The Unanswered Question

Emma wanted to read the old police records about Claire Morrison. She imagined a room full of files and an officer who could help her. But getting the records was not easy. She spent three days finding out which documents she could see.

Finally, she received part of a police report from 2011. Some names were covered, and two pages were not included. Emma knew this was only part of the investigation.

The report said that Claire's family contacted the police on 22 September. It also mentioned a possible sighting of Claire on the road to Inverness. Next to this information, Emma saw a name and a note: D. Reid — follow-up pending.

She could not find a report about what Reid did next. But that did not mean he had done nothing. Perhaps the information was in another document.

Emma checked the report number in her old notebook. She had written two numbers in the wrong order in 2011. She corrected the mistake. Then she called the records office. An employee explained that different types of police records were kept in different places. Emma asked for more information.

She found Daniel Reid's name in her old notes. He had spoken to journalists when Claire disappeared. Reid was now retired from the police. He worked for a charity that helped people travel to appointments. Emma called his office and left a message.

Her colleague Sarah phoned later.

"Did you find the police report?" Sarah asked.

"Only part of it. They didn't give me two pages."

"Be careful. Don't tell people the pages are missing. They may simply be private."

"I know. I haven't written the story yet."

"That's good news!" Sarah joked.

Emma smiled. "I'm going to speak to Daniel Reid."

"Then listen carefully to what he says," Sarah replied.

Emma went back to the old newspaper archive. She found a photograph of a police officer speaking to reporters outside the station. The caption named Daniel Reid, but it did not say whether he had investigated the sighting. She printed the picture and placed it beside the report. In 2011 she had kept the photograph because it looked good on the page. Now she was interested in the words underneath it. She called the newspaper's picture desk to check the date. The employee could confirm when the photograph was taken, but not what Reid knew. Emma added that answer to her notes.