Page 127 of 36 Hours

Bryant followed suit, making it look even easier, before Penn and then Stacey made it safely over the fence.

Kim was beginning to see all kinds of careers for them if they didn’t bring Nazeera back alive.

‘Okay, anybody got a clue of the layout?’

It had been many years since Kim’s last visit, when it had been little more than industrial land reclaimed from a former railway goods yard, with disused lime kilns, canal arm and former coal pits.

In the years since it opened in 1978, over fifty historical shops, houses and other industrial buildings had been gathered from around the Black Country to create a living museum.

‘I brought Jasper a couple of years back,’ Penn said. ‘If we follow this path, we’ll come to a fork. I think left takes you towards the park and a café and right goes towards the main high street and the exhibition forges.’

‘Okay, we’ll decide who is?—’

Kim stopped speaking as they turned the corner and the junction Penn had mentioned came into view.

In the middle of the road was a single object. They all knew what it was.

Kim reached the lockbox first. The discovery confirmed they were exactly where they were supposed to be. She prayed to God their timing was spot on as well.

She opened the box to find nothing but a single card.

In the fading light, she was just about able to read it.

One last choice. Won’t come as a surprise. Pick the right way to come claim your prize.

NINETY-FIVE

6.30P.M.

Just being out of the office had brought Stacey alive. She wasn’t sure what day it was or when she had last seen Devon, but she was now wide awake, filled with adrenaline and determined to find Nazeera Khan before time ran out.

She and Penn stepped into the play area and took a cursory look around, listening keenly as they went. The sound of traffic from the busy road was growing distant behind them.

‘Stace, what’s that?’ Penn asked, pointing to something lying on the ground near the helter-skelter.

Stacey bent down and retrieved it. ‘A shoe.’

‘A lady’s shoe,’ Penn said, heading over to the bin. ‘It’s been emptied. The cleaners would have spotted it. It’s been placed there since.’

Stacey took out her phone.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Calling the boss.’

‘What if it’s a trap to fool us? Remember the call to the train line? It might be that the boss is heading in the right direction. If we call her this way…’

‘Okay, I get it,’ Stacey said, following him, still holding the shoe.

They continued moving towards the high street, passing the school, chip shop and tobacconist. Once they reached the top of the high street, they were close to the area the boss and Bryant were searching. They turned and swept the other side of the road.

Nothing.

‘Where now?’ Stacey asked.

‘If we turn left at the end, there’s a bridge over the canal and more shops. I think all the forges are that way too.’

‘Surely he wouldn’t have had time to bring her this far back?’ Stacey asked.