Janet ran through the footage for the fifth time, desperately searching for something that would tell them where Rachel was and who had taken her. She scanned through the scenes where Rachel and the mysterious girl were running, a jiggling feeling at the back of head that she was missing something. She was interrupted by her phone ringing and answered it absently, before, suddenly, it hit her.
"Oh my god, I'm an idiot!" She exclaimed, much to the surprise of Dorothy, who was on the other end.
"What?" She asked.
"Mum, I'll have to call you back." She hung up without waiting for an answer and flew into the main incident room.
"Her phone!" She called out. The four men there looked at her blankly. "Rachel's phone, it's not her normal one! It's new! That's why we haven't been able to get a trace on hers- she's not using it anymore! But we might be able to on this one..."
She grinned happily as Mitch put a call in to the techs.
"I might have something too. The girl on the tape? She was wearing a hoodie with a logo on it- it wasn't a company logo though, it looked more like a school logo. Didn't have names on it though, just a picture of shield." Pete said, rolling back his chair.
"We still might be able to track it- can't be too many schools in Manchester with that as its emblem, right?" Asked Rob. Pete shrugged.
"I'll get on it."
"Techs say there were two mobiles switched on in the exact area we're asking about." Called Mitch. "One's an unregistered, withheld number so we can't trace it but the other is registered to Rachel Bailey."
"Can we pull its records?" Asked Janet eagerly.
"Yep, they're sending them though now." Smiled Mitch.
"Best news we've had all day." Muttered Lee.
"Where's the boss?" Pete was looking through the open blinds into the office.
"With Dodson." Answered Janet, just as the computer beeped with a newly received email. She peered over Mitch's shoulder as he ran the records.
"Let's see- the phone was bought and first used four months ago. Just after she disappeared. Since then, she's only sent and received calls or texts from three numbers. Most of them come from this one." He highlighted the number onscreen. "Unregistered, sending and receiving texts at a minimum of twice daily."
"Huh. I don't text Taisie and Elise that much." Commented Janet.
"Most of them seem to be just check up texts: you ok? How's it going? That sort of thing." Mitch pointed out.
"Which would suggest they're not living together, or near each other." Janet sat back in her chair. "Wait, what's that one?" Mitch highlighted the texts she was pointing to.
"How was school? Did everything go ok?" He read aloud.
"Our mystery girl?" Asked Pete from the other side of the room. Janet raised her eyebrows pointedly.
"Is the number saved?" Asked Rob. They all looked at him. "What? If they texted that much, it was probably saved to her contacts, meaning there should be a name."
"Oh." Muttered Mitch, causing Janet and Lee to smile slightly.
"Tali Malach." He read out as he found the contact list.
"Now that's not exactly a common name." Murmured Janet, quickly running a search on her own computer, reading out the results.
"Tali Malach, sixteen years old. Born in Manchester in April 1997 to..." She trailed off as she read the names.
"What?" Asked Pete. She swallowed heavily.
"To Benjamin Malach and Sharon Bailey." She looked up at the stunned men. "The kid's Rachel's younger sister."
"What else do we know about her?" Gill leaned back in her chair as she took in the news the group had just told her during the afternoon briefing.
"Well, we ran her through the database- she had no records or arrests, although her name did come up in a custody case from '97. From the records we could access, it looks like Sharon Bailey dumped the girl with her father when she was only a few days old and then vanished. Father went through the courts to legally get custody, and for reasons unknown the judge awarded immediate sole custody with no visitation rights. Now, I'm thinking that Sharon Bailey didn't even bother to turn up at court, which is why the ruling was made. That's the only explanation I can think of." Janet said.
"Where's this Benjamin Malach now?" asked Gill.
"Dead. He was killed in a car crash seven years ago." Answered Pete.
"Which would've made the girl nine?" she checked.
"Few weeks shy." He confirmed.
"Right- where is Tali now?" Gill questioned.
"That would be the problem." Mitch told her. "Legally, Sharon Bailey has custody, but there's no record of the girl actually living with her since she was about eleven. We checked with the bank- her post gets sent to an address in central Manchester but there's no record of her actually living there and she's not with her grandparents in Israel. There's no record of her leaving the country..."
"How does an eleven year old disappear by herself?" Asked Rob in confusion.
"You know... there's a boarding school a little way from the road Rachel and Tali were walking down when they turned back." Said Janet slowly, piecing together the parts in her head. "It would explain why the girl doesn't live with her mother, and why they were walking down that way. I think it's called the Paula Gerillio Academy? I'm pretty sure their logo's a shield..."
"All right- Pete, I want you on the address. See who else lives there; check with neighbours, the postman- the usual. Mitch, work on identifying those men in the tape. Lee, carry on tracking and finding that van. We find it, we may find Rachel. Rob, I need you to coordinate with the uniforms for a house to house in the area where Rachel was taken. Somebody may have seen something useful." Gill slipped the papers into her file.
"What about me, boss?" Janet asked.
"You and me are going to this school. I want to talk to this girl- find out why the hell she hasn't come forward and reported the abduction."
Half an hour later they drew up at the iron gates.
"Fancy." Gill commented as she took in the sprawling buildings and green areas. "How did I never realise this was here?"
"I only knew because Taisie wanted to come here when she started high school. It was much too expensive though, and they only take the absolute best." Janet said, getting out of the car.
"Which begs the question, how did Tali Malach get the money to come here, even if she does have the talent?" asked Gill as they entered.
