by J. E. Mayhew
“We’ll have to charge you with those offences, Sam. Assault is a serious business,” Blake said. “You traumatised that man, not to mention the physical injury.”
“He deserved it,” she said, darkly. “That man held me against my will at the behest of Paul Percival.”
“Can you explain why your husband would do that?” Blake said.
“He’s a narcissist,” Sam said. “Totally self-obsessed. He was jealous of the love Florence and I shared. He wasn’t happy about my ‘weakness’ as he called it, either.”
“What did he mean by that?”
“He meant my epilepsy. He saw it as a flaw; something to be embarrassed about. His mother and father weren’t much better, to be honest. I had it under control but, of course, during pregnancy, I had to come off my medication. He treated me as if I had cheated him in some way. I was no longer his ‘trophy wife.’ That was when the gaslighting started.”
“Gaslighting?”
“You know, telling me I’d hurt Florence during my absences. Moving things so I couldn’t find them. Telling me things that just weren’t true. He even slipped me tranquilisers in my drinks. I didn’t know what day it was sometimes. It was only when I got my medication sorted at the clinic and got my head straight, that I realised what had been going on. I suppose I should be grateful to them for that.”
Kath looked unconvinced. “But you told your friend Holly Young that you were afraid of harming Florence.”
“I did but that was when Paul was messing with my mind. I believed those things he told me.”
“Roland Percival said that Florence had unexplained bruises on her…”
“That wasn’t me. I’d never hurt Flossy. Ever. I realise that now. It’s possible that I’d have short absences when I was looking after her but I can feel them coming on and I’d make sure she was safe. I’m telling you, Paul did a proper number on me. I even began to believe that I’d hurt Flossy; that I’d caused those bruises.”
“Then where did they come from?”
Sam shrugged. “Paul. He’s heavy-handed. A control freak. We’d had arguments about him laying hands on Flossy because of some little thing she’d done wrong. He never did it in front of anyone else, though. He blamed the bruises on me because he wanted rid of me.”
“Why not just divorce you, then?”
“Have you spent any time with my husband, Mr Blake?”
“I have.”
“Then you’ll know that my assessment of him as a narcissist isn’t far off the mark. He doesn’t want me anymore and yet he’s jealous and possessive of me. But he doesn’t want anyone else to take me away from him. He’s the original dog in a manger.”
A moment of silence fell over the interview room as Blake digested this information. It rang true to him. Paul Percival was a curious character, there was no doubt.
“We have to ask you this, Sam, are you holding Florence somewhere?”
Sam glared at Blake. “No. God, if I had Florence with me already, I’d be on the other side of the country by now. I swear. The further away from the Percivals we both are, the better.”
Blake frowned. “Why do you say that?”
“It’s so toxic. Xanthe rules the roost but Paul’s need to control is so strong and yet, he has no real interest in Florence. He ignores her most of the time. He was more interested in flirting with her nannies, who he insisted on hiring. No, I’m telling you, if Florence was with me now, I wouldn’t be here. Oh God…” she dissolved into tears at the reminder of Florence’s absence. “Where is she? Have you any idea?”
“We’re still searching, Sam. We won’t give up until we’ve found her,” Kath said.
“Does the name Leonard Hill mean anything to you?” Blake said.
Sam shook her head.
“Did Paul ever mention his sister?” Kath added. Blake winced, hoping that Sam wasn’t astute enough to make a link between the two fragments of information.
“Yes. A terrible accident…”
“Accident?” Blake said, glancing at Kath.
“Yeah, Undine drowned in the lake when he was a kid,” she said. “Paul didn’t talk about her much. I think he just didn’t want to go there. Xanthe mentioned her more… why?”
“Family history often helps us work out the dynamics,” Blake said vaguely. “So can you give us an idea of your movements in the last couple of days?”
