[2022 Wattys shortlisted story]
A missing family. A twenty year old murder. An old ghost story. And a private detective from London. But what do they all have in common? It's the job of DCI Neo Denzel to figure it all out.
In the quiet town of Mart...
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Neo put down the phone, truly hating his job. Another life lost. Another family broken. Another phone call to a mother that would never welcome her son home.
'Sir?' Gwilt stood in the doorway, a bleak expression on his face. He'd seen the teenager, had to be only seventeen years old. It was no wonder his boss suddenly looked like a truck had plowed into him.
'Gwilt?' Neo's eyes finally met his partner's.
'Miss Hoggins is still here.'
That jogged Neo's mind. He stood and left, not surprised to see that Charlie had used her moment in the station to her advantage.
He found her looking over their board, studying and tracing her finger from picture to picture.
'That's confidential information. You shouldn't have been let in here.' Neo crossed his arms, glaring at Gwilt, who bustled off to find the person responsible.
Charlie turned to glance at him before returning to look at the board.
'You'll find I can be quite persuasive when there is something I want.'
'And what is it that you want?' Neo asked.
Finally, she turned to look at him, her hair now free around her face.
'Same as you, Chief. I want to find Jane and her family. I can't let another of them die, not in that place, not again.' Charlie's hands clenched at her sides.
'So let me do my job,' he countered.
She snorted, pointing at the board. 'You've looked into their financials, their history, but have you really dug deep enough?'
Neo bristled at her tone. 'What's that supposed to mean?'
Charlie sighed. 'If families are struggling, they rarely tell anyone. Minor annoyances a colleague might know, a cheating spouse, then the neighbours will know. But there are certain things that people won't share.'
'And what, pray tell, would you suggest?'
Charlie flicked a hand towards the picture of the Bennett children.
'You focus on the people that haven't learned to hide their feelings. That haven't learned how to deceive yet.'
Neo stepped forward. 'You want me to focus on the kids?'
'I want you to ask their teachers, their bus driver, anyone who knows them, to see if their behaviour has changed in the last few months. If something is going wrong at home, they'll be the first signs of it.'
'So that's what you think? That this is some type of domestic?' Neo had been thinking the same thing, but he wanted to know her take. She was the one that knew the missing mother. He only knew her as a picture on his board.
