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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

Naylor and Rose are attempting a different line with Evan – no recording equipment, no photographs – trying to make the interview feel like a casual conversation between three people who would never in the normal run of things find themselves in the same room. The way Evan’s sitting on his hands gives him a peculiar bashfulness more suited to a child half his age, and his rounded shoulders make him look as if he’s cowering, which inside he most likely is. Naylor’s feeling guilty for making him be here. She and Rose both know emotionally he’s not fit, and without Campbell’s insistence, they’d have left him sleeping in the safety of his bedroom.

Naylor begins with an apology.

‘We’re sorry to drag you in again, Evan. I know you don’t want to be here. But the fact is, with your type of case, I’m afraid there’s a very good chance that the men who took you will target other boys. We want to stop that happening, but to do that, we really need your help. Will you help us, Evan?’

Evan lifts his eyes, and Naylor sees in them his distress tangled up with mistrust and panic as if he’s still a prisoner inside his own head. His lips are pressed together and his jaw’s determinedly set, and Naylor knows making him break his silence will be next to impossible.

‘Any little detail, Evan,’ she says. ‘Anything at all. Do you remember what colour the walls were painted?’

Silence.

‘Was there traffic outside? Could you hear cars? Were there curtains at the windows? What colour were they?’

Silence.

‘What did you have to eat? Did you have chips? Did anyone give you chocolate? What’s your favourite chocolate, anyway? I’ll tell you what, I love creme eggs. Can’t resist them. Every year I can’t wait for Christmas to be over so the creme eggs’ll be in the shops.’

‘My son,’ says Rose. ‘He loves Galaxy. If I buy any I have to hide it, or I don’t get any, not a single square. What about you, Evan?’

Silence.

Rose has a pad of paper in front of her, and a wallet of felt-tip pens in attractive colours. She pushes the paper and pens across the table.

‘Maybe you could draw us something, Evan. Something you remember from where you were, what the room looked like, something you could see, anything at all you can remember. You choose something and draw it for us.’

Silence.

Naylor’s running out of ideas. Under the table she touches Rose’s foot with her toe, hoping to prompt her into saying more.