Chapter 4

Kate was standing outside of Steve's flat when the Gaffer arrived.

"Kate." Ted said by way of greeting.

"Sir." Kate responded.

"Have forensics found anything?"

Kate glanced sidelong into the flat before responding. The door was ajar and she could see the white overall-clad figures still moving around inside.

"Nothing out of the ordinary yet, sir. Forensics have found Steve's prints on glassware, cutlery, and all the usual items you'd expect, but there aren't any secondary prints, and nothing appears to have been wiped down. There's also no signs of forced entry at any of the windows or doors and no evidence of a scuffle or violence."

Ted nodded, looking perturbed. "It sounds as though Steve never actually came home last night. Do we have statements from any of his neighbours?"

"Yes, sir. I've interviewed two of the residents on this floor, and two on the floor below. None of those living on this floor reported hearing Steve return, and none of the people living below reported hearing any noise from upstairs, but the walls are pretty thick so they might simply not have heard."

"What about the other resident on this floor?" Ted asked.

"They weren't in, sir. Likely out at work."

"OK, I want statements from both of them when they return. There may be no signs of assault or forced entry but the most likely cause of Steve's disappearance is still abduction. He wouldn't just disappear like this without contacting anyone."

"I agree, sir. Steve never turns his phone off and he would never go this long without contacting any of us unless something had stopped him from doing so."

"Or someone." Ted said, looking disturbed. "I've spoken to other AC-12 officers and nobody else has had contact with Steve since yesterday. Sarah Davies on reception was he last person to see him leave last night and I was the last person to have a conversation with him before he left."

"This isn't your fault, sir. You couldn't have known Steve was going to go missing and you certainly couldn't have prevented it."

"I know, I know." Ted scrubbed a hand over his face. "I just can't help but question whether this would still have happened if I'd spoken to him for longer or left with him."

"Has the CCTV at AC-12 been checked, sir? Do you know if something happened to him there?"

"Chloe has been reviewing the tapes from last night and this morning. Steve got in his car and left as normal with no issues last night, but he never returned this morning."

"What did he say when you last spoke to him?" Kate asked curiously.

"Just that he was finishing up and heading home. It was late and I think his mind was on other things." Ted said with a noticeable look at Kate. "He also-"

Ted was cut off as Kate's phone began to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket and answered it.

"DI Fleming. Yes. OK great, we'll be right there. Thanks."

She hung up and looked up at Ted. "That was the building manager. After I called you earlier, I asked one of Steve's neighbours for their contact number. I rang them to explain the situation and request the footage from the CCTV camera at the front of the building. It's ready."

"Alright, good work. Let's go and take a look."

The two spoke briefly to the forensics team before heading to the apartment manager's office. Kate rapped on the door twice before stepping back as it opened.

A middle-aged woman Black woman let them in and introduced herself as Cheryl.

"I have the tapes you requested. They cover all of yesterday and today up until you called me. Where do you want to start?"

Ted spoke up. "DI Arnott left the office at approximately 10.15pm last night. Accounting for the time it would have taken him to sign out, reach his car, and drive home, he should have been back here at about 10.40pm, but I think we should start at 10.15pm to make sure we don't miss anything."

Cheryl fast forwarded the tape to 10.15pm and started it rolling at x2 speed. The view showed the path in front of the building and a small section of the road beyond.

The camera was angled to show more of the walkway up to the apartments than the street ahead, so the view of the street was grainy and not particularly clear, but Kate and Ted watched with keen eyes regardless.

10.40pm came and went on the monitor and there was no sign of Steve. At 10.50pm the street was still quiet. But at 11pm something happened.

A figure went running past the building in the distance.

"Wait, stop there." Ted urged. "Can you rewind that last part and slow it down?"

Cheryl did as instructed and the tape showed a grainy figure jogging past the front of the apartments. It was hard to tell from the video quality, but it looked like a man with a beard. Every few steps, he turned to look back behind him.

"Pause there please. Can you zoom in?" Ted asked.

"I can, but I'm afraid the quality of the picture won't get any better." She said, sounding dismayed.

The zoomed in pixels appeared to show the man carrying several bags.

"Do you know this man?" Kate asked. "Is he a resident?"

"I don't know him but I've seen him in the area once or twice before." Cheryl said. She paused, looking thoughtful. "He's not a resident here, but I think he could be homeless or have recently lost his accommodation."

"What makes you say that?" Kate asked.

"I drove past him sitting on a street corner last week on my way to work. He had bags as if he was waiting for a lift somewhere, but when I drove home that evening he was still there."

After a moment's silence, Ted said, "What I want to know is why he's running away like that? He must have seen something that spooked him judging by the way he's looking back up the street." He leaned closer to the screen pointing to the side of it. "What's in that direction?"

"Just more houses and apartments." Cheryl replied.

"Look at the lighting as well sir." Kate said, studying the paused image intently. "It's light over here but darker over here." Kate noted, pointing out the areas. "It looks like the street lights were on here, but off here." She moved her finger to indicate each end of the street.

"They're turned off in the same direction he's looking back to." Ted confirmed. Kate could tell by the tone of his voice that they were onto something significant.

"Alright, we're definitely going to need to speak to him. Do you have any way of contacting him?" Ted asked Cheryl.

"I'm afraid not. I can ask round the residents, but your best bet is probably to look out for him in the area and try and speak to him if you see him."

At Ted's request, Cheryl printed off a photo of the man in question from the CCTV image. It was in black and white and not the sharpest of images, but it would have to do. After she handed over the CCTV tapes for further analysis, the two AC-12 officers thanked her and excused themselves.

They walked back towards Steve's apartment.

"Kate, I want you to head up the search for Steve. Go door to door in the street, find out if anyone saw anything unusual last night. Ask if they recognise the man from the footage and see if you can track him down. I'll have Chloe look into the power outage on the street."

"What will you do, sir?"

"I'll wait here for forensics to finish up and then send out an all-units message to alert them of Steve's disappearance. I want to pull in missing persons and have as many eyes as possible covering the streets." Ted paused looking worried. "Something happened here last night and it's got to be connected to Steve's disappearance."

Kate knew it was an impossible question to answer, but her fear for Steve made her ask it anyway.

"Do you think he's OK, sir?"

"He better be." Ted murmured, his expression dangerous. "Or I'll put the wrath of God into whoever's responsible."