‘What time did you leave Toppings?’
‘It was after ten o’clock by the time I’d gone through the handover process with them and made sure Alice understood the dangers. We stopped for lunch at Yalding.’ He rubbed a knuckle at his eye, then lowered his hand to the table, his fist clenched. ‘Is she okay? I tried to make sure she kept warm, and we only ran out of food this morning. She lost her rabbit. It’s a blue one – have you found it?’
‘Did you touch her in any way?’ said Gavin.
‘What?’ Greg’s eyes opened wide, and then he grasped the edge of the table and sneered at the detective constable. ‘No, I bloody didn’t. She’s my niece. What sort of monster do you take me for?’
‘The sort of monster who kidnaps a little girl and disappears for five days, leaving her mother traumatised.’
‘I didn’t touch her. I didn’t harm her. I was just trying to keep her safe.’
‘If you were trying to keep her safe, why didn’t you go to the police? Why run?’
‘Look, I know it was stupid. I should’ve come to you, but when I heard that gunshot, I knew I had to get Alice away from there as fast as possible. It wasn’t until yesterday that I realised I’d probably made things worse.’
‘Did you shoot your brother?’
‘No!’
‘Who were you trying to keep Alice safe from?’ said Kay.
‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘Robert turned up that night and said there was a problem. He told me to get her away from the boat.’
‘Hang on,’ said Kay, and frowned. ‘Back up. You said you stopped for lunch at Yalding. What happened after that?’
A sad smile crossed Greg’s features. ‘It was a perfect afternoon. Only a few boats on the river between there and Teston. Alice saw the swings next to the picnic area before the bridge and wanted to go and play so I moored up there for an hour or so. She got bored eventually, so we set off again. I made her stay inside when we went through the lock because I couldn’t keep an eye on her and get the gates opened and closed, but apart from that she was happy to stand on the deck with me. She likes spotting the water voles.’
‘When did Robert get in touch with you?’
Greg’s face clouded. ‘He phoned me just before we got to Barming. I was surprised – he’d been in France all week, and wasn’t due back until the Saturday. He said he’d got the ferry back to Dover that morning and needed to see Alice. I told him I’d be back the next morning, but he said it was an emergency.’ He sighed. ‘He sounded angry – and scared. By then, Alice was giving me a funny look because she could hear his voice, so I told him to meet us at East Farleigh lock. I knew I’d need to moor up just past there for the night, and Alice was starting to get hungry so I thought Robert might as well join us for dinner.’
‘What time did you reach East Farleigh?’
‘By the time we got through the lock it was going on half past six. Most of the commuter traffic had passed over the bridge and things were starting to quieten down. There were a couple of dog walkers that went past while I was checking the mooring lines, but that was about it.’
‘What time did Robert turn up?’
‘Seven, give or take.’
‘Take me through what happened when he arrived.’
‘Alice was pleased to see him. We had dinner, and then let Alice sit up for a while to play.’ He frowned. ‘We went up on the deck – Robert said he needed to talk. He had a cigarette – Annette didn’t let him smoke in front of Alice. We could see her through the window, though.’ Greg exhaled. ‘I was asking him about his trip to France and why he needed to speak to me in such a hurry, because he hadn’t said anything since turning up. I suppose he didn’t want to scare Alice. Anyway, I don’t know – he spotted something, or someone, back towards the East Farleigh direction. He told me to shut up when I was mid-sentence, and sort of craned his neck, and then told me to go and get Alice.’
‘Who was it?’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t know. I couldn’t see anyone, but the light was fading by then. He swore blind there was someone under the bridge looking at us.’
‘What did you do?’
‘Nothing, at first. I thought he was having me on. Then he started getting scared, pleading with me, and told me Alice was in danger and that I had to get her away from there.’
‘Is that when you shot Robert?’ said Gavin.
‘No, I told you – I didn’t shoot him. Someone else did.’
‘Who?’
