Geraldine didn’t wait to hear any more. There was only a slim chance Ella might know where Daisy was, but it was still a chance. With Ella’s address stored on her phone, she logged a report and went to find Jessica’s friend. She waited for a few minutes on the doorstep but there was no answer so eventually she gave up and left, intending to return in the evening. If she still didn’t find Ella at home, she would return very early the following morning and keep trying until she tracked her down. Calling at the police station on her way, she went home to wait for Ian.
He was slightly less excited about Geraldine’s lead than she was.
‘Well done for managing to trace a friend of Jessica’s, but, really, so what? I’m not quite sure what you expect this woman to be able to tell us,’ he said. ‘It’s not as if we’re still looking for Jessica. We know where she is and we’ve heard everything she has to tell us. Is Ella likely to add anything that might help us find the missing baby, or work out who killed Jason? I’m sorry, but I can’t see where you’re going with this.’
Geraldine did her best to hide her disappointment at Ian’s lukewarm response to her painstaking detective work.
‘We don’t know what Ella might have to tell us,’ she pointed out. ‘We haven’t spoken to her yet. But it’s possible Jessica might have confided in her and told her something that can help us resolve this case. We have to try anyway.’
‘Yes, of course. I’m not for one moment suggesting you shouldn’t follow it up. I’m just not quite sure why you’re so excited about it.’
‘I’m not excited,’ Geraldine lied. ‘That is, I am, but I don’t know why. Like you said, she probably won’t have anything useful to tell us.’
‘By saying she probably won’t, you mean you think she possibly might,’ Ian said, smiling at her. ‘Well, let’s hope your instincts are right and she can tell us something we don’t already know.’
Geraldine had an uncomfortable feeling that Ian was privately laughing at her optimism. She didn’t mind. If he was right, and she was allowing herself to indulge in a vain hope, they would have lost nothing. But there remained a slim chance that Ella might be able to add a tiny piece to the puzzle that was currently perplexing them all. That evening, after supper, she drove back to Ella’s house but once again there was no answer when she rang the bell. She waited around for a while and then went home to Ian who was reading a history book while he waited for her.
‘Don’t stop reading on my account,’ she said.
‘I was just passing the time until you returned,’ he replied. ‘Shall we have a nightcap before we turn in?’
‘Sounds like a good idea.’
They went out on to her balcony and sat facing the river in companionable silence. The night was peaceful and, for a while, Geraldine forgot about the grim details of the case they were working on, as she gazed at the moonlight glinting on the water, pleasantly conscious of Ian sitting beside her.
44
The following morning, Geraldine got up early, leaving Ian in bed.
‘Where are you going?’ he demanded sleepily. ‘It’s Saturday. You’re not working today.’
He reached out and grabbed her by the arm as she sat on the bed to put on her socks. She laughed as he tugged her gently towards him, and was tempted to climb back into the warmth of his embrace.
‘I want to follow up on a possible lead,’ she replied.
‘You and your leads,’ he mumbled, as he nuzzled her neck. ‘What is it this time?’
‘Ella.’
‘Oh yes, the woman who befriended Jessica,’ he murmured sleepily. ‘Can’t she wait?’
Thinking that Ella was more likely to be home early in the day, Geraldine resisted Ian and set off. Ella lived on the ground floor of a dingy house in a row of terraced properties near the Holgate Road. When Geraldine rang the bell, no one answered the door. She peered in the window, trying to see through a gap in the grey net curtains, but the flat appeared to be deserted. It was not yet eight o’clock in the morning, so she supposed Ella was not yet up. Whatever the reason, she wasn’t answering the door, so Geraldine drove to the police station to do some work and returned two hours later. Once again no one opened the door when she rang the bell and rapped on the door. She tried tapping at the window, but the place appeared to be empty.
The following day, when she arrived to try again, a neighbour from the flat upstairs flung open a window and demanded to know who was calling. Geraldine explained she was looking for Ella.
‘Ella? Are you talking about that skinny girl who lives downstairs?’
‘Yes. I don’t suppose you happen to know when she’ll be in?’
The woman shook her head, ‘I haven’t seen her around for a few days.’
‘When did you last see her?’
‘I don’t know. Last week, maybe. Did you say you know her?’ The neighbour glared suspiciously down at her.
Geraldine decided it was time to introduce herself. The woman upstairs looked startled, then slammed her window shut. As Geraldine was wondering whether to ring the bell for the upstairs flat, the front door opened and she saw Ella’s neighbour, arms akimbo, squinting inquisitively at her. Wearing a towelling dressing gown, she looked as though she had just got out of bed.
