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.I’m not sure.’‘Is it like this one?’ Mariner produced the orange flyer he’d been carrying round with him since morning.‘Yes.That’s it! Anyway I rang the number and was told I was through to the Horizons Adoption Agency, who could offer us the opportunity to adopt a baby from an Eastern European country, in return for a payment for administrative costs.The woman at the other end sounded highly professional and explained that while this kind of adoption arrangement was not illegal, neither was it encouraged in this country, so discretion was important, but that she could offer us a quick and simple adoption process.’‘So you took it up.’‘I researched it a little on the Internet and found that this has happened before, and I couldn’t see why there would be a problem with it.’‘Didn’t the level of secrecy bother you?’‘We were told that the service wasn’t publicised because, if it was, the agency would be unable to meet the huge demand that would ensue.We were told that we had been referred due to our particular circumstances.’‘But you’d also been referred without your knowledge.Didn’t that strike you as odd?’‘Mr Mariner, Paula’s whole aim in life has been to have children of her own.For the last ten years, ever since we got married, our lives have been completely dominated by it.I can’t begin to describe what it’s like.Since Paula was told that she was unlikely to conceive we’ve been through hell.Four rounds of IVF that have left us financially and emotionally broke.On one occasion Paula even tried to end it all.When you’re that desperate it’s easy to overlook the details.I’d have done anything for Paula at that stage and Horizons promised that within just a few weeks we would have our own baby.How could we resist an offer like that? And aside from the secrecy, which seemed perfectly explicable at the time, it all seemed kosher.We already knew a little about how the adoption process works and Horizons seemed to follow all the right procedures.A woman came and visited us to do a home assessment—’‘Do you remember her name?’‘I’m sure we have it written down somewhere.’‘Could you describe her for me?’‘Well, she was very smart and professional, blondish hair, late forties, maybe fifty.’ Trudy Barratt.‘Then there were endless forms to complete.We were given a passport and birth certificate for Lauren.’‘Have you got those?’David Scanlon went to a drawer and took out an envelope containing the documents.On first examination they looked like the real thing, but Mariner didn’t doubt that their experts would find the flaws.‘They’re forged Mr Scanlon,’ he said, with confidence.‘They’re very good forgeries, admittedly, but sooner or later they’d be found out.Did these people tell you where your baby was coming from?’‘They said they worked closely with various orphanages in Eastern Europe, including one in Tirana, Albania.We were shown photographs of the place.We were told that over there many mothers abandon their babies because they can’t afford to look after them.Lauren was one of those babies.We thought we were giving a loving home to an otherwise unwanted child.’Mariner couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man.In many ways the only thing he was guilty of was astonishing naiveté.It was the predators who had ruthlessly taken advantage of the couple’s highly vulnerable state.Mariner wanted now to move on to the day of Jessica’s kidnap.‘We really need to talk to your wife now, about the day Jessica Klinnemann went missing,’ he said.‘Do you think the baby will be asleep?’‘I’ll go and check.’Scanlon seemed to be gone rather a long time and Mariner was just beginning to get itchy when he appeared again, alone.His face had paled a couple of shades.‘She’s gone,’ he said.‘She must have slipped out of the front door while we were talking.She’s taken my car.’ And they’d heard nothing, because the TV was on.Shit!Chapter Seventeen‘Where will your wife go?’ Mariner demanded.‘I’ve no idea.’‘Is she likely to do anything to harm the baby?’‘In truth? I don’t know.Since all this started Paula’s had some problems—’But Mariner was already on his mobile, contacting the local police to put out an alert for the black Megane.He couldn’t believe that they were going through all this again.‘Phone round anyone you can think she may go to,’ Mariner said to Scanlon.Apart from that, all they could do was wait.Forty minutes later they got a call from local CID to say that Paula had been located at a nearby beauty spot, Heywood Bridge.When they got there the Megane was parked up, surrounded now by police vehicles and with a team of divers standing by.A police helicopter hovered overhead.‘Over there, she’s all yours.’ The lead officer at the scene raised his arm, and in the middle of the suspension bridge in the darkness, Mariner could see the lone figure of Paula Scanlon, hugging baby Ellie to her.A cold wind whipped around them and it was spotting with rain.They needed to get this over with.‘Mrs Scanlon,’ Mariner called, edging slowly to the end of the bridge.‘Go away!’ she shouted.‘You can’t have her.She’s my baby and I love her.’Mariner walked forward a step.‘No!’ she shouted.‘Don’t come near me! If I can’t have her then nobody will! I’m her mother.She needs me.’ As Mariner looked on in horror, Paula Scanlon climbed unsteadily on to the parapet of the bridge, the icy waters rushing by under their feet, the dark current bubbling and swelling dangerously under the floodlights.Mariner stopped walking.‘I just want to talk to you Paula,’ he said, trying to keep his voice soothing as he yelled above the noise of the angry waters below.‘I’m sure we can sort this out.’‘Will you let me keep my baby?’Mariner couldn’t answer her.‘Then I don’t want to talk to you.If I can’t have her then no one else will.’ And with that she tipped slowly off the bridge, plummeting into the icy waters below.Instantly the team of divers plunged after her into the water, with those on the banks shining floodlights and yelling directions.Amazingly, within minutes they had recovered Paula Scanlon, bringing her safely back to dry land and even more amazingly she still clung to baby Ellie, but when eventually she could be persuaded to relinquish her, the child was found to be barely alive.She and Paula Scanlon were rushed to hospital for Paula to be checked over, after which she would be driven with police escort to Birmingham to be questioned.Leaving the Scanlons under the protection of the local police, Knox and Mariner went on ahead.They were silent in the car.‘Wasn’t your fault, boss,’ said Knox eventually.‘She’d have gone in anyway.She had nowhere else to go.’‘But what will it do to her head? We’ll have to rely on the Scanlons to testify.We can appeal for other couples to come forward but anyone who does risks losing their child, so who’s going to do that?’‘David Scanlon will be a good witness,’ Knox said.‘We’ve got enough.’Mariner hoped he was right.Both Trudy Barratt and Sheila Fry had been brought in for questioning to Granville Lane but it was too late to start on that tonight, and Goran Zjalic had still not appeared.The following morning, armed with a search warrant, a team was sent to Jack and the Beanstalk nursery to search Trudy Barratt’s office.They came across a whole file pertaining to Horizons private adoption agency, including social services forms and paperwork and the names and details of a number of other ‘adoptive parents’.The Area Office of social services confirmed that many of the documents were forgeries.Trudy’s computer files were encrypted and the hard drive sent to the lab to be decoded.‘We also found this,’ said PC Mann
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