‘How lovely, well I hope you have a wonderful day,’ Meadows said as he stood.
‘We may need to speak with you again,’ Edris said. ‘We’ll be in touch if that’s the case.’
‘I’ve told you everything I can and it’s a very busy time for me at the moment. Jade will be arriving Sunday afternoon with the bridesmaids. We have rehearsals and relatives coming to stay. So, if you do need to talk to me again, I would appreciate it if you would leave it until after the wedding.’ Sally stood up. ‘I’ll see you out.’
‘We just need an address for Jade before we go,’ Edris said.
Sally’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why would you need Jade’s address?’
‘We just need to establish the whereabouts of all the children that occupied the house during that time period.’
‘Fine.’ Sally left them in the hallway, then returned with a piece of paper. ‘I can assure you that she’s very much alive, but if you can’t take my word for it.’ She handed Meadows the paper. ‘Jade is obviously busy, so I would be grateful if you didn’t bother her.’
* * *
‘I can’t see her in leather boots, tying up George and brandishing a whip,’ Edris said as they drove towards Bryn Mawr.
‘Who said anything about a whip?’ Meadows laughed. ‘You really need to keep your imagination under control.’
‘Nothing wrong with my imagination. I still think we can cross her off our list. The daughter is alive and she wouldn’t have had time yesterday to get to Coopers Wood estate, kill George and get back unnoticed.’
‘It’s not impossible, it’s only just over an hour’s drive. She could’ve left work and driven straight to George’s house. Nothing stopping her from making the phone calls as she drove.’
‘Yeah, I suppose, but she’s a bit of a snob, can’t imagine what she would be doing with George.’ Edris put the chair back and stretched out his legs.
‘I guess she would do anything if she was desperate to keep her secret. Tired, are you?’ Meadows teased.
‘Just chilling. I can’t see that she’d make up all that stuff about a wedding. Easy for us to check out that it is Jade getting married.’
‘Yes, but she could’ve had another child, she didn’t stay in the house that long. Maybe she needed to get away fast so no one would notice. I don’t know.’ Meadows sighed. ‘Perhaps Paskin and Valentine will have had better luck or, you never know, Martin Hughes might be waiting with the answers.’
‘Or we just DNA the lot and tell Lester later,’ Edris suggested.
‘Sounds like a plan to me,’ Meadows said with a smile.
They drove along in silence and Meadows let his mind turn over the conversations they’d had with Sally and the Morrises.
Was there something about the way they acted, their reactions to the questions? Helen talked a lot, that could be nerves or maybe, because of her situation, she didn’t get out to socialise very much. Sally was definitely uncomfortable. Maybe her family and friends didn’t know about her past. Perhaps she was getting away from Jade’s father. What was it Jim said? I thought it was important at the time but couldn’t think why. Meadows turned on the music hoping it would relax his mind and something would surface. It will come back to me.
Chapter Twenty-two
Meadows and Edris walked into the deserted social services office. All the staff had gone home for the evening, apart from Martin Hughes, who they found waiting for them in his usual chaotic room.
‘Good to see you, Martin.’ Meadows smiled. ‘How are things?’
‘Snowed under as usual. The number of cases just keeps rising each week and we’re so short of foster carers. On top of that, I feel responsible for Ella Beynon. Sorry, rant over,’ Martin said.
‘Sounds like you’re having a shit week,’ Edris said.
‘No worse than yours, I expect.’ Martin moved some files from the chairs to make room for them all to sit.
‘Sounds like you need a holiday,’ Meadows said.
‘Or some loving,’ Edris suggested.
‘Edris is on a matchmaking mission this week.’ Meadows laughed as he took a seat.
‘Well don’t bother with me. One failed marriage is enough and I doubt you’d find any woman to put up with me,’ Martin said. ‘So, can you tell me anything about how the case is going with Ella?’
‘Yes,’ Meadows said, ‘but there isn’t much to tell. No leads, apart from Ryan. His footprint was found next to the buried clothes, but we don’t have enough to charge him with abduction. He’s on remand for drug charges so at least he’s not going anywhere.’
‘I had heard,’ Martin said. ‘What about Natalie, do you think she’s involved?’
‘It’s possible, she was seen going out in the early hours of the morning but claims she can’t remember anything from that night. Our only witness is now dead.’
‘You can’t charge her?’
‘Not until we have some evidence and know what’s happened to Ella, all we have is her clothes,’ Meadows said.
‘Basically, you’re saying you need a body before you can do anything.’ Martin shook his head sadly.
‘I’m still hoping for a better outcome but we’re running out of options.’
‘Yes, and questions are already being asked about how a child supposedly under our care is missing. If Natalie is responsible then we failed another child. Anyway, you came about the previous occupants of the house and we’ve digressed,’ Martin said. ‘Another poor little mite.’
‘Yes,’ Meadows said. ‘We’re looking into the background of each family and also if there is any possible link to Ella Beynon’s disappearance.’
‘We’re hoping you’ve got something for us,’ Edris said.
