by Mari Hannah
‘You’re a policeman—’
‘And you are a registered au pair.’
Justine began to weep at the implication that she’d failed in her responsibility.
Stone didn’t let her tears waylay him. His job was to find the truth. The timing of the offence and who said what to whom was crucial. Get that wrong and it would throw everything else out of kilter. ‘Even if I weren’t a policeman, the very least I might do is ask other parents to corroborate Roger McCall’s account. Did you do that?’
‘I couldn’t. They had all left by the time I arrived.’
‘All of them?’ The DI paused, wondering if her five-minute delay was nearer ten, or even fifteen. ‘There were no stragglers getting changed? No kids collecting footballs, helping the coach out? Children do that, don’t they, put the kit out and collect it afterwards?’ It’s what his brother’s kid used to do.
‘There are no changing facilities available in the evening,’ Justine explained.
‘Isn’t the school site also an FA facility?’
‘Yes, but it’s something to do with insurance, health and safety, I think. The school board – is that what you call it? – won’t allow it. The premises aren’t covered for every child who wants to play football, so they leave the pitch dirty and get washed at home. It’s always been that way, ever since I came to work here.’
It was time to push her a little further. ‘Justine, timing is vital when we’re dealing with missing persons. Is there any possibility that it was later than you thought when you arrived at the playing field?’
‘No, my eyes were peeled to my watch the whole time I was driving. I told you why I was late.’
‘And presumably worried—’
‘Daniel is my responsibility. Look, I did panic, if it makes you feel any better. I checked my phone immediately and noticed the message from Tim saying he’d collect Daniel. That’s why I was angry with him. He can be a little selfish sometimes. No, not selfish, inconsiderate. Not on purpose. He’s a busy man.’ She wrung her hands and changed the subject. ‘Your colleague asked me to send a screenshot of the message. May I ask why?’
‘It was important to have a record of it.’
‘Is that all?’ Justine waited. ‘You’re not the only one who is intuitive, Inspector.’
Stone watched her carefully as he delivered a blow he knew would knock her sideways. ‘Mr Parker claims he never sent that message.’
‘He did!’ She was adamant.
‘Yes, I know. And I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of it when we see him later this morning. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like it if you were not at the house when we do this.’
Justine nodded her consent. ‘I have some errands to run for Alex.’
‘Perfect. We should be done by around midday so, if you could delay your return, I’d be grateful. And please . . . do not speak to either of your employers until after we’ve had the opportunity to interview them.’
‘I understand.’
Stone’s phone signalled an incoming text.
‘Excuse me a second.’ He took the device from his pocket. The message from the PolSA team leader was short and to the point: School grounds searched: negative result. Pocketing the phone, he carried on with the interview. ‘Did you know Alex or Tim before you went to work for them?’
‘No.’
‘How did you get the job, if you don’t mind me asking?’
‘Through a specialist recruitment agency,’ she explained. ‘I was living and working in London when my host family moved to Saudi. It wasn’t a place I wanted to go, nor does it suit my lifestyle, so we parted company.’
Stone made a note to check her references. ‘I assume you stand to lose your job if this gets out—’
‘I’ll never work with children again if Mr Parker is blaming me for Daniel’s disappearance.’
‘I’m sure that’s not the case. You couldn’t invent that DM, could you?’
‘So why is he saying he didn’t send it?’
It was a question Stone didn’t have an answer to. He wanted her off the subject. ‘What are the Parkers like as a couple?’
‘They’re lovely.’
‘Is that the loyal answer or the truthful one?’
She thought for a moment. ‘They’ve had a lot of sadness in their lives lately.’
Stone wondered how far that sadness extended, if the marriage was sound, if behind closed doors in their palatial home the couple were not as happy as they appeared to those looking in – more importantly, if the state of relationship had anything to do with Daniel’s plight. ‘Are they good to you, the Parkers?’
‘Very. I live in their annex. I get an OK wage and a little time off. Not much, but I’m learning about your culture and Daniel is learning about mine. His mother is keen that he’s fluent in languages. On her instructions, we speak only in French. His parents treat me like a member of the family and that’s why I feel so guilty now. You must find him.’
‘What’s he like?’
‘Daniel? He’s a wonderful, thoughtful child. Never any bother. Any suggestion that he took a detour on the way home is nonsense. If he got into a car, he knew the person who was driving. Please, you must believe me. I spend a lot of time with him. I refuse to believe that he wandered off or ran away. He’s never done it before. He wouldn’t worry us like that. It’s not in his nature. Besides, he was desperate to see his mother. Excited to be staying up late to welcome her home.’
Stone noted the ‘us’, and wondered if Daniel was closer to Justine than to his parents. A lot of kids were like that. There was a time when his brother’s son would do anything to spend time with him rather than his father. Luke was persona non grata, Uncle David a hero in Ben’s eyes; they did everything together, a thought that needled him years later. The lad was now eighteen; as he grew up, he changed – and not for the better. Uncle and nephew were now estranged.
His loss.
