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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
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  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
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. Acknowledgements

Ella opened the purse and removed fifty pounds in notes as silently as she could, before putting the purse down on a chair. ‘Thanks, I’m sure that’s way more than I need.’

Shoving the money in her pocket, she bundled Lily into her pushchair as quickly as she could, slipped the bags of food on the handles, put on the sunglasses and left. Visiting Christine had bought her some time, but now she had to find somewhere else to stay where no one would recognise her. At least she had enough money to buy a store of jars of baby food and nappies to keep them going while she was looking for somewhere to hide out.

50

50

As she was on her way to the police station, Geraldine was summoned to an early morning briefing. There was an air of expectation in the incident room as they waited for Eileen. At last the detective chief inspector strode into the room and began to speak.

‘We have had a report from a social worker that a woman with a baby answering to the description of Ella and Daisy has been traced. They were staying with an old school friend of Ella, a blind woman called Christine. Ella and the baby, whom she is calling Lily, have left, and Christine says she doesn’t know where they went.’

‘The baby Ella lost was called Lily,’ Geraldine said. ‘It has to be her. She must know we’re looking for her, so she went to stay with a blind woman who wouldn’t have seen her face plastered all over the news.’

‘That’s clever,’ Ariadne muttered.

‘Not clever enough,’ Geraldine replied. ‘No one can disappear completely without leaving any trace at all. You just have to know where to look, and who to ask.’

‘Exactly,’ Eileen agreed, with an approving nod at Geraldine. ‘We need to question Christine and the social worker who reported this. So far Christine has refused to say anything, and the social worker knows only what Christine told her. Apparently the social worker found soiled nappies and empty jars of baby food in the house and questioned Christine about what was going on. But Christine is refusing to tell us where Ella is now. She may not even know where Ella has gone.’

Geraldine was sent to speak to the blind woman. Christine lived alone, and when Geraldine arrived there was no one else with her.

‘How do I know you are who you say you are?’ Christine asked, reasonably enough, since she could not see Geraldine’s identity card.

‘Please call the police station and verify who I am, or you can invite a neighbour to look at my identity card.’