‘I’ve searched through all our records but there isn’t anything major on any of the families that I can see. There were some concerns raised with Ray and Susan Davies who lived in the house during the eighties. Their son Robert had a number of visits to casualty. Stitches, broken arm, among the injuries. We were notified by the hospital and a thorough investigation was made but there was no evidence to suggest that the injuries were not accidental. It seems Robert was a very active and fearless child.’
‘And the other children?’ Meadows asked.
‘Two girls, a lot quieter than their brother by all accounts. The school was happy with all three children, no concerns of neglect,’ Martin said.
‘What about the other families?’ Edris asked.
Martin shuffled through the papers on his desk.
‘Sally Matthews, young single parent, lived in the house in the nineties. She suffered with postnatal depression, the father of the child wasn’t around and there was no family support. There were no concerns over the child’s wellbeing, the baby was thriving, clean clothes, and no health issues apart from colic. It was a case of just offering support and advice. She moved out of the area, but the last visit recorded that she was doing well and was considering going back to education.’
‘If she suffered from postnatal depression, is it possible that she had other mental health issues? Something that could have returned years later?’ Meadows asked.
‘There are women who suffer from postpartum psychosis, but it is a rare and a very serious condition. I see nothing in the file that would suggest this. You would have to examine her medical records to establish if she had any other illness.’
‘We saw her today and she seemed well and to have done very well for herself,’ Meadows said.
‘All airs and graces now,’ Edris said.
‘Well, I’m pleased to hear that she’s doing well, even if that is the case,’ Martin said. ‘That’s it, apart from Helen and James Morris, but that doesn’t have anything to do with the children. They needed help to get modifications to their home and benefits to make their life a little easier. We still continue to support them, it’s not easy for Helen to be a full-time carer and the situation is likely to worsen.’
‘Nothing else at all?’ Meadows asked.
Meadows ran his hand through his hair.
I was hoping for something more.
‘Do you think it’s possible for a child to lay buried in a garden for twenty-five to thirty years and no one to notice that child is missing?’
‘Is that your line of enquiry, you think that the child’s parents are on this list?’
‘We haven’t found a DNA match to any of the families we know about. It has to be a child that wasn’t reported missing.’
Martin leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand over his chin.
‘I suppose it’s possible given the right circumstance. You would need the mother, or both parents, to be isolated from their families. Maybe not have any close friends. They could’ve moved away from the area. A health visitor or doctor is unlikely to be chasing up a child on the list if the family is the responsibility of another county. The child could get lost in the system. I guess it’s possible, but then you would find that one of the families has a child missing.’
Jim Morris’s comments came back to Meadows.
What was it he said about children looking the same? No he didn’t say that but maybe... An idea came to him.
‘What about if they swapped the child?’
‘What? You mean bury their own child in the garden and nick another one to replace it,’ Edris said. ‘Someone would be bound to notice that.’
‘Not really,’ Martin said. ‘Less noticeable than the complete absence of a baby. Think about how many children a health visitor sees each month. Yes, there may be a difference in the weight and height but if the child hasn’t been seen by a health professional for a month, I doubt they’d notice. I guess they see so many babies that one looks about the same as another.’
‘And if the parents had no close family or friends, who would notice the baby looked different?’ Meadows said.
‘Bloody hell,’ Edris said. ‘That means that one of the missing children could be alive and living under a completely different identity. That’s going to be a real mess to sort out.’
‘Let’s see what the others have come up with and take it from there.’ Meadows stood up. ‘Thank you, Martin, you’ve been a great help as always.’
‘You’re welcome, if you need anything else give me a shout.’
* * *
Back at the station Meadows felt the adrenalin pumping through his body and sharpening his thoughts.
We’re close to finding the identity of the child and George’s killer, I can feel it.
Paskin and Valentine were in the office, eyes fixed to their computers and fingers flying over the keys.
‘I think we’re getting somewhere,’ Meadows said. ‘Have the files on Cerys Lane and Poppy Moore come in yet?’
‘On your desk,’ Paskin said.
‘Thanks.’ Meadows sat at the desk and picked up a file. ‘Edris, can you give the DVLA a call and make sure they have Shannon Morris working there.’
‘Yeah, no problem, then I’ll make a cuppa. Want one?’
‘Yes please,’ Paskin and Valentine chorused.
‘Thanks.’
Meadows returned his attention to the files. He read through each case which gave the same information he had got from Jenny Lane and Daisy. He made some notes then dragged another incident board next to the first one and wrote down the names of the previous occupants of Coopers Wood estate along with the daughters’ names. Below he wrote the birth dates of the missing children and date of abduction. He looked at the information and satisfied returned to his desk where Edris had placed a cup of tea.
‘Where is Blackwell?’ Meadows took a sip of his tea.
‘Not back yet, he was visiting Michelle and John Stanley. Probably stuffing his face with tea and cake,’ Valentine said.
‘What’s that about tea and cake? I wouldn’t say no,’ Blackwell called out as he sauntered into the office.
‘Sorry we just had one,’ Paskin said.
‘Fine, I’ll make my own,’ Blackwell growled.
When Blackwell returned with his tea Meadows gathered the team around the incident board.
‘Right, we’ve interviewed all the previous occupants of 109 Coopers Wood estate. Let’s see what we’ve got. Paskin?’
