them. Penny had in front of her a plate with a half-eaten slice of pizza on it, and her third glass of wine. She hadn’t fancied Ruth’s suggestion of the cinema, but had been happy to be driven to the coast so they could all get some fresh air and stretch their legs before having dinner in Tina’s favourite seafront Italian restaurant. They’d had to run the gamut of the press when they left the house, but Ruth had successfully pleaded with them to be allowed a few hours out in peace.
    Derek had called for the bill and Penny had excused herself to go outside for a cigarette when Ruth’s phone rang. The half of the conversation Derek and Tina could hear gave nothing away, and neither did Ruth once the call ended.
    ‘Let’s get the bill paid and head home, folks,’ she said, standing up and taking her jacket from the back of her seat.
    ‘What was the call about?’ asked Derek, signalling to a waiter to hurry up.
    ‘Have they found Annie?’ asked Tina.
    Ruth shook her