Sam shrugged. “Once I’d escaped from the clinic, I drove down here. I slept in the car and then booked into a B&B. I watched Paul’s house for a while, hoping to see Florence. I fully intended to take her away. There’s nothing to stop me doing that. I’m her mother. Then I heard the news…”
“Why didn’t you come to us when you heard?”
“I knew Paul would have done a good job in making me sound like a total psycho. And I wanted to find Florence myself…”
“When you were fighting with Paul, you seemed to be implying that he knew where Florence is. Can you explain that?”
Sam shook her head wearily. “I don’t know. I suppose I was blaming him for her disappearance. The way he could just shrug off his responsibility for her to that careless idiot of a lad. But, to Paul, Flossy’s just a pawn in a power game with his parents. He virtually charges them to see her. If they upset him, he stops them seeing her. If someone told me this was all an elaborate game to punish Xanthe and Roland, I’d believe it. With Paul, nothing would surprise me.”
Chapter 20
The interview room at Birkenhead station was sweltering. Blake assumed that there must be something wrong with the heating and made a mental note to report it on his way out. Paul Percival didn’t look quite as well-turned out as he had that morning. A shadow of stubble covered his chin now and his clothes looked crumpled. Paul’s aftershave struggled to cover the body odour. The heat in the room wasn’t helping either.
“Thanks for agreeing to meet me, Paul,” Blake said. “I just wanted to get a bit of background. I don’t like bringing this up but I think it’s important that you know, we’ve arrested Leonard Hill on suspicion of abducting Florence.”
Paul went pale. His reserve left him, and his face twisted. Blake saw the man for a second. “That… that…”
“As I understand it, Hill was accused of murdering your sister twenty years ago but wasn’t convicted.”
“He’s a paedophile, Mr Blake. If I’d known I would never have left him alone with my sister. He tried to twist things and make it sound like I was the one who pushed Undine into the lake.”
“So what were your movements on that day?”
“Is this entirely relevant?” Percival said, wiping his brow. “That was a painful time for me. I’d rather not dredge up the past.”
“Unfortunately, it seems that Mr Hill has dredged it up for us. So, if you could humour me, Paul, I’d be very grateful.”
Percival’s shoulders sagged. “If you insist. It was this time of year. Mum and dad had gone Christmas shopping. I was left looking after Undine,” he said. “I was only 16, Mr Blake, just a kid. You probably know, but my sister had Down’s Syndrome. She was a handful. I suppose I resented her for cramping my style. If I could turn back time and change things I would. But I was desperate to see Tanya, my girlfriend at the time. It was around six o’clock and my parents were still out. I made a mistake and left Undine with Leonard. I spent the evening with Tanya and the next thing I knew, Undine was missing. They found her floating face down in the lake.”
“I’m sorry to rake it all up again,” Blake said. “And Leonard Hill, what was his version of events?”
Paul Percival snorted. “He tried to say that I got him blind drunk on my parents’ vodka and then took Undine across the park and threw her in the lake. I mean, why would I do that to my own sister? Hill said that when he came round, he was by the lake and my sister was floating in the water. He has a sick imagination, that’s all I can say.”
“So what do you think happened? You must have considered what the truth was.”
&n
bsp; Percival was quiet for a moment as though gathering his thoughts. “This is difficult for me to remember, Mr Blake and painful on top of everything else that has happened to me in the past couple of days…”
“I understand, Paul,” Blake said. He was beginning to see the man through Sam’s eyes. Never once during the interview had Paul uttered Florence’s name or asked if they’d found her. And he’d referenced his own suffering twice. “If you could indulge me…”
“Leonard had always had a ‘thing’ about Undine. She was just a toddler but Leonard always sought her out when he came to ours, always said hello and chatted to her…”
“Is there anything wrong with that?”
“I just thought he was being friendly. Leonard was always befriending the younger kids in school, you know, the waifs and strays who got bullied. He started a computer club. Again, looking back, alarm bells should have been ringing then but we didn’t know that Leonard was a paedophile then, did we?”
“So Leonard had an unhealthy interest in Undine?”
