Betrayal of Innocence (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 1)

“The first to disappear there was a young woman not dissimilar in age and stature to Geraldine. She was a young lady called Dawn who was two and twenty years of age. She was working on the Earl of Carrington’s estate and didn’t turn up one morning after she had been to see her family. The housekeeper got worried and sent someone over to Dawn’s family to fetch her. Of course, it soon transpired that she had vanished between home and the Carrington estate.

Now, that has caused a rumpus I don’t mind telling you.”

“Why? Was she popular?” Angus murmured.

“No, but everyone assumes people are safe on the Lord’s estate. It has shaken everyone to learn that isn’t the case at all,” Weeks replied.

“If it can happen to the Lord’s staff it can happen to anybody, right?” Jasper said.

“Has the Lord had any involvement in the investigation, or issued any orders?” Justin asked wondering if they would need to write to Sir Hugo again.

Weeks snorted disparagingly. “He is a young snip of four and thirty who is too busy chasing skirts in London to care about his family seat. He hasn’t been back here for several months. When he does turn up, he has no interest in the workings of that which provides for him. He doesn’t give a damn what happens here, although I believe he has been told about the kidnappings.”

“Where is he now?”

“Still in London,” Weeks replied dryly.

“Anything else?” Oliver prompted when Weeks fell into thoughtful silence.

“No trace of any scuffle, no witnesses, nothing again. Just like always,” Weeks replied morosely.

“Wait!” Justin interjected. “What does this Dawn look like?”

“Oh.” Weeks rifled through his papers again. “She is small, about five feet tall, with dark brown hair and grey eyes. She has a lisp apparently, but otherwise has a sunny disposition.”

“So, they are all about the same age, give or take a year or two,” Aaron said thoughtfully.

“Hair colour is also similar.” Justin lifted his brows at Weeks, who looked down at his paper and nodded.

“Strangely, the next one to go missing was a boy,” Weeks murmured quietly. “A young man of about eleven years of age, called Oscar. He was from the hamlet of Fimmally next to Lunville.”

“Good God,” Justin sighed.

“Height?”

“Five feet.”

“Don’t tell me, he has dark hair and dark eyes?” Justin growled somewhat sarcastically.

“He has blue eyes actually, but his hair is dark brown,” Weeks replied, pursing his lips.

“Could it be mistaken identity?” Justin asked of his colleagues.

“Maybe, but why would he choose victims with dark hair?” Angus growled.

“Oscar’s family say he was a scallywag, but I have never had any complaints from that village, so can’t rightly say. He was otherwise happy in himself and gave nobody any suspicion that he was going to do something rash. He was on his way to deliver some goods for the baker when he disappeared. His cart was found in the middle of the lane, still fully loaded, but with the lad nowhere in sight. He hasn’t been seen since.”

“How long has it been since he vanished?” Justin prompted.

“About a week now.”

“Timescale for all of them?”

“The first disappearance happened three weeks ago. Then there was one a few days later, and so on and so forth. There has been one or two every week. Then there was Felicity today.”

“What about the other victims?”

“The second female victim in Derbyshire was a young woman called Wendy Michaels. She disappeared on her way home from church. Her father stayed behind to talk to the vicar. She went home to begin to prepare dinner. When her father got home there was no trace of her. He is still waiting for her to return,” Weeks replied sadly. He paused when he realised the men were all staring at him and knew what they were going to ask.