The Girl in the Rug (22 page)

‘Ok so we are all agreed that the big house needs to be
watched,’ Frank was saying, ‘but how do we know when anything is going to
happen? It could be days, weeks even before they hold another ‘party’ there
must be a way of finding out when the next one is.’

‘Well actually I might have an idea about that,’ said Carla
getting up and going over to the living room to get her bag, ‘what if that is
what all these letters and dates are in Nellie’s little book.’ She found the
book in her bag and opened it up on the table.

Frank was looking at her in amazement.

‘What?’ she said to him when she clocked his expression.

‘Um…evidence,’ said Frank shortly, ‘how did that end up in
your bag?’

‘Oh don’t worry, I signed for it,’ Carla said shaking her
head, ‘anyway the more I looked at it the more I started seeing a pattern. See
if M = Marshall Street and G= Glendon House then it all begins to fit. G=girl
obviously and B=boy. You see I got to thinking, Nellie’s not that bright is he,
so I think we were reading much too much into what was in actual fact just a
sort of short hand…’

‘Oh my god yes you’re right Carla,’ said Linda grasping the
book and looking at it, ‘see here it says 27
^th
May- 4B 2G and that’s
under the M column, so that means he need to provide four boys and two girls on
that date and he’s even made a note of how much he will earn for that £1200,’
Linda whistled, ‘two hundred for each one, not bad for a night’s work.’

‘Yes that’s all very well but he must have had help inside
the homes,’ Frank said. ‘Gray…I mean Tutt obviously, but surely he couldn’t
take six children out in the dead of night without somebody noticing.’

‘Well that is what we need to find out isn’t it?’ Carla said
grimly. ‘Let’s look carefully through Nellie’s book again, see if he has dates
relating to now and if so we will know when to watch the house won’t we, and
then hopefully we will be able to catch them at it.’

They spent the next hour or so looking through the little
note book, sure enough it seemed as though there was a ‘party’ coming up in a
few days, that is of course if Nellie had been referring to this year as there
were no years on his dates, just days and months. But they thought it was worth
watching the house on that day anyway and just hope that they got lucky.

‘We will have to be very, very careful girls and boys,’
Carla said as the little meeting was breaking up, ‘some of the people attending
these parties carry a lot of clout, if your photos are to be believed Linda, so
we must be sure of our facts before we go in all guns blazing ok? Linda I want
as many photos as you can get, and I want pictures of the men with the
children. It’s no good just getting shots of the men enjoying a convivial
evening…we will need hard evidence before we can go any further with this. You
both know what’s at stake here…we will probably only get one chance, the minute
they catch on that we are investigating I can guarantee it will all stop. If
there are children from these homes being used for sex in that house I want it
on film okay?’

‘What about Nellie?’ Frank asked, ‘If I spot him…should I
try and arrest him?’

‘Well we’ve got no evidence to suggest that he is still
involved have we?’ said Carla collecting up the cups, ‘I would have thought he
would have stayed well clear. No I think he is deep in hiding, surely he
wouldn’t be so stupid as to carry on when he knows half the force is looking
for him.’

‘Yeh well you said it yourself Carla…he is a bit thick, so
I’ll keep my eyes peeled just in case,’ Frank said handing Linda her coat.

‘I don’t think you should do anything if you do see him
Frank,’ Carla said thoughtfully, ‘it might just blow the whole thing…no I
think…’ she broke off as her mobile rang.

‘Oh hi Simon…what? What do you mean left the baby…ok, ok
calm down. Now try and tell me what’s happened…when did she go out…and she’s
still not back…well she wouldn’t have gone off somewhere with Tilly would
she…oh and Buster. Listen Simon, have you called the station…well call them now
and I will be over as soon as I can…I know…I know alright just sit tight, I’m
sure there will be a perfectly good explanation…alright see you soon, call the
station ok?’

Carla ended the call and just looked at Frank, ‘Tracy’s not
come home…she went out for a walk with Tilly and Buster this morning and hasn’t
been seen since, Simon’s hysterical we need to get over there Frank.’

Frank gave Linda an apologetic look, ‘I’ll have to go honey
soz…I’ll ring you tomorrow.’