"Her father?" offered Janet. Gill shrugged as she walked up to the receptionist and flashed her badge.
"DCI Murray, MIT. I need to speak with whoever's in charge." She said with a tone of authority.
"Do you have an appointment?" asked the receptionist, raising a perfect eyebrow.
"No. We're the police- we don't need one. Get him here now." Gill ordered.
"Ms Chambers is very busy in a meeting at the moment. I can make you an appointment for tomorrow, if you'd like?" the woman asked tartly. Gill slammed her badge on the desk.
"I don't care if she's in a meeting with the bloody pope, I want to see her. Now." The woman swallowed heavily, scurrying away into the depths of the school. Janet raised an amused eyebrow at Gill, who shrugged, looking innocent. After a few minutes, the clip of heels on wood echoed down the corridor and the receptionist came back into view, followed by a tall, willowy redhead who looked to be in her early forties.
"I am Ms Chambers, headmistress. I was told you wanted to see me?" she asked coldly, looking at them expectantly.
"DCI Murray, DC Scott, MMP." Gill flashed their badges. "We need to talk to one of your students- Tali Malach."
"Tali? Is everything ok? She's not the type to get into trouble…" Ms Chambers asked, her demeanour instantly changing to one of worry.
"She's not in trouble." Janet assured her hastily. "We believe she may have witnessed a crime, and simply need to ask her about it."
The woman regarded them for a long moment, before giving a nod. "Follow me." She began to walk away rapidly, and Gill and Janet hurried to catch up.
"Ms Chambers, has Tali been acting strangely at all in the past two days?" Janet questioned.
"Lara, please. Tali is… an exceptionally gifted girl. We offer only two full scholarships for the entire school every year, and at only eleven she got one. But she hasn't had the easiest life, not that she talks about it and occasionally she acts a little… out of character. But her work never suffers, and she is usually back to normal within a few days. Therefore, when her behaviour changed a few days ago, I assumed it was simply another such time." Lara explained. They entered a large hall with a raised stage at one end, where several students mulled around, most dressed in various costumes and outfits.
"Alexander, Rose, Anna!" Ms Chambers marched towards three of the students. The girls were dressed in matching black dresses that hit them mid-thigh, with dramatic make-up while the boy was dressed all in white, in tight trousers and a loose shirt.
"Where is Tali?" she asked them. They all exchanged a nervous glance. "Now, please!"
"We don't know." One of the girls, with skin the colour of rich coffee, said. "She was upset- she ran out maybe ten minutes ago, and hasn't come back."
"Well do you know where she went?" Janet asked. The three looked at her uncertainly.
"Maybe the courtyard? She likes to go there sometimes." The pale blond girl answered. Ms Chambers thanked them, and led them through more hallways, outside to a small courtyard in which a water fountain trickled away. On the edge, Janet could see a girl dressed in the same black dress as the other girls sitting, her curtain of brunette curls obscuring her face.
"Tali?" Lara's voice was surprisingly gentle, but Tali still jolted in surprise, whipping around to face the. Janet saw the tear tracks on her cheeks, but she quickly swiped her hand over her face and stood up as they approached,
"Miss Chambers?" Unlike the other girls, her face was bare of makeup and for the first time Janet realised just how much she looked like Rachel. Although her skin tone was slightly darker, giving her a tanned look she had the same brown eyes and hair.
"Tali, this is DCI Murray and DC Scott. They need to talk with you." The headmistress said kindly. Fear flickered across Tali's face, and she took a half step back.
"Tali? It's ok, you're not in trouble- we know what happened with you and Rachel." Janet said gently. "We know she was taken, and that you were there. We just don't know why you didn't report it." Tali was shaking her head, fists clenched.
"I can't. I'm sorry, I can't." She began to cry silently, tears trickling down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around herself.
"Tali, did they threaten you?" Asked Gill, mind clicking on the most likely reason. But the girl shook her head in response.
"Did they threaten Rachel?" Asked Janet suddenly. Tali's eyes snapped to her face and then dropped again, giving Janet the answer she needed.
"They threatened to hurt her if you told anyone." Realised Gill, closing her eyes for a second in disbelief that they hadn't realised that before.
"You can't! Please, they'll think I told you, they'll kill her!" Tali cried desperately.
"Who is 'they', Tali?" Janet asked carefully, catching the girls arms in her hands.
"I don't know." She answered shakily, tears streaming. "Please... They..."
"Tali, they won't hurt her, not yet anyway. They needed her for something, which means they need her alive- they won't kill her just because we know she's missing,' Gill told the teenager, who looked at her hopelessly.
"Are you the ones who used to work with her?" She asked curiously after a minute. They nodded, and she smiled slightly, a watery tearful smile. "She said you were good, the best, in fact. Will you find her?"
"We'll try. But we need more information first." Gill said. Tali looked at her curiously.
"I can try, but I don't know that much. You both probably know more than I do."
"Ms Chambers, we're going to take Tali back to the station with us to help us with out enquires." Gill told her.
"I don't think..." The headmistress started, but Tali interrupted her.
"It's ok miss- I want to help." The headmistress looked torn for a moment, but then relented.
"Will she need a legal adult with her?"
"This isn't a formal questioning- she's just filling in some details for us." Janet told her, guiding the teenager in front of her as they left, their hurried footsteps echoing along the corridor. Rachel's time was running out.
Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, you wouldn't believe the size of the smile on my face when I read them! Please tell me what you think of this one X