DCI Neo Denzel surveyed the scene with narrowed eyes. He took in the mud splattered Hyundai Kona, the doors thrown wide open with no signs of forced entry. Even from where he stood he could make out the two child seats in the back, their toys scattered across the floor. It was a family car, packed to the rafters with suitcases and snacks. There was just one thing missing.

Where was the Bennett family?

He reached into his pocket, without thinking, to pull out his cigarettes, only sighing when he remembered he'd thrown them out three days ago. Another one of his attempts to quit.

Taking a deep breath, he removed his hand and strolled around the abandoned car one more time.

A fisherman had found it mid morning. The engine still running, lights on, doors open, completely left by the side of Felton pond.

Neo turned away from the car and walked the short distance to the water's edge. He pulled up the collar on his trenchcoat and stuffed his hands inside the pockets.

Felton Pond was a gloomy, damp place on the best of days but on a day as wet and windy as this, it was bleak. Mist hung heavy over the water and the soft lapping against the bank was echoey.

He wondered for the hundredth time what the Bennett family had been doing there.

Felton Pond was no beauty spot. Only accessible by a dirt track after the road had been washed away several years ago, it was an isolated place, mostly frequented by teenagers who wanted to escape their pushy parents for a while.

The fog cleared just enough to see Felton Manor, the original house the pond had been named after. Once a grand English home, it had been left to ruin.

Neo made a note to see if there were any squatters in the building last night. Maybe one of them could have seen something.

'Morning Chief.'

Neo regarded his Sergeant, noting the fresh bags under his eyes and his scrumped shirt.

'Morning Gwilt. Bethy still keeping you up?'

DS Gwilt sighed, rubbing at his week old stubble. At 29, he thought he'd seen it all until he'd become a father 13 weeks ago. Now he realised there was still a lot left to learn, especially how to get his baby girl to sleep when she seemed determined to act like she was at a Black Sabbath concert.

'Sorry, I'm late. She just won't sleep,' he groaned.

Neo chuckled. 'Give it time. She'll get there.'

DS Gwilt grimaced but remained silent as he pulled his phone out of his pocket to make notes.

'What we got?' Gwilt asked.

Neo turned away and examined his own electronic notes.

'Call came in 10:16am from a Mr Seabury-'

'Arthur Seabury,' Gwilt interrupted.

'You know him?' Neo raised his eyebrow, not the least bit surprised.

Whilst he was originally from London, his DS was a local Shropshire lad who'd grown up in Marton. His local connections and insight had proved more than useful in some of their cases.

Gwilt nodded. 'Bit of a cantankerous old thing. Never wanted to get on the wrong side of old Archie. Used to have a temper back in the day.'

Neo filled away the information for later before glancing back at his notes.

'Well, he told the operator that he'd found the car sometime after 9:30am but had to walk home to phone the police. No mobile,' Neo said in answer to Gwilt's confused face.

'Right.' Gwilt rolled his eyes, both of them sharing a smile.

They were two of the youngest members of Marton's local police force, and the aversion to technology was something they'd grown to accept from the older generation.

'The car is registered to a Harry Bennett. He and his wife and their two children, a five and three year old, were coming to visit his wife's family locally, though they've confirmed that they never arrived.'

'They just left the car like this.' Gwilt crouched to peer inside.

'Keys in the ignition and everything.'

Gwilt stretched and typed a few notes. 'What do you think happened Chief? Kidnapping? Domestic?'

Neo tapped his chin, looking at the mud. 'What time did it rain last night?'

Gwilt frowned and tapped a few more buttons. 'According to the Met it rained around 3am this morning.'

Neo nodded thoughtfully. He'd expected as much.

'It's been what? Three days since it last rained.'

'Bout that,' Gwilt replied. 'You've got something, Chief?'

'No tire marks, no footprints. It must have rained after they came here.' He looked from the car to the surrounding area. 'And after they left.'

'You're assuming they left voluntarily?' Gwilt's hand flew over his phone as he typed his notes.

'No sign of a struggle in the car, and because of the rain, there's no way to tell if anything happened outside the car either.'

The rain had crushed everything down. It was impossible to tell which direction they may have exited or if there was anyone else present other than their four missing persons.

'What about the dogs?'

But Neo was already shaking his head. 'After that rainfall?' he scoffed. 'The dogs got no chance of catching a scent. We'll let forensic finish up their work and see if they can shed some light.'

Gwilt pursed his lips but didn't argue. Considering the car had been left open to the elements, possibly all night, they were both skeptical about the amount of evidence that remained.

'Just what the hell were they doing here in the first place? Not exactly a picnic spot, is it?' Gwilt shook the mud off his shoes as they headed back to their cars.

Neo took one last look at the depressing place and silently agreed. 'Maybe there's another reason they would come here?'

'Family might know,' Gwilt agreed.

'PC Tipton is acting as the family liaison officer. Contact her and tell her to bring them to the station in three hours if they're up to it. I'll need to brief the Superintendent before that and make sure they cone this place off. I don't want any nosy teenager messing with my crime scene, got it?'

'Got it, boss.' Gwilt finished typing up his notes and walked away to talk to the other constables and forensic team.

Marton was only a small town, so they'd had to get the team from Shrewsbury down to look at the scene. Like most small police stations, there was only Neo in charge, two sergeants and a handful of constables. Their Superintendent travelled around the small areas, lending a hand or advice when she could, but even she worked out of Shrewsbury more and more.

The local police force was slowly dying out and Neo hated it. He was loath to go back to big city policing; he liked the rural life with his busy body neighbours and vegetable patch. Plus, he got to spend more time with his kids.

Thinking about his own kids, he looked back at the family car, alone and left behind. Just what the hell had happened to the Bennett family?