Neil held the detective’s gaze and Radford appeared to believe him. He got out of the car and instructed the PC to take the prisoner back to Bristol.

43

DAY 6

As the car moved off, Radford rang the station to get Peter Turner’s name put through the computer. ‘Let me know what you find out as soon as you have anything,’ Radford instructed as he walked towards the other car, the one with the woman inside.

Sally didn’t appear to register his presence; she was still rocking backwards and forwards and digging her nails into her arms.

‘Sally, can you tell me what happened here?’ Radford asked softly.

‘He’s dead; my baby’s dead.’ They were the only words she could manage. Aware she needed medical attention, Radford gave the okay for uniforms to take her back to Bristol.

The farmhouse, barn and outbuildings were searched by the armed officers, who established there was no one else on the premises so Radford was clear to look around – DS Foster had gone into the wood to join the search for Danny.

Before going inside, Radford looked towards the body of the boy, standing in silence about four or five feet away, not wanting to contaminate the scene. The sight of the boy’s pale face and open staring eyes touched him deeply. Any death was a bad result in the detective’s book, but an innocent child’s was the very worst.

Yellow tape wrapped around metal stakes in the muddy ground preserved the crime scene to avoid contamination of possible evidence. The tape fluttered in the wind like bright ribbons, an almost festive feel to something far from festive. A shudder passed through Radford’s body.

George Wilson, the coroner, was on his way from Bristol and would be there shortly. The cause of death appeared to be a gunshot wound but Radford wouldn’t assume anything until he got the interim report. Making assumptions often led an investigation down the wrong path with vital evidence missed through not keeping an open mind.

A car pulled up in front of the farmhouse and the coroner got out. He moved to the boot of his car and suited up. Radford knew Wilson and walked towards him.

The coroner shook his head. ‘A child’s always the worst, Alex, a life cut short. Is it your kidnap victim?’

‘Apparently not. There’s no formal ID yet but it looks like another boy who was in some way involved in the kidnapping or maybe just got caught in the crossfire. We’re still looking for our child; he’s thought to have run off into the wood. I’ll leave you to get on with it then.’ Radford, head down, walked towards the house.