First Published: 2001
An instructor in a adventure park finds a dead boy in the lake.
Inspector Peter Porteous is called, and his sergeant Eddie Stout is already on site. The body is unrecognisable, and it is believed that it has been there for at least ten years. Porteous looks into the missing cases, and after the pathologist confirms that the body is of a man aged between 16 - 22. There are three possible young men who fit the bill. One is Alan Brownscombe, who disappeared during the school holidays. He had been unhappy at university, and in the summer he had a job, and one day he left home for work and was never heard of again. The second possible victim is Michael Grey, who was reported missing when an attorney was trying to locate him after his foster parents died and left him the house. And the third man is Carl Jackson, a case Stout knows well. Carl was mentally impaired; his parents were overprotective, but the social worker insisted he be allowed to walk to the bus stop, and the third time he did so, he never came home. Stout investigated the case and he is sure that his uncle, Alec Reeves, an uncomfirmed paedophile, was behind his disappearance.
When the dental records come back, it is confirmed that the body is of Michael Grey. Peter and Stout try to find out more about him, and they discover that there are no files of him in social services. There is nothing about his foster parents, and the social worker tells Peter that sometimes a child is sent to live with relatives and there are no records of that agreement. The next stop is the school, and they get to talk to the only teacher from that time who is still there. Jack Westocott tells them that he remembers Michael Grey perfectly. He was living with the Brices and he was a brilliant student. He was resitting the sixth form, but he doesn't remember the reason why he had to do that.
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