Jane Goodley was fourteen miles away, sitting on the floor in what had once been an office, it was on the first floor, she remembered being dragged up the stairs, her hands and legs were tied, her hands were also connected to a hook on the wall by another rope, she could move, but not far. The cream silk dress she had been wearing was now dirty, torn and blood stained. A knife had been pushed in her side, it had pierced her dress and cut her, she kept trying to cover her left breast, the thin strap had been ripped off in the initial struggle. Her face hurt where she had been punched. There was a smell in the room, she tried to figure out what it was, petrol, she could smell petrol, her dress was wet with it. There was another smell, one she wasn’t familiar with, it was horrible. Later she would find out what it was.
She had arrived at the theatre with Alison, it was the premiere of a new production of the ballet Swan Lake, Alison had been given complimentary tickets, it was to be a good night, a table for two had been booked for after the show. Enjoying a drink before it started, she said to Alison that a visit to the toilet was needed before she went into the auditorium. Alison held her bolero jacket as Jane followed the signs, coming out of the toilets, she was approached by two men in evening dress, she thought they were about to tell her to hurry up as the show was starting. Instead, one put a knife in her side, “say nothing, struggle and you will be stabbed, scream and you will die here.” The second man had a strong grip on her other arm, they walked away from the toilets, a curtain was pulled back revealing a fire exit. The crash bar was pushed and the door opened. She was bundled into the back of a car, there were two in the front and one either side of her in the back. She was hemmed in, she used her hands to scratch the face of the man to her left. “Keep her still,” the order had come from the passenger seat in the front. The one with the bleeding face, punched Jane as hard as he could, her head went back, then slumped forward. The driver was careful, he didn’t speed, trying to act like every other driver on the road. As the roads quietened, he sped up, it took around half an hour to reach the disused factory in Dagenham, she was dragged up the stairs, taken into a windowless office, tied up and left. A short while later, the door opened, she watched as a man wearing a mask from a fancy dress shop came in, he had a five litre petrol can in one hand and a bucket in the other, he dropped the bucket beside Jane, “toilet.” He unscrewed the top on the petrol can, he poured some of the contents on the floor round where she was sitting, more was splashed onto Jane. “Fuck around and you will burn.” She was left alone again, this time the light was switched off, a few minutes later, she heard scratching, she tried to see what was making the noise, it was too dark to see. Fortunately, the rats didn’t like the smell of petrol, they kept away from her but continued to scuttle around.
“Miss Brookes is here, I’ve shown her into the office next door,” it was one of the security guards from upstairs. “Sally, can you come with me, I need to have you as well?” Alison was sobbing, Dave thought she was around fifty, her hair was short, from the look of her eyes, she had been crying for hours. Sally sat beside her, “Do you want a drink, coffee, or something stronger?” She shook her head. “I’m David Stretton, sitting beside you is Sally Fellowes, we are going to find Jane, however to do that, I need as much information as you can give us.” “I’ve already told the police all I know.” “Can you tell me what Jane was wearing?” “A cream silk full length dress and a dark bolero jacket. I’ve got the jacket, when she went to the toilet, she handed it to me.” “Did she have her gun?” “No, she doesn’t take it when we go out in the evening.” “Sally, go next door, tell Charles and Francis what Jane was wearing, then come back with three coffees. Alison, how did you arrive at the theatre?” “We came in a cab, I rang and booked one earlier in the day, it was one of the regular drivers.” “What about the tickets, where did you get them, was Jane usually invited to ‘first nights’?” “They were sent to me at work, we quite often have free tickets, football games, tennis matches, concerts, you know the type of things.” Dave asked who sent them, Alison couldn’t remember, “the accompanying letter is in my desk, I only took the tickets home, I did have to ring to confirm we would be going.” “Did anyone else in your office have the same tickets?” “Only me.” Sally had returned with the coffees, Alison took one and sipped it. “Jane talked about you, she said you were good, will you find her?” Dave said he would do everything in his power to bring her back safely. “I have to go and carry on, Sally will stay with you just now, when you are ready, a car will take you home, leave us with your phone number, when we have some news, I will call you.”
The images from the CCTV were now on the large screen, an image of Jane and Alison arriving was on the TV, it was blurry, but they could be made out. “Has anyone been able to contact the theatre to recover the CCTV from there.” It was Charles who replied, “they are on site, but don’t know what they are looking for.” Dave asked how far the theatre was. “At this time, about five minutes,” “I’m going there, I will call you from there with more information.” He took a mobile number for Charles, opening the door to Sally, he said he would be back in half an hour, Alison was now sobbing on Sally’s shoulder. The Prime Minister was coming towards him, “I’m going to the theatre, I will be back soon, I think we might need more people, can you organise a couple more from MI5.”