‘I don’t know. Robert told me to take Alice and make a run for it. I didn’t know what he was going on about. I told him if he wanted to get away, we should take the boat if he was scared, but he said it wouldn’t work. He tossed his cigarette into the water, and then headed into the cabin and made Alice put on a sweatshirt. She was crying, because he was shouting at her to hurry up.’ He shook his head. ‘He put some cans of food and a couple of water bottles in a backpack and threw it at me. I tried to calm down Alice, and I shouted at Robert, told him he was making her scared, and that’s when he shut up. He – he was terrified, I realise now. Alice was standing in the middle of the cabin, bawling her eyes out, and then he saw the toy rabbit she’d got from Kenneth. Robert shoved it at her, I suppose to try to calm her down because I told him she hadn’t let it out of her sight since that morning. And then he pushed both of us up to the deck, and told me to piss off. He said whatever happened, I wasn’t to return to the boat, and that I should use the one he’d hired at Allington instead.’
‘You knew about the second boat?’
‘That was the first time I’d heard about it.’
‘Why steal the canoe, then?’
Greg ran his hand over his close-cropped hair. ‘Alice was too tired to walk by the time we reached Maidstone, and I knew I had to do something. We managed to avoid the crowds, and then I saw the canoe hauled into some undergrowth by the rowing club. I didn’t think – I dragged it into the water and set off. I didn’t realise there was a bloody hole in the side of it until we were nearly at Allington.’
‘Where were you planning to go?’
‘At first, I thought I’d take the boat that Robert had hired, but then I realised I didn’t have the bloody keys. In his haste to kick me off the boat, he’d forgotten to give them to me. I was scared by then. I thought maybe I’d been followed, that they might have found the keys on him. I mean, if they knew he’d travelled to East Farleigh, they might have known to look out for me at Allington, right? I carried Alice along the towpath as far as I could before daylight, and then we slept rough under the bridge that goes under the M20. I didn’t have a plan after that. I just wanted to keep her safe – you have to understand that.’
In the silence that followed, Kay could hear the clock ticking on the wall behind her and the faint sound of voices along the corridor towards the door through to the front desk.
The solicitor turned the page of his notebook, the crackle and crunch deafening to her ears as she narrowed her eyes at Greg Victor.
‘How far along the towpath did you take Alice before you went back and shot your brother?’ she said.
‘I never shot Robert,’ he said, his voice low.
‘Then who did?’
‘Look, I did what he asked. I left the boat and headed off in the direction of Maidstone. I got about half a mile along when I––’ He took a shuddering breath and ran a hand over his eyes. ‘I heard a bang, from behind us. I’ve never heard a gun before, not in real life. But I knew that’s what it was. I knew he’d been killed. And I knew I couldn’t go back there. I picked up Alice and started to run.’
‘Have you any idea who would want to kill your brother?’ said Kay.
‘No, but he was scared. I should’ve asked him why, but there wasn’t time. When we were talking after dinner, he said he was going to speak to Annette about moving out of the area. Said he’d had enough.’
‘Had he ever said anything about moving away before?’
‘Not to me.’
<
br /> ‘Five days on the run, Greg. What happened today? You expected to get caught, didn’t you?’
The man in front of her visibly crumpled, his eyes reddening. ‘Because I thought you’d be better at keeping her safe than me. I’m a father, detective, and Alice’s uncle. I’m not a fugitive. I’m not some evil bastard who goes around kidnapping little girls. I was trying to save her, like her dad – my brother – told me to.’
Kay checked her watch, and signalled to Gavin to end the interview. She slapped shut the manila folder and stood, her mind reeling from Greg’s statement and the revelations she’d heard.
As she opened the door, she heard the sound of a chair scraping across the tiled floor and turned, ready to defend herself.
Instead, Greg Victor stood beside the table, his hands by his side and his face distraught.