Mind back on the investigation, Stone pressed on, reassuring Justine that his team were doing everything possible to find Daniel. ‘Can we go back to your aborted attempt to pick him up? I’d like to show you something.’ The DI pushed an A4 sheet of paper across the table. ‘Can you indicate on this map where exactly you parked your Renault?’
She looked slightly bewildered.
‘I saw you drive in,’ Stone explained. ‘There are several exits from the school grounds.’ He pointed them out to her. ‘The same can be said for parking places: a school car park here, a lay-by here, and grass verges where cars pull in to wait for pupils leaving school.’ The sketch had been supplied by one of the uniforms who’d been out to the scene.
Justine pointed at a location near the school gates. ‘I park here if I can.’
‘Is that where you parked last night?’
She nodded. ‘By the time I arrived, there was plenty of room.’
‘Thank you. To eliminate parents from our enquiries, I’ll be asking everyone collecting children to pinpoint their position. Daniel was last seen walking towards a car we’ve not yet traced.’
‘Yes, Alex told me. What kind of car?’
‘Our witness wasn’t specific.’
‘Then you must ask him again.’
‘I didn’t say it was a man.’
Justine shrugged. ‘I assumed—’ She stopped short, realising she’d made one too many assumptions already.
Stone let it go. ‘Justine, did you call Mr Parker right away?’
‘As soon as I saw his message. As you heard, I was angry.’
‘And feeling a little guilty?’
‘Yes.’
‘What time did you make the call?’
She held out her phone.
The DI took it from her, confirming Frankie’s account that the au pair called Parker at seven ten. If, as Curtis suggested, his meeting ended bef
ore six thirty – and Parker didn’t arrive home until seven thirty-five – even taking account of a twenty-minute ride home, it begged the question: where had he been?
12
They left Wallsend at ten, heading north-west on the A19. Traffic was heavy as they passed through the industrial heartland of North Tyneside, the landscape improving once they turned on to the Berwick Hill Road. In the village of Ponteland they took a right on to the A696 where it was prettier still.
Stone glanced at Frankie. ‘How did it go with McCall?’
‘I told you, he’s a waste of space.’
‘No further forward?’
‘He hasn’t a clue of make or model of the car. I questioned him on where exactly he last saw Daniel. He said there’s a metal gate at the western edge of the football field. After training, the lad climbed over it to exit the field. The vehicle was waiting on the other side.’
‘That’s interesting.’
‘Because?’
‘Justine parks her car on the north side, close to the school entrance. She insists that she always parks there, even if there’s no space in the lay-by. She bumps it up on the kerb. If Daniel went the other way, it would suggest he’d made specific arrangements.’ He didn’t wait for a response. ‘Did McCall say anything else?’
Frankie shook her head. ‘He’s not the attentive type: wasn’t able to give a description of the driver; couldn’t decide whether there was a passenger in the front seat; has no idea if the car belonged to another parent. He’s certain that Daniel got in the rear though. Whoever picked him up had several options. Local officers took McCall to the scene at daybreak to pinpoint exactly where he saw the car. They described it as a gateway into the field.’
They exchanged a worried look, David voicing his concern that choosing an unauthorised parking spot might have been a deliberate attempt to avoid official entrances and exits – and more importantly the scope of CCTV – a thought not lost on Frankie.
‘McCall reckons he’s a coach, not a babysitter. He said he can’t watch all the kids in his team. As far as he’s concerned, training ends and they take off. She quoted McCall in a derisory tone: “It’s the parents’ responsibility to be there when I blow the final whistle. So what if Daniel nipped over the fence? How was I to know that it wasn’t his old man picking him up—”’
‘His old man? Did you ask—’
‘If he meant Daniel’s biological father? Yes—’
‘And did he?’
‘No, “old man” was a figure of speech. The only father McCall is aware of is Timothy Parker. McCall claims Daniel got in and the vehicle moved off. That’s all he knows.’
‘Without delay?’
‘Yes. Door slams shut. They’re gone. End of.’
‘Which way was the car facing?’
‘South.’
‘Anything on CCTV yet?’
‘No, I had a word before we left.’
David went quiet. It was hard to second-guess the choices an offender makes: an unpremeditated pick up was one thing, a planned abduction entirely another matter – options of where to park were largely determined by escape routes. Then there was the victim: was Daniel a random choice, a carefully selected child or had he met someone on the Internet? If the kid went willingly it would suggest familiarity, in keeping with the vast majority of abduction cases. The name Charlie Dawson gnawed at Stone. All parents would be quizzed on the matter and Daniel’s iPad was being examined as a matter of urgency to see if the name cropped up. There were many unanswered questions but it was possible to draw conclusions that he may have known the person he took off with after football – Justine Segal had said as much.
‘We should check out the school again.’ They had stopped by briefly in the early hours of the morning in poor visibility. ‘We need to see it in the light of day,’ Stone said. ‘And I want every parent who parked within the vicinity of that school spoken to by close of play. Hone in on specifics: Did they see Daniel? Did they see the car McCall described or any vehicle they hadn’t seen before? I know we’ve kind of ruled him out, but I’d like to know if anyone has misgivings about McCall. Remind them of the need to be discreet. I know you’d strip him of his licence for not escorting every player off the pitch, but realistically that’s never going to happen and this is the guy’s livelihood we’re on about. Quick as you can. Oh, and see if there have been reports of suspicious vehicles or individuals on the force-wide incident log within the last twelve months.’