He had to bang on the door at the theatre to be let in, one of the assistant managers came running to unlock and open the door. Just behind him was a young plain clothed policeman. “What’s this all about?” “There is a missing person, I need to see the CCTV images from last night.” “Who are you?” Dave took out his MI5 ID and passed it over, it was looked at then handed back. “We’ve been watching at the CCTV, but not knowing what to look for.” “A lady in a cream silk evening dress, she was in the bar, then went to the toilet just before the performance started. Is there a camera in the corridor near the toilets?” “Yes,” “start there, then we can work back.”
Dave watched as Jane went into the ladies, two men in evening dress had followed her out the bar, they were standing talking, as soon as Jane came out, he saw them approaching her, one either side, a knife could be seen being pressed against her side. They walked towards the camera, sliding back a curtain they disappeared from view. “Where does that door lead to?” “Outside,” “are there cameras watching the doors?” “Yes, people sometimes open them to let non payers in.” The image was changed to the camera outside, he saw Jane being bundled into the car, The registration number wasn’t visible. “Are there more outside cameras?” “Check each one, I want that car’s registration number.” A couple of minutes later, there was a clear shot of the back of the car, “print that out please.” He took out his phone and called Charles, he passed over the registration number, “Search the ANPR database, I want to see where the car has been, also check the congestion charge database. Start with last night, then work back, I won’t be long here.” He turned to the assistant manager, “I want the video from the corridor copied on to a stick, when that is done, copy the outside shots. Finally, I want to look at the recordings from the bar.” It took another fifteen minutes before he had all the images he wanted, Dave thanked them both and left.”
Sally was back at a desk when he returned, there were also two more people, one was Jane’s deputy, Howard Greening said hello to Dave when he saw him, “I’ve been brought up to speed by the Home Secretary, do you want me to take over and run things now?” “No, why would I do that, I’d waste valuable time telling you all I know, then you would have to think what the next move would be? I need you to coordinate everything, help me find the information I need, find the right people for the tasks I have. Give me ten minutes, then we can talk.” Dave stood on a chair, “listen up everyone, I have CCTV footage of what happened last night.” He passed the stick over to Francis, “play this on the big screen, freeze it when I say.” Dave climbed off the chair and watched along with the others. “Stop! These two are the ones who kidnapped Jane Goodley, there are clearer images coming up,” the playback resumed, the images of the two men in the bar was much clearer. Dave said to stop the playback. “These two I want traced, download images, the new arrivals from MI5 will start searching for them. That’s it, back to work, Charles, any update on the car?” “Yes, it’s on cloned plates, the DVLA has a different colour registered to the car. The ANPR has it heading out east, I am waiting for ‘pings’ from Essex.” He called Howard and Sally to follow him, in the room where less than an hour ago he had been talking to Alison, he now asked Howard what Jane had been working on, “Who is this?” He was looking at Sally, “Sally Fellowes, my researcher and assistant, she is cleared to the highest level, if you are not sure, check her out.” “There was nothing out of the ordinary, a lot of what she does is administrative, unless it is a serious case where she needs to supervise. I can’t think of anything she spoke to me about.” “Sally has been looking through her emails, I don’t think she found anything.” She shook her head, “how did you do that, I can’t look at them?” “Can you go with her and check over the messages, you might spot something out the ordinary.”
There was a package for Dave on one of the unused desks, opening it up, he saw two Glocks, shoulder holsters and shells. Taking one of the holsters, he put it on, adjusted it to fit, took out the Glock, filled the magazine then put it in the shoulder holster. Dave went out to the toilet, there was now an armed guard outside the door, he checked the time, it was just after 07:30. The desk at the end of the corridor was now occupied, Dave asked if they could have breakfast rolls for seven and coffee, lots of coffee. On his return, progress had been made, the car was somewhere in Dagenham. “Go back, see where it has been, alert the local police to look out for it, but to not approach or follow it, observation only.” There was also success on the identity of one of the two who had taken Jane. A career criminal from Manchester, the list of convictions was long, he had spent twelve of the last fifteen years in prison. He was violent, his last sentence was for attempted murder.
A trolley was pushed through the door, Dave took it from the lady who had brought it in. “I’ll take it from here, thank you, we’ll leave it outside when we have finished.” Everyone stopped to eat and drink, Dave asked Charles and Francis when they were due to finish. “08:00, but we will stay until replacements have been found.” The car was on the move again, it was on the M25, heading towards the M1. “Charles, can you get the police to do a drive by, I want to know how many are in the car.” Later he was told there was only a driver. “Keep on with the ANPR, I want to know where it ends up.” There was no identity found for the other person, either the image wasn’t good enough or he had no convictions. Just after 09:00 the Prime Minister came in, he made directly towards Dave. Sally watched as they spoke, they were whispering, something had happened, she watched as they both left the room.
© 10210ken 2025
