‘I’m just putting you through.’ Mariner pressed the button that would record the call, and prompt the team working in the next room to begin tracing it. ‘This is DI Mariner,’ he said, his heart thumping in his chest. ‘I’ve got baby Jessica,’ said a deep, disembodied voice. ‘I’m sorry, could you repeat that?’ said Mariner. ‘Don’t piss me about,’ said the voice, muffled and with a slightly tinny distortion to it. ‘I’ve got baby Jessica. She’s safe and well, at the moment. For her return I want two hundred and fifty thousand euros in used notes, or I can’t be held responsible for what happens to her. No electronic marking or sequential numbers. I’ll be in touch to let you know about the time and the location.’ ‘How will we recognise you?’ asked Mariner. ‘We need a name, a codeword, we’re taking hundreds of calls, so we have to be able to single you out right away.’ Mariner knew that this would appeal to the abductor’s sense of importance and it may also provide a clue to who they were talking to.