‘You think there’s been some grooming going on?’
‘Just covering the bases. Action it, Frankie.’
She was already on the phone.
Stone listened as she relayed the actions to personnel at their base. She swivelled in her seat to face him, placing her phone on the dash, her face set in a scowl. ‘We’ve had confirmation that there’s no Charlie Dawson at Daniel’s school, parent or child, male or female. I was hoping there would be.’
The implication was clear.
‘Any hits on the PNC?’
‘Loads: Charlotte Dawson, Charlie Dawson, Charles Dawson.’
‘Any child abusers among them?’
Frankie shook her head.
‘Anybody at all worth checking?’
‘Not at this stage. I’ve got a couple of people working on it.’ Frankie glanced out the window. She didn’t want to speculate on who might have taken Daniel and what they might have done to him. Quickly, she changed the subject. ‘How was Justine Segal when you spoke to her?’
‘In a bit of a state.’
‘Figures. She’s close to Daniel, according to the lad’s parents.’
‘That’s not what I meant,’ Stone said. ‘Turns out she arrived five minutes late to pick the boy up, an accident that blocked the road. I know these things happen. I find it odd that someone of her calibre and experience wouldn’t factor in enough time to meet her ETA.’
‘Her calibre?’
‘She’s registered with a top-notch recruitment agency in London. I gave them a bell earlier. Justine was with her previous family for seven years. Never put a foot wrong. They had nothing but good things to say about her. She’s screened and vetted by the International Au Pair Association, very well thought of. And yet she took McCall’s word on trust last night, albeit briefly.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘She never questioned the identity of who drove him away,’ Stone said. ‘Shocking, isn’t it? Allegedly, it was only when she checked her phone and discovered the DM from Parker that she knew for sure, or thought she did.’
‘Bet she was relieved.’
‘Yeah, but not for long . . .’ Stone gathered his thoughts for a moment. ‘If Daniel was gone when Justine arrived but McCall was still there, it puts him in the clear. Unless his story is a complete fabrication and the boy was in the boot of his own car . . .’
‘He wasn’t.’
Stone narrowed his eyes. ‘And you know this how?’
‘I was going to talk to you about that.’ Frankie pressed her lips together, feigning contrition. ‘You’re not going to like it when I tell you.’
‘What have you done?’
‘I already searched his car.’
‘When . . . and on whose authority?’
‘It’s called taking the initiative, David.’
He stared at her. ‘When, Frankie?’
‘When you were contemplating whether to take the case; when I had a spare half hour; when it seemed like a shame not to. Is three whens enough or shall I keep going?’ Frankie had to think on her feet. Her explanation hadn’t cut it with her boss. ‘I heard Control on the radio reporting a misper. What was I supposed to do? I was in the area. It would have been a dereliction of duty not to give it a whirl. McCall runs more than one training session. He takes the ten- to thirteen-year-olds early in the evening, has an hour off, then c
oaches the senior team from eight till ten. He was about to leave when I got there.’
‘And how did you get into the boot of his car?’ Stone fixed on her guilty face. ‘Scratch that. I don’t think I want to know.’
‘David, don’t be like that. I asked him nicely . . . like my dad told me to.’ She didn’t stop for breath. ‘And before you ask, I took a friendly CSI bod along, so we’ve got samples if we need them. It’s OK, I didn’t spend any money.’ She made a crazy face. ‘In my book, that deserves at least two Brownie points. I wasn’t waiting around until he torched the car to get rid of evidence, if there was any, was I?’
‘Does this friendly CSI have a name?’
‘He does . . .’ She put one finger on her chin, thinking. ‘I swear my head’s a sieve lately. I’m sure it’ll come to me.’
Stone laughed. ‘You’re a piece of work.’
They had reached the picturesque village of Belsay.
Stone changed down, indicating his intention to turn right. As they passed Bolam Lake, shards of sunshine streamed through the trees edging the water, the view taking their minds off the dodgy road surface. As the car negotiated a hairpin bend, Frankie shifted in her seat to face him, a thought crossing her mind. ‘An RTA is a convenient excuse to be late. Did you check out Justine’s claim?’
Stone nodded. ‘It’s legit. Control received a 999 call just after six thirty – around the same time she left the house. Some idiot ran off the road while texting. Ended up in a ditch with two broken arms. He was well over the limit, driving whilst disqualified with no insurance. He’s now on bail facing another ban.’
‘What’s she like – Justine?’
‘Pleasant enough.’
‘Ouch.’ Frankie raised an eyebrow. ‘You have doubts about her?’
‘No! I felt sorry for her. She’s nice.’
‘You really know how to flatter a girl . . .’ Frankie laughed. ‘Who the hell wants to be nice?’