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had four pairs of officers in place and Fraser was adamant that she was going to need ten pairs at
least.
At 10 am we got a call to say the parents had been brought in. Fraser said, ‘You should get down
there and get straight on with the interviews. Do it by the book, Jim. I want every “i” dotted and every
“t” crossed. I’m also going to speak to the Super because I think we’ve got grounds to get a CRA out
already. The criteria are met. You need to ask the parents for a photograph ASAP.’
CRA stood for Child Rescue Alert. I knew the criteria, you learn them by rote: if the missing child
is under sixteen, if a police officer of superintendent rank or higher feels that serious harm or death
might come to the child, if the child has been kidnapped and there are sufficient details about the child
or abductor to make it useful, then you can issue one. The point of it is to inform police, press and
public nationwide that a child is missing. A news flash interrupts TV and radio programmes to alert
the public, and border agencies and police forces around the country will be primed to be on the
lookout. It’s as serious as it gets.
I took a last look through the questions I’d been preparing for the parents, made myself take a deep
breath. This was it. I was as ready as I was going to be. As detectives, we’re trained to know that
what you do in the first few hours after a child has disappeared is crucial. Ben Finch had already
been missing for more than twelve hours and our investigation was only just launching. I didn’t need
Fraser to tell me that operationally speaking we were on the back foot already, or that every step we
took from now on would be under scrutiny.
‘Woodley,’ I said to a rookie DC who Fraser had attached to the case. He was a tall, skinny lad
with a face only a mother could love. ‘Get me a tea tray ready. Enough for three. And biscuits. Take it
down to the rape suite but don’t take it in. Wait for me outside.’
If a female officer in plain clothes brings a tray of tea into a room, everyone assumes she’s from
catering. If a male officer does the same, it makes him seem like a nice guy, puts people at ease. Just a
little tip I learned from my dad.