‘It was an effort to go out anywhere, I was so tired, and Jade never seemed to sleep. She had colic which went on forever, then she was teething. I felt useless and ugly. My life was just looking after a screaming child. Some days I didn’t even bother to wash or dress. I did try to get help. The doctor said it was only natural that I should feel down with a new baby and being a single parent. I got a few visits from social services. All well-meaning advice but it didn’t make me feel any better. I’m not trying to excuse what I did but I’m not that person anymore.’
Meadows now had a clear picture of Sally’s life. Not a unique story, there are lots of single parents struggling with money and feeling isolated. She was clearly depressed and tried to get help. I guess everyone has a breaking point. What drives a mother to kill her child?
‘What happened to Jade?’
‘She’d been up most of the night. She had a bit of a temperature so I gave her paracetamol and rubbed some gel on her gums, but nothing seemed to work. I was going to take her to the doctor that morning but I was so tired. She slept on and off during the day but by the evening she was yelling again. The noise seemed to magnify in my head. I walked around the house carrying her, trying to soothe her. When she fell asleep, I put her in the cot and I climbed into bed. I must’ve only been asleep for about half an hour and she started screaming again.’ Sally bit her bottom lip then let out a shaky breath.
‘I just lost it for a moment. I leaned into the cot and grabbed her. I shook her, screamed at her to shut up. I think I knocked the back of her head against the cot bars because she let out this piercing wail. I let her go and ran from the room. I shut myself in the kitchen and sat there smoking and drinking tea. I don’t know how long I sat there for but the house was silent when I went back to bed. I thought Jade was asleep, so I just crept into bed.’
‘When did you realise something was wrong?’ Meadows asked.
‘I woke up about three. I think I was so used to being woken up during the night that it became second nature. I checked on Jade, she was still, and so cold. Fear gripped my body so I couldn’t move for a moment. I could feel my heart thudding in my chest. I wanted to scream but I couldn’t make a sound. I took her out of the cot and held her tight. She wasn’t breathing, her lips were blue. Pain tore through my chest like nothing I’ve felt before.’
‘Why didn’t you call for help?’ Edris asked.
‘Because I’d killed her. I was alone and scared. A baby killer who everyone was going to hate.’
Tears tracked down Sally’s face and she wiped them away with the back of her hand.
‘So, you buried her in the garden,’ Meadows said. He could almost understand how Sally had lost control for a moment. Almost felt sorry for her if it wasn’t for what he knew she did next.
‘I wrapped her in a blanket and covered her in plastic. I couldn’t bear the thought of bugs crawling over her. I dug a hole as near to the house as I could. I didn’t want her to be too far away. I cried the whole time, my body shaking. It was like some bizarre nightmare and I couldn’t wake up.’ She took a tissue from her sleeve and blew her nose.
‘Did you bury her alone?’ Meadows asked.
‘Yes, it was still dark. No one saw me. I left the kitchen light on so I could see but I didn’t use a torch. After, I just sat in the kitchen in a daze. When the sun came up I realized that I couldn’t just leave that little patch of earth. What if an animal got into the garden and dug her up? What if George asked why I had been digging the garden?’
Sally rubbed at her arms as though the memory brought a chill to her skin.
‘I went to see Mark; it was early and I knew I would catch him before he went to work. He was angry that I called at his home and I guess I must’ve looked a state. I told him that Jade was very ill in hospital and I needed a car for a few days. He refused so I threatened to tell his fiancé about Jade, he gave in. I didn’t have a full licence then, but I’d had a few lessons and I didn’t care if I was caught.’
‘Didn’t Mark ask to see Jade?’ Edris asked. ‘If you managed to convince him the child was so ill, surely he would’ve wanted to see for himself.’
‘No, Mark only cared about himself. As long as I kept his secret he was happy. I drove to the builder’s yard and bought some slabs and cement. I had to make a few trips. George came over when he saw me working in the garden. I told him that my mother had taken Jade for a few days to give me a break and that I wanted to use the time to make the garden nice so she would have somewhere to play. He helped me lay the patio and tidy the borders.’
