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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

They reach the main entrance and go outside, passing Mr Prentice with his keys. Exactly like you did seven days ago, they keep saying, but it’s not at all the same. That day the car park was almost empty; today there are TV cameramen, people with microphones, photographers, police. Stewie sees his mum and dad, and Evan’s dad, and the headmaster Mr Mullis, and he feels self-conscious and embarrassed, and knows his face is red.

They walk down the road to the newsagent’s, and from somewhere they’ve conjured a man who looks uncannily like the man who was buying milk, with a mocked-up tattoo just as Stewie described it. Someone hands Nick a can of Fanta and Stewie’s given a packet of crisps he really doesn’t feel like eating. For Evan’s sake, he eats them regardless.

It isn’t until they reach the bus shelter that Stewie discovers the biggest discrepancy in the reconstruction is his own state of mind. When Stewie said goodbye to Evan a week ago, his mood was light, his conscience untroubled, but as he leaves Nick to wait alone for whatever comes next, he feels like the worst kind of traitor. Remembering his instructions, he follows the trail of his own walk home, leaden-hearted with the weight of his remorse.

SIX

SIX

24 October

‘What’s the news, Brad?’ asks Naylor. The morning after the Crimewatch broadcast, Hagen looks weary, with a pallor induced by too much coffee and junk food and no fresh air. ‘Isn’t there a bed somewhere calling your name?’

‘It’s calling louder than you can possibly imagine,’ says Hagen, ‘but there’s too much to do here. Just pour coffee into me and I’ll keep going like the Duracell bunny.’

‘Anything of interest?’

‘Rose is correlating the data from the phone calls, so she can give you a detailed run-down, but by and large, I’d say a very good response. The big question is, will any of it produce anything useful?’

‘We’re back in the headlines, anyway,’ says Naylor, dropping copies of the Sun and the Daily Mail on the desk. ‘That never hurts, does it?’

Hagen picks up the Mail, where a photo of a shell-shocked Matt and a tearful Claire covers a third of the front page.

‘Hey, Rachel!’ Dallabrida’s breezing into the office, fresh and cheerful, though Naylor knows he was manning phones last night and won’t have been in bed before the small hours. ‘Message from the front desk. There’s a visitor wants to talk about the Ferrers case, and I think you’ll want to see him. Give me a minute to get my caffeine fix, and I’ll come and keep you company.’