They sat in silence for a few moments, watching punters come in and out of the cafe. A copy of The Sun lay on the next table and Patrick grabbed it. Isabel’s smiling face was on the cover along with that morning’s headline The Sun Offers £100k to Find Izzy’s Killer. Two days after Isabel’s abduction, against the advice of the police, who knew it would bring forth every nutter in south west London, the Hartleys had offered a hundred grand to anyone who could help bring their daughter home safely. Now the newspaper was replacing that offer with a reward to find the murderer.

‘Let’s go talk to the families now. I’ll go to the Philipses, you can go and see the McConnells and then I’ll go and talk to the Hartleys too. Get them to brainstorm everything they can remember. Get them to go back through their diaries, their Facebook pages, their phones, their photos – anything that will prompt memories of what they’ve done and where they’ve been over the last three months.’

They left the greasy spoon and Patrick drove Carmella back to the station so she could pick up a car.

‘Good luck,’ she said, stepping out into the heat of the morning.

As he was about to drive off, his phone beeped. It was a text from his mum, reporting on what Bonnie was doing. They had been to a petting zoo and Bonnie particularly loved the goats, apparently. Then a second text came through.

I wasn’t going to say, but B keeps asking about her mum. I don’t know what to tell her.

Patrick sighed and fired off a reply. Let’s talk about it later.

He had known this time would come but had been burying his head in the sand, ostriching, as his mum put it. But it was something he had to deal with. What to tell his daughter about the mother who had tried to murder her – and whether to let Gill see Bonnie. If she wanted to see her, that was. He had no idea. It was another thing he tried not to think about.

Chapter 13

Chapter 13
Helen – Day 3