Take Down by Jacqueline Harvey

Author:Jacqueline Harvey [Harvey, Jacqueline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781760898540
Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia

Song Li had been over the house in Wilton Crescent with a fine-tooth comb, but he hadn’t found any fingerprints or samples of DNA that belonged to someone other than the family or their known friends and associates. With the help of a recently developed device from the Pharos lab that detected physical matter, be it a fingerprint or flake of skin, Song had been able to send all data through for immediate analysis and identification. When life returned to normal he would have a word with Miss Kensington about dropping her nail clippings down the back of her grandmother’s couch – and this time she couldn’t blame her brother because as far as he knew Max wasn’t partial to wearing pink polish.

In addition, the security footage from inside the house showed no activity other than his brother going about his daily business. The camera trained on the front door revealed a delivery of wine that, according to the house ledger, Sidney had been expecting. Song used exactly the same system to document his activities as Sidney did, at Alexandria, which was helpful on the rare occasions that the brothers swapped locations. Both of the men enjoyed handwriting their daily tasks – though it was all logged online too. The camera showed Sidney returning inside not long after he had answered the door, though interestingly there was no footage of the driver. None of it made any sense. It was as if Sidney had literally vanished.

Song decided to check the cellar. If his brother had taken delivery of the wine as the film showed, then the new bottles would be there. He had to have been kidnapped after that despite there being no evidence of anyone else coming to the house, or of the butler leaving.

Song hurried downstairs into the vast room with its domed brick ceiling.

He walked along the rows and rows of vintage bottles. Having checked the house ledger for the most recent order and taken a picture of the page on his phone, Song knew he was looking for a dozen bottles of Felton Road Block 3 Pinot Noir and another dozen of Te Mata Estate Coleraine. According to Sidney’s notes, these were wines from vineyards they had not had in the cellar previously. Dame Spencer had tasted the vintages during a recent party at the New Zealand consulate and told Sidney how much she’d enjoyed them. He’d sourced them through their usual merchant in London, though they had taken several weeks to arrive, according to the date the order was placed.

Song checked every rack. Sidney’s categorisation was impeccable, and it didn’t take him long to find exactly where the bottles should have been. The spot was empty. His brother had never taken delivery of that order.

If only Song could find some evidence of the driver.

He headed upstairs again to the back door, collecting any DNA traces on the way. He had another thought. The footage outside 13 Ponsonby Terrace had been tampered with when the man

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