Mike Dixon

„I went to look for her after ballet,‟ Helen said. „I thought
I‟d find her round at the back where she waits for her gran.
When I got there some girls said a van stopped and a man
in a uniform got out. He said something and Lizzie went off
with him.‟
Humphrey‟s face turned ashen and he felt weak. Maria
reached out a hand to steady him. „Do you think something
has happened to her?‟
„I don‟t know,‟ Humphrey shook his head.
„Should we phone the police?‟
„Yes … I think we should.‟
Humphrey reached for his phone and dialed the number
with a heavy heart. As someone who worked in crime pre-
vention, he knew there was little the police could do. Sixteen-year-old
girls went missing all the time. The forces of
law and order usually got involved after something terrible
had happened. Their ability to stop it happening was mini-
mal.
anet waited for the van to drive off then set about free-
J ing herself. A Thai kickboxer had taught her a proce-
dure for escaping from ropes, chains and other tight bonds.
It involved the dislocation of bones and was regarded as too
risqué to be taught at police academy. Within a minute she
had extracted her hand from the handcuff and was strug-
gling to coax it back into shape. Her arm hung awkwardly.
The puncture wound to her shoulder had numbed the senses.
But she could still grasp things securely if she concen-
trated on the task in hand – which was to pick the padlock
holding the iron grill in place.
She kept a piece of wire for such a purpose in her shoe.
She took it out and probed the lock. Eventually, the mecha-
nism showed signs of yielding. She tugged with her injured