‘Um I don’t think so,’ Linda said walking to the door,
‘you’ll need every pair of hands you can muster out looking for her so I’m
coming too.’

They took separate cars up to Tracy’s house; Simon had the
door open and was waiting on the doorstep for them, he looked grey with dread
in his eyes.

Maggie was there too, she ran over to Carla, ‘Boy am I glad
to see you love, poor Simon is out of his mind with worry. He didn’t ring you
until later because he assumed she was at mine, but I haven’t seen her at all
today.’ She turned a worried face to Carla, ‘Where can she be Carla…and
Tilly…where’s the baby?’

Carla squeezed her hand, ‘Come on, let’s not assume the
worst yet love…have you rung round all her friends Simon?’ she said as soon as
they were inside the house, ‘and I know this may sound like a stupid question,
but have you tried her mobile?’

Simon shook his head and pointed at a mobile that was
plugged into a recharger on the kitchen table. ‘She’s not got it with her, I
guess she thought she wouldn’t be needing it, and yes I’ve been in touch with
everybody that I can think of. I went round to Nora’s in case she’d dropped in
there for a chat…no one’s seen her Carla, not since this morning.’ Simon was
running his hands through his hair and pacing the room with worry.

‘Do you have any idea where she was going for this walk
today?’ Carla asked him.

‘Not really…but she usually takes Buster to the common if
it’s fine. I have already walked down there, I couldn’t see any sign of her
though, or Tilly…I mean she had Tilly in the buggy Carla, she can’t just have
disappeared. And then there’s Buster he would have come home I’m sure if he
lost Tracy. Oh god,’ Simon broke down, ‘where are they…where are they Carla?’

Maggie put her arm round Simon and Carla took his hands,
‘Right you listen to me Simon, we will find them…I promise you we will. You
just have to keep it together for when she gets back. WPC Irene Watkins is
going to stay here with you,’ she said indicating the WPC that had just walked
into the kitchen, ‘just in case she returns before we do alright, and she will
keep you informed on everything that happens. Now Frank, Maggie, Linda and I
are going to join the search…we will find them trust me Simon, I won’t let
anything happen to Tracy,’ Carla finished with a determined look on her face.

They started the search at the most obvious point where the
common joined the road that Tracy would have walked along, there were about
twenty of them altogether fanning out over the common their torches shining a
light in front of them. As they came to the trees it became harder to see and
they had to start thrashing through the branches and bracken of the woods,
calling out for Tracy all the time. Two hours passed with no sign and Carla was
beginning to feel real fear for her friend. She knew from bitter experience how
terrifying these woods could be at night and she sincerely hoped that Tracy
wasn’t lying injured somewhere…she might never be found.

At about eleven thirty the call came in. A woman had turned
up at the police station in Kenley with a baby in a buggy and a dog. She had
heard a baby crying from outside her kitchen but had ignored it thinking it
must be a neighbour’s, but when it continued and a dog started barking and
howling as well she had gone to investigate. She could not believe her eyes
when she found a screaming baby and a little West Highland terrier parked up
beneath her hedge. She had called the police immediately and then had taken the
pair to Kenley police station.

Carla and Frank raced back to Kenley, Carla called Simon on
the way and he turned up at almost the same time.

Tilly was distressed and extremely cold but otherwise
thankfully she seemed unharmed, an ambulance was called to check her over.
Simon held her to him tears streaming down his face, while Carla fussed over
Buster who was delighted to see a familiar face.

The woman that had found them, a Ms Sarah Trent, didn’t
really have much more to tell them; she hadn’t noticed anyone near her house
that day. She had heard a dog barking earlier this evening…but that was not
unusual apparently, she hadn’t taken any notice of it. Carla showed her a
picture of Tracy, but she didn’t recognise her, shaking her head as she looked
at the photo.

‘No I’m sorry dear, I don’t know her, and what was she
thinking of leaving that child out there in the cold. Poor little mite, she was
screaming herself red in the face when I found her…wet through she was too…poor
little mite.’

Carla thanked her for being a good citizen and went back to
where Simon was sitting with the paramedics who had turned up to check on
Tilly. Maggie and Linda had arrived; Maggie grabbed Carla by the arm and drew
her away from Simon.