‘What’s she done?’ she demanded.
‘I’m afraid I can’t discuss that with you.’
‘Listen, I live here and if there’s something going on I have a right to know. That woman lives right underneath me and if the police are coming here I want to know why. What’s she done?’
‘Would you like to go inside so we can talk more discreetly?’
The woman grumbled loudly but did not move to let Geraldine enter.
‘Well?’ she demanded. ‘You haven’t told me what this is about yet.’
Standing on the doorstep, Geraldine explained that the police thought Ella might be able to help them with an enquiry, adding vaguely that they were investigating one of Ella’s acquaintances. Geraldine was keen to keep the neighbour talking, in case she had anything useful to add to what little the health visitor had told her about Ella.
‘Who’s that then?’
‘I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to say any more than that. I probably shouldn’t even have told you that much, so please keep this to yourself,’ Geraldine added, lowering her voice.
She hoped her masquerade of sharing confidential information might encourage the woman to speak more freely to her, but the woman merely grunted.
‘Do you have any idea where Ella might have gone?’
‘I told you, I haven’t seen them for about a week, and that’s all I know.’
‘Who else was living here with her?’
‘No one.’
‘You just said there was someone else in the flat.’
‘No, I didn’t.’
‘You said “them”?’
‘Just her and the baby,’ the woman explained.
‘Baby?’
‘Yes, she’s got a young baby about six months old.’
Geraldine felt a tremor of foreboding. ‘When did you last see them?’
‘Oh, I don’t know.’
‘Was it more recently than, say, several months ago?’
‘I just told you, I saw them a few days ago.’
Geraldine spoke very deliberately. ‘And you’re sure you saw Ella, the woman who lives here, and her baby? Was it just the two of them? There wasn’t anyone else with them?’
The neighbour stared at Geraldine in surprise. ‘No, it was just the two of them. And she had her baby with her. I know what I saw, and it’s her baby all right.’
‘Are you sure it was her baby you saw with her?’
‘Unless there’s another baby living with her that cries all night every bloody night –’
The woman broke off and an expression of alarm spre
ad over her face. Perhaps she too was thinking of the reports in the media about a missing baby.
‘No, that’s fine,’ Geraldine hastened to reassure her, worried that the neighbour might be in contact with Ella and alert her to the fact that the police were interested in the identity of the baby she was looking after. ‘It’s not her or her baby we’re investigating, but someone else we think she might know. Can you tell me where I might find her?’
‘I just told you, I’ve no idea. Like I said, I haven’t seen her for a few days.’
Not since Ella decided to disappear with the baby she had abducted, Geraldine thought.
She handed the other woman her card. ‘Thank you, you’ve been very helpful. If you see Ella, please don’t tell her we were here asking for her. I don’t want to frighten her off.’ She forced a smile in an attempt to reassure the neighbour. ‘This is merely a routine enquiry, but if you could give me a ring to let me know when she comes home, that would be really helpful.’
From the expression on the woman’s face, Geraldine guessed she was more likely to warn Ella the police were looking for her than contact them, but she had to try.
‘You did what you could,’ Ian reassured Geraldine when she went straight back to the flat and told him what had happened. ‘And now, it’s the weekend and time you took a break from the case. You’ll only get yourself worn out and frazzled, and a tired officer isn’t a good officer. Come on, let’s get a coffee, and perhaps we can go for a drive.’
‘A drive? What are you talking about? Where are we going to drive to?’
He shrugged, smiling. ‘I don’t know. I thought we might go out for lunch somewhere off the beaten track. Just spend a few hours together –’
‘Ian, you’re not listening to me, Ella’s done a runner –’
‘Geraldine, she’s not at home. You can try again on Monday, but she probably won’t know what happened to Jessica’s baby. Why would she?’
‘Ella’s neighbour saw her with a baby just a few days ago, and the baby has been crying there at night. Ian, Jessica’s health visitor told me Ella’s baby died three months ago –’
Ian’s jaw dropped. ‘Come on, then,’ he snapped, grabbing his phone. ‘What are we waiting for? Let’s get to work. Once we’re sure the health visitor’s story checks out, we’ll start a full-scale hunt for Ella and the baby she’s taken with her.’
45
An urgent sense of purpose pervaded the police station which buzzed with people talking on the phone, typing furiously, and hurrying along corridors. A message had been sent to all UK airports and mainline stations, bus depots and taxi companies, anyone who might be able to intercept a young woman seeking to move around with a baby.
With the hunt for Ella underway, Geraldine went to speak to Jessica again, to find out whether she might know where Ella might be. She found her at Anne’s house.