“I would say so. Undine was loud and demanding. Mum and Dad spoilt her rotten. I know it was her condition and it’s an awful thing to say, but she was a pain. Maybe he felt superior to her. Leonard was at the bottom of the food chain at school, that’s for sure. Maybe Undine made him feel better about himself. I don’t know.”
“Right,” Blake said, keeping as quiet as possible and letting Paul fill in the gaps.
Percival shrugged. “I don’t know what happened that night. Maybe he got drunk and carried away with himself. Maybe he drank the vodka after he’d killed her. She wouldn’t have known what was going on. It would have been pitch black in the park. He could have done what he wanted to her, she wouldn’t have been able to tell anyone. Perhaps he felt guilty or revolted at himself and what he’d done. Perhaps that’s why he pushed her in the lake.”
Blake nodded. “Undine wouldn’t be able to swim.”
“No. And she hated swimming pools or large expanses of water. Quite ironic considering her name meant some kind of water nymph or something.”
“Why do you think Leonard Hill said you were involved too?”
Paul shrugged. “I don’t know. I was always kind to him. I don’t know why he would turn on me like that. Maybe he wanted to spread the blame and confuse the jury. It was a terrible time, though. For a moment, I thought they would actually arrest me.”
“Must have been difficult.”
“So can I ask,” Percival said. “Why have you arrested Hill now? Is there evidence?”
“We’ve only arrested him on suspicion. Our investigations are ongoing so I can’t give you any more detail, I’m afraid.”
“God, if he had Flossy, then she could be dead.”
“We don’t know that, Paul,” Blake said, unconvinced by Percival’s dramatic outburst. “My team are questioning him as we speak. If he does know anything about her whereabouts, then we’ll find out. Can I ask you about Samantha?”
“What about her? Deceptive and manipulative. That’s all you need to know. She got me to marry her and never told me about her illness. You’d think someone would warn a potential partner about that, wouldn’t you?”
“It’s not really an illness, is it? But, yes, I think it would be preferable to make you aware of a condition like that. Why did you send her to the clinic in Scotland?”
“I didn’t send her, Mr Blake. She booked herself in.”
“Sam tells a very different story. She believes that she was bullied into going.”
“That’s Sam for you. As I said, manipulative. She was falling apart. Paranoia for a start. She accused me of having affairs…”
“To be fair, Paul, that isn’t unreasonable, given the reason for your recent absence when Florence went missing.”
Percival’s cheeks coloured. “Fair enough,” he said. “But you have to understand, Sam had trouble with her memory, with these absences while she was handling Florence. She wasn’t safe.”
“Was Sam able to leave The Pines whenever she wanted?”
“Absolutely. She could have phoned me, and I would have picked her up. It was totally up to her.”
“She told us that you persuaded her to stay whenever she rang you up or you came to see her.”
“Well, of course I did. She isn’t well. It might sound cruel, Mr Blake but it was in her best interests.”
“What was the fight about earlier?”
Paul shook his head. “She came to the door saying I knew where Flossy was and wanting me to give her back. It was madness. Literally. I told you she was paranoid. She wanted to search the house…”
“Wouldn’t it have been easier to let her have a look around? It’s her home too, and it would have proved to her that Florence wasn’t there.”
“No,” Paul said, licking his lips. “She would have caused all kinds of trouble if she’d got into the house…”
“What like?”
“Throwing things for a start,” Paul said. “At least outside, she wouldn’t have ornaments and cutlery to throw at me. It’s happened before, Mr Blake, believe me. You’ve met her once. I’ve lived with her and it’s no picnic.”
“But it seems clear that she doesn’t have Florence,” Blake said. “Otherwise, why turn up at your door?”
Paul Percival shook his head. “I still wouldn’t be sure, Mr Blake. I don’t know what goes on in her head. I wouldn’t put it past her. Put it this way, unless you’ve got concrete evidence that Leonard Hill has my daughter, I still wouldn’t rule out her mother.”