‘What the fuck is going on Carla?’ she said tears in her
eyes. ‘You know as well as I do that Tracy would never leave Tilly alone like
that… something’s happened to her hasn’t it?’

Carla glanced quickly at Simon who was still wrapped up with
the paramedics, ‘I can’t think of any other explanation…I wish I bloody could
believe me, but you’re right, whatever the circumstances there is no way that
Tracy would willingly leave Tilly on her own, so…’

‘So…so what Carla…do you think she’s been abducted or
something?’ Maggie said shocked.

Carla sighed, worry for her friend etched on her face, ‘Well
until another explanation turns up I think that is what we are going to have to
assume. I must get a search organised, and start going door to door…somebody
might have seen something.’

Maggie just stared at her, ‘Oh my god Carla…oh my god, you
don’t think she’s been hurt in anyway do you?’

‘Let’s not jump to any conclusions yet Maggs. Now I need to
speak to Simon again, see if there was any reason she didn’t come home.’ Carla
walked back over to Simon and began to gently question him.

Just then Helen followed by Maya and Sophie, Maya’s
daughter, rushed into the station and ran over to Maggie who hugged a tearful
Helen to her.

‘She’s just disappeared Helen…someone’s taken her,’ and she
too broke down, hugging Helen fiercely as she cried.

A police search team was soon organised and a door to door
enquiry launched, all Tracy’s many friends and neighbours joined in the hunt,
everybody worried for her safety, and as the hours passed by without any sign
of her Carla began to feel real fear that she might not see her friend alive
again.

Eventually door to door enquiries turned up one clue…a white
transit van had been seen driving slowly past the edge of the common at about
11.45 that morning. It had been spotted by a couple of people, who had noticed
it because it had been driving so slowly, as though its driver had been waiting
for someone.

The next evening was when Linda and Frank were scheduled to
stake out the big house, but with Carla and Frank tied up looking for Tracy,
Linda decided she would go by herself. According to Nellie’s notebook the next
party was due to take place this very night, and all the activity at the house
itself seemed to bear this out. From where she had parked her car Linda had
watched the preparations, deliveries had been coming thick and fast all day,
all presided over by a thug of a man who seemed to be a sort of gofer for
Freddy Robinson. The Robinson’s themselves had put in a brief appearance
earlier, which was interesting because they seemed to be really angry about
something. Ranting and raving as they strode about the garden and shouting at
the thug, who from his body language was obviously trying to absolve himself
from any blame. She heard Gordon Robinson shout at him to ‘sort it’ before
their guests arrived, and then both brothers jumped back into their car and
raced back down the drive, leaving thug features to swear loudly and kick up
the gravel, before heading back round to the rear of the house.

The rest of the day passed relatively uneventfully, so
arming herself with a flask of tea and some sandwiches, Linda resigned herself
to a long evening of watching and waiting, hopefully it would be worth it. She
had scouted round the house a few days earlier, trying to find a good vantage
point from which she would be able to get some shots of the guest’s arriving.
But to get the sort of pictures that Carla wanted was not going to be as easy,
she would have to try and get as close to the house itself as possible for
those.

She waited in her car until she could see definite signs of
people arriving, sure enough at nine on the dot the first of the car’s started
to arrive, and soon dignitaries of all sorts were being ushered into the house
by their genial hosts.

Linda clicked away, recording each of them as they drove
passed her and through the gates. Then, her heart racing, she left the safety
of her car and skirted round to the side of the property where she had
discovered a broken fence panel the day before that was loose enough for her to
squeeze through. Once inside the rather overgrown gardens she crept under the
cover of darkness round to the back of the house and up onto the paved terrace
which was directly behind the large French windows of the rear reception room.

Judging from the buzz of conversation and the occasional
bursts of laughter, this was where the party was being held and as luck would
have it, the curtains in that room didn’t quite join in the middle giving Linda
a reasonable view of the room inside.

‘Brilliant,’ she thought to herself, as she attached the
telescopic lens and made sure that the flash was switched off on her dad’s
state of the art camera. Then she sat back and waited for the perfect photo
opportunity.

