‘I’ve heard that teenage romances, um, blossom in that railway dumping ground,’ he goes on. ‘If Felix had been there with some other girl, Milla wouldn’t have wanted to interrupt that. And I imagine it’s one of the few things that she might cry about?’
I sit back in my chair. Could it be something as simple as that? Milla has never explained why her relationship with Felix ended so abruptly, but teenage boys cheating on their girlfriends must be relatively standard behaviour. But if it was Felix who Milla was hiding from, then the threat was personal to her. It wouldn’t explain why Jess disappeared.
‘If Milla was hiding all that time, she must have seen Jess walk past,’ I say.
Matt’s expression sours. ‘What?’
‘Well, if Jess picked the money up about fifteen minutes after Milla dropped it, then she’d have been walking past those carriages less than ten minutes later. As I said, Milla didn’t get home until nearer one o’clock, and it’s only a ten-minute walk from there, so their paths must have crossed.’
He blinks. It’s warm in the pub and beads of sweat are forming on his forehead. Why does he look so uncomfortable?
A weight sinks onto my chest. I take a deep breath. ‘That makes sense, doesn’t it?’
‘Did Milla say she saw Jess?’ he asks.
I shuffle backwards on my chair, push my spine against its hard wooden back. ‘I told you,’ I say carefully. ‘I haven’t had a chance to talk to her properly.’
‘Properly?’ He lets out a crack of laughter, then lowers his voice. ‘Don’t you think it would have been her headline comment if she’d seen the person who’s blackmailing us?’
His question suddenly breathes life into the first thought I had when I found out Jess was missing this morning. That Milla wouldn’t admit to seeing Jess in that train carriage graveyard if she’d done something to her. Just like she could have done something to Amber during those lost hours on Friday night. I wonder if the police have searched the disused carriages. There must be at least thirty of them in various states of disrepair up there. I wonder how long it would take to look through them all. ‘I just can’t work out how she could have missed seeing Jess,’ I say.
‘It’s a big place,’ Matt counters, his voice stripped of all warmth. ‘It was dark. Milla was hiding. If she heard someone moving, she would have assumed it was Felix – or whoever she was hiding from – and kept her head down even more.’
My skin prickles. Matt’s explanation makes a lot of sense. Why didn’t I think like that? Why did I jump to Milla being violent?
Does that mean I’m being equally unfair about Matt? Being obsessively tidy and unusually quiet isn’t a crime. In fact, many wives would love their husbands to be more like him. ‘Do you really think Jess just ran away?’ I ask.
‘One hundred per cent,’ Matt says, his voice firm. ‘I can see why other people might question why she didn’t take all her stuff. But that’s because they don’t know she’s got a fresh ten grand in her pocket. Why bother packing your old clothes when you’ve got plenty of money to buy new ones?’
This makes sense too, I realise. ‘Where do you think she’s gone?’ I ask quietly. ‘She is only 15.’
Matt’s eyes shift. ‘Who knows,’ he says gently. ‘But it’s not like the system has done her any favours. With some money in her pocket, maybe she’ll thrive on her own.’
This is symbolic of the new Matt, his disillusionment with the state who employed him for fifteen years. It goes against everything I believe in, and listening to him be so dismissive of a system that might creak but is filled with people who genuinely want to make a difference, is hard to deal with. But it’s easier to let his comments go rather than get into an argument.
‘She’s got a dad,’ I tell him. ‘Up in Derbyshire. Her social worker told me she idolises him.’
‘Really?’ He looks at me, then away. ‘Do you think she might have gone there?’
‘The police were checking this morning. I suppose she wouldn’t have been able to get that far so quickly, even with money for the train fare. But hopefully her dad will keep the police updated.’
‘Or hopefully he won’t,’ Matt murmurs. ‘That kid deserves some space. And a chance to make her own decisions. If that translates as her trying to make it work with her dad without social services meddling, then I think she should be allowed to – whether the state thinks he’s a fit parent or not. They don’t always get it right.’
I look away, tip the ice-cold drink down my throat.
You don’t always get it right.
That’s what Matt is really saying.
And perhaps he’s got a point.
Email from DI Finnemore (SIO) to Det Supt Bishop
Subject: Sunday 12th May update
Sir,
Victim’s sister – Jessica Scott – was reported missing yesterday morning by her social worker, Colleen Byrne. She went to bed as normal on Friday night but was not there when her foster carer checked at approx. 08.30. Missing person investigation has been opened by the area team – but we’re pooling info and resources as the cases are so closely linked.
Property searched. No sign of forced entry, or of a struggle. No window open in Jessica’s bedroom. Assumed she left the property of her own accord. Small rucksack missing. Possibly some clothes as well but foster carers were unable to confirm. Most of her belongings remain. No sign of phone, but records show it hasn’t been used since Friday night. All usual checks (hospitals, known acquaintances, etc.) have proved unsuccessful so far. CCTV footage being collected today. Open mind about third party involvement at this stage – but Caden Carter clearly not involved as he was in police custody. Will keep you updated.
Caden Carter was released on police bail with strict conditions yesterday evening. Interviews were going nowhere, and CPS want answers to forensic anomalies before they’ll consider charging him so that’s our focus for now. Also, between you and me, I am conflicted. He has stuck to his story without any of the usual lying tells. Hard to believe that Amber saw two different people in such a remote location, but not impossible. And the multiple blood samples support that theory. She was an active user of Snapchat so theoretically her location could have been known to all her followers via the map function. Am trying to get more data but you know social media companies and their f**king privacy obsession.
I think I mentioned a lead that Colleen Byrne gave us after Amber’s body was found. Raj has been looking into this. About a year ago, Amber was roughed up by an older boy with query gang affiliations while at their last foster home. This is what prompted the girls’ move. But the threat was actually aimed at her sister, Jess, and all indications so far are that the girls have completely disengaged from their old life, so this remains a low priority line of inquiry. However, Raj is tracking down the male involved (now 19 years old) to question him.
Also, I was looking through witness statements again last night. There was an eighteenth birthday party in Chinnor the night of the murder, and the mother of the host was interviewed. Two children had taken ecstasy, which we discovered was supplied by the victim and the team understandably focused on that. But I noticed that Mrs Ainsworth (the host’s mother) also mentioned that she saw Mr Rose – Lucy’s father – in his car when she was taking some bottles to her recycling box at the front of her house at about 00.45. He asked if the party was over, she confirmed that it was, and he drove away. But Mrs Rose told me that her husband was fast asleep when she got home at 22.45.
I have asked DC Williams to check all CCTV during the evening for his car specifically. I’m starting to wonder if that family aren’t as sweet and innocent as they look.
Simon
AFTER
Monday 13th May
Rachel
