EIGHTY-EIGHT

2.45 P.M.

Kim checked her watch as they got out of the car at the entrance to Dudley Canal and Caverns on the Birmingham New Road.

Followed closely by Bryant, she rushed through the visitors’ centre, flashing her badge at the young girl behind the desk. Bryant took a second to explain who they were as she exited the building on the canal side.

The Tipton portal was the entryway to Dudley Tunnel, the second-longest navigable canal tunnel in the UK at 2,900 metres. But it wasn’t the tunnel she was interested in.

It was a cavern the Dudley Tunnel led to.

The Singing Cavern was a limestone mine. It had opened to the public in 1985, when a new tunnel was built to join it to the main Dudley Tunnel.

The Tipton portal was the main entrance for the numerous barge tours running throughout the day. The area was alive as people milled around the gift shop and the waterside gallery.

Kim sprinted past The Gongoozler café and approached the first barge at the front of the line.

‘I need to get to the Singing Cavern,’ she said urgently.

The man standing on the barge shook his head. ‘Not happening, love.’

She took out her ID and all but shoved it in his face.

He shook his head again. ‘Still not happening, Inspector. There’s a wedding. Two lovely ladies are tying the knot down there, so the tours have stopped.’

Kim knew it was a wedding venue, but she didn’t realise the tours paused to accommodate the events.

‘Should be able to help you out in about twenty minutes.’

Kim took out the newspaper clipping the Jester had left for them. ‘See this little girl? She hasn’t got twenty minutes. I ain’t got the time to explain, but do you or the ladies getting married really want that on your conscience?’

She thrust the clipping towards him to give him a better look. Harsh but necessary.

He needed no further convincing.

‘Get on.’

By the time she stepped on the barge, Bryant had caught up with her.

She expected them to pull off at speed, now the operator understood the gravity of the situation.

The barge started moving slowly towards the tunnel.

‘Can you speed it up a bit?’ she called out.

‘Now that I can’t do. Top speed of four miles an hour. Gonna be fifteen minutes till I can get you there.’

‘There’s no other way?’ she asked, knowing it was a pointless question. The bastard had done this deliberately to slow them down.

‘It’s underground caverns and tunnels – ain’t no bus route,’ he said before laughing at his own joke – and then sobered as he seemed to remember the reason for the trip.

After what seemed like an hour of travelling, the barge entered the Singing Cavern, which was surprisingly well lit. There was enough light at least for her to see that every pair of eyes in the place was facing her way and guests were mumbling to each other about the intrusion.

Kim stepped off the barge the second it stopped moving. It felt like she’d arrived at a really important moment, but then again, was there any good moment to crash a wedding?

‘Folks, happy couple, I’m sorry for the disturbance, but we’re police officers, and it really is necessary. We’ll be out of your way as quickly as possible.’

The brides dropped each other’s hands and looked towards their guests, obviously wondering which one had brought the police to their wedding, or if it was some kind of joke.

Kim focussed on the job at hand and wondered how the hell the two of them were going to search this place.

Simple, they weren’t.

The intrusion into the couple’s special day was done now. It wouldn’t be the story they’d share with their kids and grandkids, but she could give them another one.

By her count, there were around thirty extra pairs of hands at her disposal.

‘Folks, we’re trying to find something very important that might help us save a child’s life. It might be a tin box or even just an envelope. Could everyone just have a look around their area for anything out of place?’

The guests all stared towards the not-so-happy couple.

Realising this was no joke, they both nodded and started looking themselves.

‘And here’s another thirty potential complaints,’ Bryant muttered as they too began to search.

There was a low murmur of voices as people looked under their chairs and around where they’d been sitting.

Strangely, Kim couldn’t help noticing the number of people dressed in full wedding attire, including hats, for a marriage that was taking place underground.

‘Is this anything?’ asked a woman wearing a floral-patterned dress. She was holding up what looked like a slip of paper.

‘It was under a stone by my handbag,’ she continued as Kim headed towards her.

She doubted it was what they were looking for. It was no bigger than an address label.

She thanked the woman and took it from her.

It contained a collection of numbers and letters that made no sense.

She looked around the cavern. It appeared that everyone else was coming up empty.

She knew the clue would have to be obvious. He would be wanting them to find it. Would he really have left them something that could have been kicked out of sight by anyone?

More and more heads were turning towards her and indicating a negative result.

It looked like this had to be it, but what the hell did it mean? She turned the piece of paper over, and there was the confirmation. Written on it were the words:

You just landed on the head of the snake.

Kim offered an apology and a thank you before getting back on the barge.

She was pleased to see everyone assuming their previous positions, ready to continue the ceremony. Kim hoped they hadn’t ruined the big day too much.

She knew there would be no phone coverage for the twenty minutes it would take to get off the barge so there was absolutely nothing more she could do.

‘Co-ordinates,’ Bryant said, taking a look at the paper before they entered the tunnel.

‘Do you know anything about them?’

‘Guv, I could fill this journey with how much I don’t know about co-ordinates. All I can remember from school is that you go along the corridor and up the stairs.’

‘Bryant, the shit that comes out of your?—’

‘It means you should follow the X axis first and then the Y.’

‘Strangely, that’s not a great deal of help. Why give us a clue about a snake as well as co-ordinates?’ she asked, putting the paper back in her pocket. ‘If that’s leading us to the next clue, why is he not making us work so hard for this one?’

‘Not sure, except for the fact he does whatever he pleases.’

Kim agreed. She remained silent for the rest of the journey, her mind full of thoughts of Nazeera Khan and Jessica Styles.

The second she jumped off the barge, she took out her phone. It was answered quickly.

‘Stace, how do I find out where a set of co-ordinates will take me?’

Kim could hear Stacey typing in the background.

‘Google Maps will plot it for me,’ Stacey said. ‘Call them out.’

Kim’s heart was beating fast. It was almost three thirty and she was praying this was going to be Nazeera’s location. If not, they were running out of time. The game somehow ended at seven, and she had no idea how many more hoops they had to jump through before then.

‘Well, that can’t be right,’ Stacey said.

‘He also said we’ve landed on the head of the snake, if that helps,’ Kim offered.

‘Shit. He’s talking snakes and ladders. Landing on snake heads sends you backwards. Makes perfect sense.’

Kim’s heart sank. ‘Where is it?’ she asked, not liking the note of defeat that had crept into the constable’s tone.

‘Right here. It’s the co-ordinates for the station.’

‘For fuck’s sake,’ Kim shouted, almost throwing her phone to the ground.

They were back to square one. The last thirty hours had been for nothing. He’d had them trawling all over the Black Country and it had got them nowhere.

If he wanted her pissed off, he was doing a damn good job.

She took a breath. ‘Okay, Stace, we’re on our way back.’

‘No, don’t do that. Me and Penn will search around here. I might have something else. I think Jared Truss is worth another chat, and these are the reasons why.’