For the next hour Linda sat on the cold concrete patio,
watching the proceedings through her tiny peephole in the curtains. She was
beginning to think that maybe they had been mistaken; from what she could see
it seemed to be a perfectly normal gathering of men. There were tables set up
for gambling and an enormous buffet to one side of the room groaning with all
sorts of delicious culinary delights and expensive wines. Although Linda had
nearly had a heart attack at one point when one of the men, a well known
magistrate no less, had made use of the little table directly in front of the
French windows (and about six inches from where she was sitting unseen in the
darkness) to set up two lines of coke and snort it up his hairy nostrils,
wiping his nose on a large white handkerchief… unbeknownst to him, she had it
all on film.

The longer she waited though the more dejected Linda
felt…maybe Tracy had been right after all and the children that had been there
that night had belonged to the kitchen staff. Maybe her dad had got it wrong
and there were no children being abused whilst in the care of the state, or
maybe they had just read too much into Nellie’s notebook and this was the wrong
night. She would give it another half hour and then go home she decided.

Ten minutes later Linda heard the sounds of an engine, a van
it sounded like, and headlights lit up the side of the house about fifty yards
from where she was crouched on the patio. Linda took a deep breath, this could
be it! She crept along the edge of the back of the house keeping low to the
ground and then flattened herself against the wall at the end, before very
carefully peering round the corner.

Sure enough there was the white van parked beside the rear
entrance of the house. The driver, who Linda immediately recognised as Clive
Tutt, jumped down from the driver’s seat and went round to the back doors of
the van, opening them wide. From where Linda was, she could only see little
feet jumping down onto the ground behind the van and walking in through the
side door. There was an older boy, the one she had seen arguing with Tutt the
other day, who seemed to be directing the smaller ones. Once they were all
inside the house, Tutt got back into his van and took out a newspaper, lit up a
cigarette and sat back to wait.

As quickly as she dared Linda shuffled back along the patio
and took up her position at the French windows. She didn’t have to wait long
before she could clearly see the children being ushered into the party. The men
were all smiles, offering them food and goodies. There were three boys and four
girls all varying in ages from about four to about eight or nine. They all
looked bewildered and shy as the men fawned over them. One of the men took one
little girl onto his lap bouncing her up and down making her laugh, while
another of the older boys was led out of the room by another man, he looked
tearful and scared and Linda found it hard not to run in there and shout at the
bastards to leave the kids alone. Instead she took pictures of them and she
took pictures of the children’s worried little faces, even more confused and
scared when a few minutes later the older boy told them to undress and dance
around while a few of the men took photographs. A few of the children were made
to sit on the laps of men who stroked and caressed them, while some other men
watched and masturbated. She carried on taking pictures for as long as she
could, making sure she got the faces of the men involved. When she thought she
had enough she started back up the garden to her loose fence panel, filled with
disgust at what she had seen, but exhilarated at the evidence she had
collected.

She was almost out of the garden when she heard the snap of
a twig behind her…someone was following her…she began to run scrambling through
the unkempt garden as if her life depended upon it, the panel was just up
ahead…not far to go…nearly there…nearly there.

A large hand grabbed her round one ankle bringing her down
with a thump. Linda screamed and kicked out with the other foot, connecting
with something; she heard a grunt of pain from behind her. That was all the
encouragement she needed, she kicked and punched wildly pulling away all the
time, but he was much too strong for her, holding her foot in an iron grip.
Linda knew she was going to lose this fight, but there was no way they were
going to get her pictures. As thick arms grabbed her again she suddenly went
limp, taking her attacker by surprise and causing him to lose his balance
slightly, giving her just enough time to swing her arms around and throw her
dad’s precious camera over the fence, it landed with a quiet thud on the grassy
bank on the other side. Her assailant who was far more interested in grabbing her
again hadn’t noticed what she had done; smashing his fist into the side of her
face he picked her up and carried her kicking and screaming back towards the
house.

Instead of being taken into the house as Linda had expected,
she was carried round to the side and down some steep steps. She really began
to panic then as she was taken through a small door and along a corridor that
ran underneath the house; it was dark and smelt of damp and rotting vegetation.