‘Please, look after Alice – I think she’s still in danger. I didn’t kill my brother – someone else did. You have to believe me.’
Thirty-Eight
Kay led the way into the incident room, dropped the folder she’d been carrying onto her desk as she passed, and called the investigation team to attention.
‘Everyone – briefing, now. We’ve got a lot to get through, and not much time.’
She strode over to the kitchenette at the end of the room and heaped instant coffee into a chipped mug, adding two sugars. She turned as Fiona Wilkes, the interview specialist, joined her.
‘What do you think?’ said Fiona, a frown creasing her features.
‘We’ve got a long way to go with this one,’ said Kay. ‘I’ve spoken to Sharp and he’s sanctioned another twelve hours to interview Greg in order to give him enough breaks, but I’ve also put in a request with a magistrate to hold him for longer if we need to, based on the severity of the kidnapping charges.’
‘That’s probably for the best. I’ll review the recording and let you know if I can offer any suggestions for the next interview.’
‘Thanks, Fiona.’
As soon as the last team member took their seat, Kay moved to the front of the room. ‘Greg Victor is, as we suspected he would, denying he had anything to do with his brother’s murder and has stated that there was a third party involved in the shooting of Robert Victor.’
A ripple of conversation swept through the gathered officers, then died away as their attention returned to Kay.
She checked the list of items on the whiteboard. ‘What happened with regards to our enquiries about the canoe? Did we find out where that came from?’
‘Yes, guv.’ PC Phillip Parker raised his hand. ‘Eve Henderson from Penenden Heath. She came forward when we were chatting to regulars at the rowing club earlier today. She got back from holiday yesterday and found out the canoe was missing when she turned up there. She was about to report it when we arrived. She was surprised it was taken – she said it was hit by a narrowboat back in July and wasn’t safe to use.’
‘Thanks. It seems Greg stole it to put some distance between himself and the town centre and didn’t realise it was damaged – he confirmed in his interview that it leaked, which was why he abandoned it,’ said Kay.
‘What if he’s telling the truth, and he didn’t shoot his brother?’ said Gavin. ‘What about his comment to you that Alice isn’t safe?’
‘If he’s telling the truth about Robert’s killer, then perhaps he’s worried that person will turn up at the house,’ said Barnes. ‘I’ll organise a surveillance team after this briefing, but Annette and Alice are staying at Kenneth’s house at the moment.’
‘So they should be safe there,’ said Kay. ‘And there’s a twenty-four-hour watch on the gates – get in touch with uniform and alert them to what Greg’s told us. I won’t have them put in danger if he’s telling the truth, so tell them to stay alert.’
‘Guv.’
She paused as Debbie’s phone began to ring, and waited while she briefly spoke to the caller and then ended the call.
‘We’ve been granted a further extension in addition to Sharp’s to interview Greg Victor,’ she said. ‘In light of the seriousness of what he’s done, and given Alice won’t be interviewed until tomorrow morning, the magistrate signed off the paperwork a moment ago.’
‘That’s good news. Thanks, Debbie,’ said Kay. ‘All right, some of you have been here since the early hours of this morning so I’m calling an early finish. We’ve had a fantastic result today, and I’m very grateful to you all for your tenacity and dedication to getting Alice Victor home safe. Debbie – can you pass around the roster for this evening and the remainder of the week? That way we can get you all back to your own families as soon as possible. Okay, everyone – you’re dismissed.’
She moved back to her desk and picked up her mobile phone, then smiled at the text message displayed on the lock screen.
Well done. Love you – Adam.
A thought occurred to her, a warmth growing in her chest as she typed a response.
‘Are you heading off?’ said Barnes as he swept up his car keys from his side of the desk.
‘Yes,’ she said, and smiled. ‘It’s a couple of hours until my parents head back home, and I’ve got something I need to do.’
Thirty-Nine
Kay pulled into the car park beside Adam’s four-by-four, pushed the door open and brushed her hair from her eyes as a light breeze carried across the rolling landscape.
