‘So where did she meet him?’

‘In a pub, where else? She meets all her fellas in pubs, gets them to buy her drinks and stuff.’

Danny didn’t dare ask what the ‘stuff’ would be so said nothing, thinking what a strange life this boy and his mother led. Lewis picked up the plate and mug and went back downstairs. Danny thought he looked scared; the bravado he’d shown earlier had vanished, but was that a good thing? He would have to wait and see.

12

DAY 3

DI Radford and DS Foster left the room after the press conference. Alex Radford hated these things but they needed the media to get the public on side and possibly generate a few leads. They’d deliberately omitted revealing there’d been a ransom demand, allowing the press to assume it was a case of abduction, just another missing child.

They’d also decided not to ask Martha and Richard to participate in the conference. Radford didn’t want them involved at this point, unsure whether they’d be the sort of parents with whom the public could identify. Maybe the following day, or the day after, they could include the Stones in a second press conference if one was necessary and brief them on what to say to muster up a bit of public sympathy. Besides, the parents hadn’t as yet been ruled out as suspects. They’d given solid alibis but then the police had been working on the premise that the boy was snatched shortly after 4pm, on his way home from school. It was feasible that Danny could have arrived home, and one, or both, of the parents had done something before the police were called.

Radford knew this theory had holes in it, such as finding Danny’s school bag and the ransom demand which arrived at the house when the parents were present. Manipulating the ransom demand was a possibility yet one which would mean the involvement of a third party – and therefore unlikely. Radford’s gut feeling was that the parents weren’t involved, although it was still early days.

‘What’s your take on the Stones, Graham?’ he asked the DS.

‘They seem genuine enough, but there’s tension there which isn’t only to do with the kidnapping. Suni says they seem to be arguing about money and they try to hide their conversations from her. Generally though, I don’t believe they’re involved, otherwise they’re damn good actors.’