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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

She’d know him anywhere. When she says his name, he turns to her with desolate eyes, and both their tears begin.

TWELVE

TWELVE

19 June

At Ashridge police station, the third-floor incident room has reappeared fully formed: whiteboards and monitors, keyboards and phones and the miles of cabling to go with them. The paperwork is taking over the desktops, and the waste bins are already filling up with the greasy wrappings of all-day-breakfast sandwiches. There’s an undercurrent of muskiness, of male sweat held in check by deodorant, and an overtone of coffee from Ron Perdue’s percolator steaming away in its corner. Hagen’s got his jacket on, talking to Campbell, but it’s not clear if he’s just arrived, or is on his way out.

Campbell spots Naylor as she comes into the room and beckons her over. He’s sitting on the corner of Hagen’s desk, affecting his casual down-with-the-boys pose. His tie’s off to one side, and there’s a shirt button missing over his sternum. Since he’s no longer married, the standard of his grooming’s taken a dive.

Naylor detours via her own temporary desk, dumps her handbag, glances at a couple of messages on yellow Post-it notes but sees nothing of interest. There’s a burst of laughter over by the coffee machine, and she sees Leon Dallabrida, built like a super-hero and towering over a couple of their colleagues. Dallabrida’s not the brains of the outfit, but he’s straight down the line and he tells some brilliant jokes. On days when it’s nothing but wall-to-wall bad news, he can be relied on to come up with a real cracker and burst any bubble of incident room gloom. Naylor’s sorry she’s missed the gag he’s just told.

‘Here she is,’ says Campbell, as she joins him and Hagen. ‘We’re just saying, we should be making arrests by now. We need Evan to look at some pictures. The photofits are ready – PR are organising national coverage on them – and the Chief’s asked me to do a press conference this afternoon.’

‘Don’t forget to get that button stitched on,’ Naylor says.

Campbell looks bewildered.

‘There’s one missing on your shirt,’ Naylor explains. ‘The Chief won’t be happy if you go on the BBC with a button missing.’

Discomfited, Campbell glances down at his front, and readjusts his tie to cover the gap. Hagen’s eyebrows lift almost imperceptibly, and he gives Naylor the tiniest hint of a smile.

Campbell is about to say something, but Naylor heads him off.

‘Rose has a sewing kit,’ she says. ‘She was in the Girl Guides. She’s good with things like that.’

‘Do you think Evan’s ready?’ asks Hagen. ‘Where are we on the psychological evaluations?’