Chapter 21
It was late but Blake wanted everyone allocated to tasks the following morning. He felt bone weary and his stomach growled. He was no nearer finding Florence.
“Okay, people,” Blake said. “We have the forensic report back on the knickers, hair and tissues found in Hill’s house. DNA on them belongs to Florence Percival. There’s also semen on them belonging to Leonard Hill.”
Kath Cryer sat back in her chair and folded her arms as if to say, ‘case closed.’ She raised her hand. “He’s kept it up with the, ‘no comment’ routine since you left. No wonder.”
“Anything else at the house?”
“Clean as a whistle. He even let us look at his phone. Nothing mucky on there. Apart from some dick pics sent to this Geri Sharpe.” A groan of disgust rippled through the group at the thought.
“She’s the woman he said he was meeting at the Park, right?” Blake said.
Kath nodded. “Yeah but she never showed up. She met up with him at his house. The texts match his account of things except a couple of texts sent from her asking where he was.”
Vikki Chinn straightened up in her chair. “We’ve got more on Geri Sharpe. She has convictions for prostitution and possession. Want us to bring her in and have a chat?”
Blake nodded. “We need to establish a timeline and figure out what happened between Hill taking Florence and him arriving at his home to meet Geri. If she was wondering where he was, that suggests he was late. So he must have hidden or… dumped… Florence somewhere between the park and his house. Alex and Andrew, can you have a look at possible routes he could have taken and any possible locations where Florence might be?”
Kinnear and Manikas nodded.
“What about the divers. Have they found anything?”
“A whole pile of rubbish, but no sign of Florence,” DS Vikki Chinn said. “They’ve covered the lake in the lower park but not the one in the upper park. I can’t imagine Hill disposing of her in the lake in broad daylight. Surely there’d be too many people around and how would he have the time?”
“I don’t know, Vikki. It’s troubling me, too. I’ll go through things with Hill again tomorrow, see if I can get something out of him.”
*****
The lights were all on when Blake got home. For a moment, he felt the old gut twist of anxiety that he used to experience when his mother was still alive. Some nights every single light would be glaring at him through the darkness
and he’d find her in the garden in her nightie calling for Jeff or his father. But his mother had gone, so it puzzled Blake that so many lights were on.
Inside, Laura was frantically searching under the front room sofa. “Charlie? Come on, boy. Where are you?”
“Problem?” Blake said, making Laura yelp.
“Jeez, Will. You frightened me. I can’t find Charlie anywhere.”
“Really? He can’t be far. You’ve kept all the outside doors closed, right?”
“Of course I have. I just went to the loo and when I came back, he was gone. Serafina was sat in his place, purring.”
Blake raised his eyebrows. “His place? He hasn’t got ‘a place’ in this house. Perhaps she ate him.”
“Don’t,” Laura said, smacking him playfully on the arm. “He’ll be around somewhere. Help me find him.”
Blake rolled his eyes. “It’s gone midnight, Laura. It’s been another stinker of a day. Still can’t find Florence Percival. I think we might be too late.”
“Will, that’s awful,” Laura said, wrapping him in her arms. “You can’t blame yourself. You did all you could.”
“I know, I know. It doesn’t make it any better, though. How can someone do that to a child? Steal them away like that?”
“I don’t know… wait... listen…”
Blake strained his ears and heard a faint whimpering coming from the hall. “Sounds like your puppy,” Blake said. They went out into the hall.
“It’s coming from the cellar,” Laura said, frowning.
Blake pulled open the cellar door and Charlie bounded out, wagging his tail and leaping up at Laura. “How did he get in there?” Blake said, frowning.
“I blame the cat. Charlie must have nosed his way in there and she pushed it shut on him,” Laura said.
“Sounds a bit far-fetched to me,” Blake said, glancing over at Serafina who lay curled in her armchair asleep.
“Believe you me, Will, jealousy is a deep animal emotion. It’s tied up with survival and ranking within the pack. I’d never underestimate it as a motive for skulduggery.”