Grey clouds tumbled on the horizon, while a late summer storm that had been forecast for the evening rumbled a few miles away.
Her heels sank into the light layer of gravel as she crossed towards the green expanse of the cemetery, and she buttoned her jacket with one hand while clutching a flower bouquet in the other.
A group of three people stood together at the brow of the hill, and she could make out Adam’s tall figure as he stood waiting for her with his hands in the pockets of the light coat he wore.
Her mother and father hovered beside him, her mother’s eyes full of concern as Kay drew nearer. Her father held another bouquet of flowers in his hands.
Adam smiled and pulled her into a hug when she reached him, then kissed her.
‘This was a good idea,’ he said.
She smiled, then turned to her parents. ‘Thanks for waiting. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get out in time to see you before you went.’
‘Don’t be silly,’ said her mother. ‘We could have always stayed an extra night or two if we needed to. Your father doesn’t have to be at the hospital for his next check-up until early next week.’
‘Have you been here long?’
‘We got here about twenty minutes ago,’ said Adam. ‘Your mum and dad wanted to stretch their legs before the drive back, so we’ve had a walk around the boundary while we were waiting for you.’
Kay exhaled, letting out some of the stress from the past five days.
She turned until she could see down the hill towards the open fields behind the police headquarters beyond the cemetery grounds. It never ceased to amaze her that within minutes of leaving work, she could be out in the open countryside. It was why she and Adam had chosen to set up home in the town, and why she could never see herself leaving.
No matter what her job threw at her, she knew now that she could cope.
‘It’s a pretty spot,’ said her mother.
‘You’re right, it is.’
She threaded her fingers through Adam’s, and squeezed his hand. ‘Shall we?’
They walked down the incline until they reached a row of simple graves, the stone ornaments newer and less worn than the others. Flowers and soft toys had been left beside more than one, but Kay kept her eyes averted from those and concentrated instead on the one she sought in the middle of the row.
There was too much pain here, too much sadness, and she couldn’t bear to absorb others’ grief while she was still coping with her own.
It came to her in waves, crashing down on her at the most unexpected moments, jolting her awake or delivering a punch to her sternum w
hile she daydreamed in the middle of management meetings.
Finally, they were there, the precision of the bronze lettering across the mottled granite stone catching the afternoon sunlight.
Elizabeth Hunter-Turner. Beloved daughter, taken too soon.
Adam pulled her into his chest and kissed her. ‘Love you.’
‘Love you too.’ She pushed the bouquet into his hand and turned to her mother and father, who had stopped a few paces away to give them some time alone. ‘If you wait here, I’ll go and get some fresh water for the vase.’
She didn’t wait for an answer, and turned away before they could see her tears.
Clearing her throat, she walked along the row to a standpipe that had been installed under a yew tree, rinsed out the metal vase and leaned on the tap as she refilled it.
Alice’s kidnapping and rescue had unearthed emotions that she had desperately tried to bury, and as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffed, she wondered how she would have coped if she were in Annette Victor’s place.
It was why she had been prepared to do anything to find the five-year-old. It was why she had driven her team to work so hard.
She twisted the faucet and turned back to the graves.
Adam crouched at the base of Elizabeth’s grave, talking to her parents as he pulled out tufts of long grass that threatened to obliterate the dates inscribed below their daughter’s epitaph. He smiled as she reached him, and took the vase from her.
‘Come here,’ said her mother. She stepped closer and put an arm around Kay’s waist, resting her head against her shoulder.
They stood in silence as Adam and her father arranged the flowers, and she realised how thankful she was that she and her mother had been reconciled. She had been afraid of what her mother’s reaction would be to her miscarriage, afraid of rejection, and instead had kept the truth from her for a long time. Her mother had been inconsolable when she had found out, isolating herself from Kay.
Time, and Kay’s father’s illness, had helped to heal her resentment.
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