‘Did he give any indication that he knew what lay under the slabs?’ Meadows asked.
‘Not then. He seemed happy with my explanation, although I knew he would ask questions when Jade didn’t come home. I thought I could tell him that my mother had decided it was best to raise Jade as her own, that I was too young to have a child. It seemed like a good idea but then what would I tell the health visitor and social services if they checked up on me? They would follow up my story and soon find out the lie. I tried to think of all ways to cover up, even thought of running away but there was nowhere I could go.’
‘So, you decided to replace Jade,’ Edris said.
Sally’s eyes narrow. ‘It wasn’t like that. It’s okay for you to sit and judge me but you’ve no idea what it was like for me then. I was out of my mind with grief. I’ve already told you I wasn’t myself. I wasn’t thinking straight.’
‘Yet you could come up with a plan to abduct a child,’ Meadows said.
‘I didn’t plan, well not like you think. I drove around for a couple of days, visiting parks and shopping centres. Just watching. I must’ve looked in countless prams and complimented mothers on their beautiful babies, while all the time I was looking for a baby girl, looking for Jade.
‘I was walking along the seafront when I first saw her. She was being pushed along by her grandmother. A little girl with dark hair in pigtails skipped alongside the pram. I stopped to talk to them and when I saw her, I knew I had been given a second chance. My Jade had been given back to me. I followed them home, then went back the next day. The mother sat outside in a chair reading while the baby slept in the pram and the little girl played with a doll. Then the mother went indoors, just left them outside. When she didn’t come back out I went through the garden gate and asked the little girl for a glass of water. I took Jade from the pram, put her on the floor on the passenger side and drove back to Mark’s house. She only woke a few times on the way home. I left the keys in the car and carried her home.’
‘Didn’t you worry that the car would be identified and traced back to Mark?’ Edris asked.
‘No, he wouldn’t say anything because it would mean that he’d have to explain about Jade. There was no chance he would risk being found out, even if he did have suspicions.’
‘Didn’t anyone comment on Jade’s appearance?’ Meadows asked. ‘Poppy Moore’s abduction would’ve been on every news channel and in every newspaper. Her face would have been well known.’
‘There wasn’t anyone around to notice. I didn’t go out much and it was over a month before I saw the health visitor. It was a huge relief when she didn’t notice any difference, I felt safe and knew then that I had done the right thing in taking my child back.’
My child back?
Meadows let the comment go. ‘But George knew the difference, didn’t he?’
‘He never said it outright but yes, I’m sure he knew. He would drop little hints. Bring around paper clippings of the abduction and always talked about the family of the missing child, like he knew them personally. He soon let me know what he wanted in return for keeping the secret.’ Sally wrapped her arms around her body. ‘I hated myself for getting into his bed. He liked to play games to prolong his pleasure, I played along to keep him happy. In the end, I saw it as my punishment. The longer it went on, the more worthless and dirtier I felt. I got to a point where I wanted to end it all. I even bought the pills. Then I reali
sed that I owed it to Jade to give her the best life I could.
‘I managed to get a transfer to a council house in Cardiff. I said I needed to be near my family. I went back to college, then trained as a nurse. That’s how I met Laurence.’
‘So why kill George now? Did he contact you when we found Jade?’
‘No, he had no idea where I was and I had changed my surname. I’d put the past behind me. It was just some distant nightmare at times. I believed I had dreamt the whole thing.’
‘So what happened to make you go back and take Ella Beynon?’ Meadows asked.
‘Ella Beynon?’ Confusion creased Sally’s face. ‘I didn’t take her. Why would I do such a thing?’
Meadows felt his hope of finding Ella draining away.
‘We are searching your house.’
‘Search all you want. You won’t find anything. What sort of monster do you think I am?’
‘Then why go back?’
