‘There was no point. I don’t know what name Dad gave him; he’s taken it to his grave. He didn’t want anyone to track him down, thought one of us might go soft and tell you.’

‘You sure you can’t find out? What if Adam’s living somewhere under that name, we may never find him.’

‘I doubt if there’s any record of it. Like I said, Dad didn’t want anyone to know; he’d have had any evidence destroyed.’

‘I thought he’d been coming in deliberately when I was out, doing all sorts of weird stuff, but the police think it’s some cleaner woman he’s employed without telling me, probably to snoop on me, the bastard.’ She cups her face in her hands for several moments. ‘You don’t think something bad has happened to him, do you?’

‘The police would have told you.’ Ray stubs his cigarette out.

‘Unless he’s living under this other name.’

Jamie comes in with a sketch book under his arm and holds up a picture.

Ray nods his approval. ‘Chip off the old block, ain’t he, sis?’

‘It’s a picture of the tree we had chopped down.’ She puts her arm around Jamie’s shoulders and rubs his head. ‘He fell out of it.’

‘Yeah I thought it looked a bit…’ Ray peers at Jamie’s head.

‘Leave off you.’ Alison smacks Ray’s arm. They all laugh. Jamie turns the page.

‘I’ve not seen this one, who’s this?’ Alison asks.

‘My sister.’

‘Oh, I thought you wanted a brother.’

‘I did, I do, but this is my sister. Her name’s Emily.’

‘Ah, that’s really sweet.’ Alison frowns at Ray, but Jamie sees the smirk on her lips.

‘You never believe me, do you?’ Jamie slams the pad on the floor and runs upstairs.

‘This is all a big shock for him. Leave him for a while.’

Alison puts the pad on the table.

‘I’d better be going anyway, let you get some rest.’ Ray finishes his tea. ‘I’ll be back tomorrow. Call me if you have any updates or if you need anything.’

‘I will, thanks.’ Alison kisses him goodbye.

Back in the living room, she opens the pad and looks closer at Jamie’s drawing. The girl is with Jamie at the park and she’s holding a woman’s hand. Is this a wild fantasy or is this when he went missing? A shiver runs through her. Who are these people? Could they have anything to do with Charlie’s disappearance?

Chapter Sixty-Four

Maddy: December 2019