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Chapters (60)
  1. CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR LEIGH RUSSELL
  2. Glossary of acronyms
  3. Prologue
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
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  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
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  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
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  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
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  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
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  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. Acknowledgements

‘There’s nothing to suggest that might be the case,’ Geraldine replied, ‘but it is a coincidence, your daughter disappearing just before your father was killed. And there’s something else.’ She paused. ‘I’m sorry, but there’s no easy way to tell you this. I’m afraid Jason’s dead.’

36

36

After the disappearance of her baby, and the death of her father, it was hardly surprising that Jessica stared at Geraldine for a moment in complete shock.

‘What do you mean?’ she stammered at last. ‘What are you talking about? What are you saying? What’s that about Jason?’

‘I’m afraid he’s dead. We’re going to need you to identify his body.’

‘You mean you don’t know if it’s him?’

‘I’m afraid it’s definitely him. The DNA we took from his toothbrush establishes it, but we do need you to confirm his identity.’

Geraldine hesitated, wondering how well the pathologist would be able to clean up Jason’s face before his wife viewed it. He had looked quite hideous when she and Ian had seen him lying on the table at the mortuary, with his lurid face and protruding eyes.

‘My baby’s been stolen,’ Jessica replied in a tight voice, ‘and my father’s been murdered, and now you’ve come here asking me to identify my husband’s body? So, my father’s dead. We know that. My mother went to identify his body. There’s nothing anyone can do for him now. And my baby’s been taken, God knows where, and she could be crying for me right now…’ she broke off, sobbing too violently to speak. ‘Find her for me, just find her,’ she mumbled through her tears. ‘I don’t want to hear about Jason, or about my father. I don’t want to hear about people in my family who’ve been killed.’ She paused and gasped. ‘Did he – had Jason – was she there?’

Geraldine would have given anything to be able to reunite the bereft mother with her child, but her job was to investigate the murders of David and Jason. Taking a deep breath, she focused on the reason she had gone to see Jessica.

‘I’m so sorry, Jessica. We haven’t found Daisy yet, but we are doing everything we can to find her as quickly as possible. Do you know a man called Jonathan Edwards? He’s about fifty, very tall and thin, and he used to work as a school librarian?’

Jessica shook her head, looking faintly bewildered. ‘How can Jason be dead?’ she muttered as though she had only just registered what Geraldine had told her. ‘How is it possible? No, not Jason, not Jason.’

‘Jessica, I need you to listen to me, very carefully. This is really important. Do you know Jonathan Edwards?’

Jessica shook her head.