Geraldine turned to Ian. ‘Something about this is very nasty, but I can’t quite work out what.’

‘A baby killed and another one abducted to take her place, isn’t that nasty enough for you?’

Daisy had been taken to the paediatric ward of the local hospital where she was being carefully checked for injury or maltreatment. The report came in that she was in reasonably sound health and did not appear to be suffering any ill effects from her kidnapping. Jessica was with her.

Meanwhile, Geraldine had been reading Lily’s medical record which mentioned several accidental injuries to her limbs and torso.

‘Ella’s crazy enough to have inflicted the injuries herself,’ Eileen commented.

‘But she took good care of Daisy,’ Geraldine pointed out.

There was nothing to indicate Lily had not suffered a cot death, but there was enough to suggest that she might have been deliberately injured by Ella, or her boyfriend, Pete, who had apparently done a runner after the baby died.

‘It’s no wonder he scarpered,’ Ian said angrily. ‘If he is responsible for harming that baby, we need to find him and bring him to justice. A lifetime behind bars is too good for that scum.’

‘They tried to find Ella’s boyfriend, Pete, at the time of the baby’s death,’ Eileen said, ‘but he was never traced. He’s probably slipped out of the country by now. He could be anywhere. He vanished when Lily died, and there was no reason why anyone other than Ella would want to find him. A cot death is tragic, but it’s not a crime. As for the baby’s injuries, if they were deliberately inflicted, no one will ever know.’

‘Her mother would have known,’ Geraldine said quietly.

‘You’re looking thoughtful,’ Eileen said. ‘What’s on your mind?’ She frowned at Geraldine who shook her head.

‘It’s probably nothing,’ she replied. ‘But do you remember what Ella said to us when we were questioning her about Lily’s death?’

‘What specifically are you referring to?’

‘All of it really,’ Geraldine replied. ‘Don’t you remember what Ella said when we suggested she had neglected to care for Lily?’

‘Remind me,’ Eileen snapped. ‘Don’t play memory games.’

Without even glancing at her notes, Geraldine recited Ella’s statement. ‘She said: “It was him, it was him. He did it, he did it.” And then she said: “He won’t hurt either of us ever again.” I asked her who she was talking about, just to be clear, and she replied: “Pete.” She said he was a vicious brute and when she saw what he was doing to the baby, she had to stop him. And then she said: “He won’t hurt anyone again because he can’t get out. He can’t ever get out.” What if she found Pete before he could get away? What if he never got away?’