‘The Evans’ daughter is grown up with children of her own. They were happy to show me the photos of Vanessa growing up, getting married and the grandchildren. There was no patio in the garden when they lived there, and they moved out before George took up residence next door.’
‘Okay, so looks like we can rule them out.’ Meadows put a line through their name on the board. ‘Valentine?’
Valentine flipped open her notebook. ‘Ray and Sue Davies. They seemed genuinely sorry about the untimely death of George. They said he was a friendly man and a good neighbour. Their oldest daughter Rhian was killed in a car crash shortly after her eighteenth birthday. I checked it out. The death is registered and there was an enquiry into the crash. The older daughter, Rachel, turned up for a visit while we were there. Again, there was no patio and the only work they did in the garden was to plant some bulbs.’
Meadows put another line through the name on the board.
‘Okay, next is Sally Matthews, now Anderson.’ Meadows nodded at Edris.
‘Daughter Jade is getting married on Saturday, we have an address but still need to check it out.’
‘I can help out there,’ Paskin said. ‘When I was running my checks on all the children I came across an adoption for Jade Matthews. Dr Laurence Anderson formally adopted Jade when she was three years old. She became Jade Anderson.’
‘Well that puts Jade out of the picture,’ Edris said. ‘Also Sally claims there was no patio when she lived at the house.’
Meadows didn’t put a line through Sally and Jade’s name, instead he pointed to the next.
‘Helen and James Morris were the next occupants. Their daughter Shannon works in the DVLA.’
‘Checks out,’ Edris said.
‘They claim there was a patio when they moved in. That leaves the Stanleys.’ Meadows nodded at Blackwell.
‘All the children accounted for and still in school. I checked it out. Only good things to say about George. Never saw him with a woman and there was a patio. So that stuffs up your theory that one of the previous occupants buried their child in the garden,’ Blackwell said.
‘Not necessarily,’ Meadows said. ‘Paskin, did you check out the details on the other missing baby we thought may have been taken to Iran by the father?’
‘Yes, I spoke to the mother. Apparently, the father sends pictures of the child on each birthday. I guess he must’ve used a false passport to get out of the country. The mother is still campaigning for the government to get involved in getting the child back.’
‘So that just leaves us with Cerys Lane and Poppy Moore,’ Meadows said.
‘Which we already know are not a match to the child in the garden,’ Blackwell huffed.
‘But they could be a match to Shannon Morris or Jade Anderson.’ Meadows looked at the confusion on the team’s faces. All except Edris who was nodding. ‘Bear with me on this. Sally Anderson said there was no patio in the garden, yet Jim and Helen Morris said there was a patio when they moved in. One of them is lying.’
‘Yeah but that doesn’t mean Jack,’ Blackwell said.
‘Not on its own,’ Meadows said, ‘but look at the dates. Sally moved into the house in 1991, her daughter Jade was born on the 2nd of April 1992 and would have been three months old when Poppy Moore was abducted on the 2nd of June 1992. The same age as the baby we found in the garden. There is only a month difference in age between the two children. If Sally didn’t have any close family or friends it would be easy to pass off Poppy as Jade. Especially if the babies had the same hair colouring. A health visitor wouldn’t have picked it up, they see too many babies. That’s if Sally even bothered
to see a health visitor. She moved out of the area in 1993 and wanted a new life where no one knew her.’
‘Yes, but Poppy Moore’s abduction would’ve been on every news channel and newspaper. Her face would be well known. Surely someone would notice,’ Valentine said.
‘Not really.’ Paskin tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘Sally would’ve already been seen with a baby long before Poppy Moore was abducted. Why would anyone suspect her? It’s not like someone is going to stop her on the street and say “your baby looks like the missing child. Did you abduct her?”.’
‘I guess,’ Valentine agreed.
‘Only someone close to her would be able to scrutinise the child and maybe George was the one to suspect,’ Meadows said.
‘Okay, I buy it,’ Blackwell said. ‘Let’s bring her in and get a DNA test on Sally and the daughter.’
‘It’s not as straightforward as that,’ Meadows said. ‘I wish that was the only possibility. After Sally moved out the Morrises moved in with their baby daughter, Shannon. She was born on the 31st of January and would have been three months old when Cerys Lane was abducted from hospital. There is a three-month difference in age.’
‘You couldn’t pass off a newborn for a three-month-old,’ Valentine said.
‘No, but again the Morrises were new to the area so unlikely to have made any close friends. There wouldn’t be any visitors to the house. Helen indicated that she didn’t get on with the in-laws. You would see a difference with a newborn but not as the child got older. If they were careful for a few months, didn’t go out anywhere where they’d meet people that knew them. The news of the abduction would’ve died down and by the time the child was, say, six months old no one would notice. You certainly wouldn’t pick up a three-month age difference by the time the child went to school. It’s a possibility that Shannon Morris is Cerys Lane. The Morrises stayed in the house for eight years. I reckon they had to move when Jim got ill, to a house where they would have room for a downstairs bedroom. They probably thought it would be safe by then.’
‘But the child would look different from their other children,’ Valentine said.
Suffer the Children Page 18