‘NOOOOO…put me down…how dare you…get off me you great
brute…HELP…HELP,’ she screamed until she was sore, still kicking out as hard as
she could. Her booted feet had connected a couple of times she knew, so she
tried to work out where she could cause the worst damage and aimed her kicks
there. Finally she caught him hard right between the legs, he let out a huge
roar of rage and dropped her onto the hard floor. Linda tried to get back onto
her feet but was dragged back again and this time the giant of a man wasn’t
messing around. His fist smashed into her face and she tasted blood in her
mouth, another punched into her stomach and she fell to the floor in agony.

‘Fucking whore,’ the man growled furiously as he once again
lifted her up and slung her over his shoulder. Linda was only just aware of the
sound of a rusty key turning before she was unceremoniously thrown into
darkness as the door was slammed shut behind her.

She groaned and lay back on the dirt floor trying to get her
breath back, ‘Bloody hell Linda,’ she whispered to herself, ‘what the fuck have
you gotten into this time?’

She sat up and tried to work out where she was, but it was
almost pitch black…it seemed to be a cellar of some sort and there was no
window. The air was fetid and stale and it was unbelievably cold. Linda wrapped
her arms around herself and tried to figure out what to do now, hopefully Frank
would try and find her once she didn’t report back tonight…and again hopefully
he would see her car and maybe find her dad’s camera…what was that! Linda
stayed very still and listened…it had sounded like a faint groaning sound…yes
there it was again.

‘Hello,’ she said to the darkness, ‘who’s there…are you
okay?’

She heard a definite groan coming from just behind her;
Linda swivelled round and began feeling her way slowly towards the sound.

Suddenly a hand grabbed her shoulder, she let out a scream.

‘Help me…please help me,’ whispered a voice in the darkness.

‘Who’s there,’ hissed Linda, holding onto the hand and
feeling for a face, who ever she was, she was shivering with cold, lying on the
dirt floor in a huddle.

‘Tracy…I’m Tracy,’ so faint Linda could barely hear it.

‘Oh my god Tracy…is that you?’ said Linda excitedly
realising who it was, ‘Carla’s got half the village out looking for you.’

‘How do you know me…who are you…I don’t understand,’ asked
Tracy trying to get her muddled thoughts together.

‘I’m Linda…Linda Connelly…Ted’s daughter, we met at his
funeral, I don’t expect you remember me but…’

‘Oh I do remember you…Linda…Ted’s Linda,’ Tracy’s voice
broke and she grabbed onto Linda’s arms desperately pulling herself up against
her. Linda put her arms around her and the girls clung to each other for a
moment, Tracy was sobbing and shaking almost uncontrollably.

‘Tilly…my baby Tilly,’ Tracy sobbed, ‘I don’t know what he’s
done with my baby…she was…she’s only eight months old, I had her with me you
see when…’

‘Oh Tracy sweetheart, she’s fine…she’s safe,’ Linda assured
her, Tracy broke down again, with relief this time.

‘Some lady found her and your little dog and took them to
the police station. Simon’s got them…they’re safe,’ she repeated.

‘Thank god…thank god,’ cried Tracy over and over as she
clung onto Linda.

Linda was no doctor, but she could tell that Tracy was in a
bad way; she was almost certainly suffering with hypothermia and dehydration,
she had been here in this freezing cellar for over twenty four hours now and if
Linda didn’t find a way to get them both out of here soon she might die. It was
obvious also that her brain was not working as it should be, her speech was
very slow and she kept repeating herself.

‘Have you seen her?’ Tracy asked again and again, ‘she’s in
the corner…don’t go over there you mustn’t see her.’

‘Who?’ Linda said bewildered, ‘there’s no one else here
Tracy…just us two.’

‘No you’re wrong,’ Tracy said clinging painfully onto
Linda’s arms, ‘she’s sitting over there…poor Louisa…poor thing. I knew
something was wrong when I saw her wheelchair…but I never thought.’

Linda tried to calm her down, while she wracked her brains
trying to think of a way out. Somebody would come soon she was sure, even if it
was just to kill them…she had to think of a way to overpower them so she and
Tracy could get out of here.