‘Listen, my father was a grown man who was stupid enough to put a lot of people’s backs up. It’s no secret he and Jason didn’t get on too well, but there were a hell of a lot of other people who hated and despised him at least as much as we did, and it was only because he asked for it. So if he went and got himself killed, it shouldn’t surprise anyone if I seem more upset about Daisy than about my father.’ Her eyes hardened. ‘If you ask me, my father got what he deserved. And a lot of people will say the same, because the truth is he was a selfish bully.’ Her face crumpled in distress again and her eyes filled with tears. ‘Daisy’s just a baby. She’s done nothing wrong. Why are we talking about my father? Please, do your job, and find my daughter.’

Geraldine assured her the police were doing everything they could to try and trace the baby, but Jessica just dropped her head in her hands again, weeping noisily. It was understandable that she was in a state about Daisy’s disappearance, but Geraldine wondered if she had let slip more than she had intended, in ranting against her father.

‘I think Jessica knows more than she’s letting on,’ she said when she returned to the police station.

‘Surely this suggests a motive for Jason’s disappearance?’ Ariadne replied. ‘If he lost his temper with his father-in-law, and killed him, perhaps without meaning to, it’s quite likely he would have done a runner. And he might have taken his baby with him, afraid he might not see her again otherwise. Perhaps Jessica knows all about it and has arranged to meet him as soon as she can. They might have planned his disappearance together, and that’s why you think she’s hiding something.’

‘The times don’t add up,’ Geraldine pointed out. ‘Jason and Daisy both disappeared on Saturday, but David wasn’t killed until Tuesday.’

The detective chief inspector nodded. ‘All the same, we need to keep an eye on Jessica,’ she said. ‘I agree, there’s something here that doesn’t add up. It can’t be coincidence that Jason’s run off with the baby just around the time when David was killed. And you said Jessica wasn’t too upset on hearing her father was murdered.’

‘She was more concerned about Daisy, but that’s probably understandable, given she didn’t seem to have got on too well with her father.’

‘Are you suggesting Jessica killed him? And she and Jason are in on this together?’ Ian asked.

For a moment no one answered.

‘Let’s find out what’s in David’s will,’ Eileen barked.