‘The little girl went missing. I saw it on the news, saw the house and it all came back to me, the guilt and fear. I had to come and look, I couldn’t help myself. When I walked past the house, I saw them searching the garden. I couldn’t move for a while. I knew if they found the body then questions would be asked. George might say something. I realised how stupid I had been to come, but as long as George didn’t see me, I’d be safe. Maybe he would keep quiet. How would he explain that he knew all those years ago but didn’t report it? I hurried back towards my car but I ran into George. He recognised me straight away. Asked me back to his house for a cup of tea. I could see the excitement in his eyes and knew what he wanted. I was never going to escape, he would never leave me alone. All he had to do was to tell the police that I laid the patio, that he had no idea what was under there. I told him not to bother with the tea and went up to the bedroom.’
There was a look of pure disgust on Sally’s face as she twisted her hands.
‘I told him I had learned some new tricks but needed something to tie him up, told him it would heighten the pleasure. He told me where to find the garden twine and he happily let me tie his legs as he groped my body. Every touch made my skin crawl but I kept smiling, kept teasing until I had tied his hands. I had to put an end to it, he would’ve ruined Jade’s life. I took a pillow and held it over his face. He struggled but couldn’t get free. It seemed to take forever for him to die but when it was over all I felt was relief. I got dressed and went home. I knew you would come for me, but I so wanted to see my little girl get married.’
Sally hung her head as sobs wracked her body.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Meadows felt drained when he walked into the office on Monday morning. It had been late when the paperwork for Sally Anderson had been completed and he had finally gone home. He felt no satisfaction from solving the case. Too many lives had been turned upside-down and he doubted Jade would be running into the welcoming arms of her lost family. He had been tempted to call Daisy but figured she needed the space. He’d cooked himself a meal, tried to read and listen to music but couldn’t relax. His mind was full of images of Ella, keeping him awake then invading his dreams. He felt like the answer was lurking in the back of his mind, just out of his grasp.
He sighed as he approached the incident board. Edris had removed all the information relating to the murder of George and the discovery of Jade Matthews. Now the names and pictures had been removed, it left a clear picture of the investigation into the disappearance of Ella.
George and Little Jade Matthews certainly clouded the search for Ella, maybe now we can find some answers.
As Meadows updated the board with the information on the cottage in Lancashire he heard the rest of the team come in with the usual chatter.
He turned and looked at Blackwell. ‘How were the Andersons when you left them?’
‘The Doc spent most of the afternoon slugging one whiskey after another. He was pretty wasted by the time we left. Can’t say I blame him,’ Blackwell said.
‘Poor bugger was in shock,’ Paskin said. ‘He had no idea. Jade, or should I say Poppy, went from sobbing to hysterics to silence. The guests were dispatched and the fiancé turned up with a load of questions. In the end, they decided they wanted some time alone.’
‘Can’t blame them,’ Meadows said. ‘They’re not going to get a lot of peace when the media sniff out the story.’
‘I liaised with the local station so they’re aware of the situation,’ Blackwell said. He sat down in his chair and put his hands behind his head. ‘Still, not a bad weekend’s work. Cleared up two cases. I just wish that we had found Ella in the process.’
‘So do I,’ Meadows said. ‘We’ve still got the cottage in Lancaster as the best lead we’ve had all week. Did the police up there come back with anything, Valentine?’
‘Yeah, I put the report on your desk. They interviewed the owner of the cottage and then the neighbours on either side. There was a woman staying there with a young boy, the neighbour thought him to be about two years old. The description isn’t a match for Natalie and the child is the wrong sex.’
‘What? So Natalie was telling the truth. If she wasn’t using the cottage, who was? We need to find this woman, and see if she has any connection with Natalie. Anything from traffic?’
‘No.’ Valentine shook her head.
‘I’ll chase them up,’ Blackwell said.
‘We need to check if Natalie or any of these lot’ – he pointed to the names on the board – ‘have any connection to Lancaster. Check the phone records, look who they’ve been talking to in the last month.’
‘It could’ve just been a meeting point,’ Edris said. ‘Could be halfway to wherever they were taking Ella. Maybe this woman was just there to take Ella and hand her over to someone else.’
‘Maybe,’ Meadows agreed. ‘Then that would mean she was taken to somewhere in Scotland. There are some remote places there. Easy to hide a child. But why?’
