BooksBarbecue
Back Found Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Title
  2. Copyright
  3. Contents
  4. About the Author
  5. About the Book
  6. Dedication
  7. Your Worst Nightmare
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. The Answer to All Your Prayers
  18. TEN
  19. ELEVEN
  20. TWELVE
  21. THIRTEEN
  22. FOURTEEN
  23. FIFTEEN
  24. SIXTEEN
  25. SEVENTEEN
  26. EIGHTEEN
  27. NINETEEN
  28. TWENTY
  29. TWENTY-ONE
  30. TWENTY-TWO
  31. TWENTY-THREE
  32. TWENTY-FOUR
  33. TWENTY-FIVE
  34. TWENTY-SIX
  35. TWENTY-SEVEN
  36. TWENTY-EIGHT
  37. TWENTY-NINE
  38. THIRTY
  39. THIRTY-ONE
  40. Somebody Else’s Child
  41. THIRTY-TWO
  42. THIRTY-THREE
  43. THIRTY-FOUR
  44. THIRTY-FIVE
  45. THIRTY-SIX
  46. THIRTY-SEVEN
  47. THIRTY-EIGHT
  48. THIRTY-NINE
  49. FORTY
  50. FORTY-ONE
  51. FORTY-TWO
  52. FORTY-THREE
  53. FORTY-FOUR
  54. FORTY-FIVE
  55. FORTY-SIX
  56. FORTY-SEVEN
  57. FORTY-EIGHT
  58. FORTY-NINE
  59. Sunlight on Water
  60. July
  61. September
  62. Acknowledgements

Rose guides Evan into a room in the Vulnerable Witness Suite where Naylor is already waiting. The room’s without windows, but it’s pleasant and warm, with plush, comfortable chairs and a coffee table, and soft pink walls. There’s a picture of purple heather in bloom on open moorlands and a TV on a stand with video recording equipment, but there’s no intention to video anything today. The sound recording equipment is unobtrusive, and there are biscuits on the table – though no chocolate digestives – along with a can of Coke and bottled water. Naylor has brought in coffee for her and Rose. The room smells of it as Evan enters.

The three chairs are arranged with equal spacing round the table: no obvious divide.

‘Come in, Evan,’ Rose is saying. ‘Have a seat, sweetheart.’

Naylor doesn’t stand up, but turns in her chair and smiles. Evan looks much better than when she last saw him – he’s put on weight and grown a little, and the anaemic pallor she remembers in his face has become a healthy pinkness, probably due in part to his embarrassment in this situation. He’s better dressed too, in clothes that fit, and yet there’s still something unnatural about him. Naylor knows he’s twelve, but if you saw him in the street you’d take him for an oversized nine- or ten-year-old. Most kids his age want to dress older, growing up too fast. Evan seems the opposite, wearing clothes which are too young. And there’s something else: he doesn’t have a phone. What kid these days isn’t always on a phone? But Evan’s hands are empty.

‘Hi, Evan,’ she says. ‘It’s nice to see you again.’

Evan doesn’t reply, but sits down next to her, Rose taking the third chair.

‘You remember Rachel, I expect,’ she says. ‘She was with us when we spoke a few months ago.’

Very briefly, Evan looks at Naylor, before his eyes return to a spot on the floor.

‘I want to start by saying thank you for coming to meet us,’ says Rose. ‘I think you’re already aware of the reason we want to talk to you, but before we get to that I just want to emphasise that you’re free to go at any time. Your mum’s waiting downstairs, ready to whisk you away as soon as we’re finished. But we’re hoping you’ll stay with us for a little while at least.’

There’s no reaction from Evan, except that his foot is tapping rapidly on the floor. He looks so keyed up, so uptight, Naylor won’t be surprised if he makes a run for the door. Somehow they have to secure him in place, get him settled down.