‘If she was there at all,’ Paskin said. ‘As the neighbour said, it was a woman and a little boy who were seen staying at the cottage, no mention of another child.’
Something niggled at the back of Meadows’ mind. He sat down at his desk and picked up the report from Lancaster police. The woman was described as being around five foot five, wearing a pink coat, jeans, and a hat.
Same height as Natalie and a pink coat.
He continued reading. The child. A boy of around two with brown hair.
What was it that Jim said the other day? Cut their hair short and they all look the same.
‘When we were interviewing Jim and Helen Morris, I mistook their granddaughter for a boy because she had short hair. What if Ella’s hair has been cut? Everyone is on the lookout for a little girl. They wouldn’t take any notice of a boy.’
‘I suppose it’s one way of moving the child around unnoticed. Still a big risk,’ Paskin said. ‘No money has changed hands from what we can see. If it was some attempt at an illegal adoption there would be all sorts of paperwork to get around. False birth certificate for a start.’
‘Yeah, well, people with enough money have a way of getting around these things,’ Edris said.
‘But there would’ve had to be some sort of communication,’ Valentine said.
‘Then we go back and look again,’ Meadows said.
‘Traffic haven’t picked up anything on Natalie’s car,’ Blackwell said. ‘So, we can knock that theory on the head.’
‘Why would Natalie book the cottage for that weekend? It was booked until the Friday morning, enough time for an exchange and to lay low,’ Meadows said. ‘It’s the only thing we’ve got to go on so far.’
‘Only Natalie insists she didn’t book the cottage,’ Edris said. ‘Her car would have been picked up on camera and she was home on the Monday morning. Why pay for the cottage for a week? Besides which, she would have to be pretty thick to book the cottage in her own name.’
‘She’s lied about everything else so far and we’ve already establish
ed she’s not the brightest. The only other explanation is that someone else booked that cottage in her name, someone with access to her card details. Then they took Ella and handed her over to whoever was staying in the cottage. Buried the clothes to confuse us.’
‘Ryan,’ Valentine said. ‘He could have arranged to meet a woman in Lancaster, stopped in the woods first. We did find his footprints near the clothes.’
‘Could be,’ Meadows agreed. ‘Only Natalie swears he was on the sofa all night, and Claire, Dan, and Jamie would’ve noticed his absence for that length of time.’
‘Unless they were all in on it,’ Blackwell said.
‘And they buried the clothes in the woods to make it look like an abduction,’ Valentine said.
‘Yeah but if they were going to be that clever about it, they wouldn’t have used Natalie’s name to book a cottage,’ Edris said.
‘Have we got the forensic report from the house and the car?’ Meadows asked.
‘I was looking at that on Friday.’ Paskin shuffled through some papers on her desk. ‘Yeah nothing useful. Only fingerprints found in Ella’s bedroom were Natalie’s, Ryan’s, Nia’s, and Claire’s, which can all be explained. Lots more in the car. Same as the bedroom but also Dan’s, and Jamie’s along with a couple of unidentified. They’ve been run through the database, but no matches were found.’
‘Why were Nia’s prints in the car? She has her own,’ Meadows said.
‘Well maybe she had a lift at some time with Natalie, or used the car whilst hers was up the garage. I can ask her but as it’s her sister’s car, I don’t think finding her prints is suspicious,’ Paskin said. ‘I guess whoever took Ella could have wiped their prints, wore gloves or–’
‘–it was one of these four,’ Meadows said.
‘Three,’ Valentine said. ‘Ryan, Natalie or Claire, unless you think Nia had something to do with the abduction.’
Meadows ran his hand over his chin and sighed.
‘I don’t know what to think anymore. Nia puts on an appearance of being worried about Ella and has been supporting Natalie, although she is hard on her at times. She did report Natalie to social services and expressed her concerns about the way Natalie was bringing up Ella. Same with Leanne, she was appalled by Natalie’s behaviour. Leanne didn’t arrive until Thursday night. She didn’t rush over here when she heard her niece was missing.’
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