‘Where is she?’ Anne cried out, once they were all seated. ‘Where’s my granddaughter? We need you to find her.’
Geraldine refrained from mentioning that the police had a lead which suggested Daisy was alive and well. It would be too cruel if she was mistaken in her suspicions of Ella, and the baby she was caring for was not Daisy after all.
‘We’re still looking for her,’ Geraldine said. She turned to Jessica. ‘We’d like to talk to you about a woman called Ella.’
Jessica shook her head as though she didn’t understand. She went very pale and her lips moved wordlessly.
‘When did you last see Ella?’ Geraldine asked, very gently, as though she was speaking to a frightened child.
‘Ella?’ Jessica echoed faintly. ‘Who’s Ella?’
‘Yes, who’s Ella?’ Anne demanded. ‘What has she got to do with any of this? Has she taken Daisy?’
‘You have a friend called Ella,’ Geraldine said.
‘I don’t know anyone called Ella,’ Jessica replied.
Licking her lips nervously, she returned Geraldine’s level gaze with a hostile glare. Geraldine held out a blown-up photograph of Jessica and Ella sitting together. The images had been enhanced and both faces were very clear.
Jessica nodded. ‘Oh yes, Ella,’ she whispered. ‘I remember her now. We met at the church.’
‘Why did you just tell me you didn’t know her?’ Geraldine asked.
‘I forgot,’ Jessica answered. ‘I mean, I remember her, but I didn’t know she was called Ella. She must have told me her name, but I forgot. I scarcely knew her. I only met her…’ she hesitated. ‘I only met her a couple of times. It was at a mother and baby group in a church,’ she added by way of explanation. ‘We were sitting next to each other and our babies were about the same age, so we talked a bit. But not much. I don’t really know her.’
After listening carefully, Geraldine asked Jessica whether she knew where Ella lived.
Jessica shook her head.
‘We weren’t close. We weren’t what you might call friends. I just happened to bump into her at the group and we started chatting about our babies, as you do. That’s all there was to it. I haven’t seen her for months. We didn’t fall out or anything, but I stopped going to the group. It wasn’t for me. I don’t know if she kept on going. We never kept in touch. I only saw her there twice, I think, and we only spoke to each other once.’
‘You didn’t hear from her again?’ Geraldine asked.
Jessica shook her head and began to cry.
Anne stepped in. ‘What is all this about, Sergeant? What’s this woman Ella got to do with us? All we’re interested in is finding Daisy.’
‘We all want to find Daisy,’ Geraldine replied softly.
‘Yes, well, Jessica’s answered your questions, and told you she hardly knew the woman you’re asking about. So can we please focus on what matters. You can see how upset my daughter is. So never mind anything else, what are you doing to find my granddaughter?’
She gave an anxious glance at Jessica who was crying hysterically.
‘I’m sorry, but we don’t yet know where Daisy is,’ Geraldine said. ‘But any friend or acquaintance of Jessica’s may possibly be able to help us. We need to question them all.’
‘She was never my friend,’ Jessica mumbled through her hands. ‘I hardly knew her. Where’s my baby?’ Her voice rose to a wail. ‘I want my baby. I want my baby back!’
‘Where is she?’ Anne shouted, rising to her feet and seeming to lose her temper. ‘Where’s Daisy? We need her back. If you know where she is, you have to bring her back to us right now. Or I’ll go and get her myself. Where is she?’
‘That’s what we’re trying to find out,’ Geraldine replied. ‘That’s why we’re keen to speak to everyone who ever met Jessica, in an attempt to find out where Daisy could be. Jessica, do you have any idea where Ella might be?’
Jessica shook her head.
‘Did she ever mention any other friend to you? A boyfriend, perhaps? Did she tell you the name of the father of her own baby, or say anything about him? Anything at all that might help us to trace him? She could have gone to him.’
Jessica was crying too hard to answer.
‘Sergeant,’ Anne said, ‘my daughter has already told you she knows nothing about this woman. Now can we please focus on finding Daisy?’
‘It’s possible Ella may be able to help us,’ Geraldine replied. ‘Until we find her, we can’t be sure she can’t help us.’
‘Why aren’t you out looking for her then? What are you doing here, pestering my daughter like this?’
Geraldine hid a spasm of irritation. If this interview was challenging for her, it was even more difficult for the missing baby’s mother and grandmother. Recently widowed, their situations were truly awful, while Geraldine was just trying to cope with the familiar frustrations of her work. Quietly she explained that a major manhunt was under way, but still all the police really knew so far was that Daisy was
missing.
‘We’re conducting an extensive search.’
‘So what you’re saying is, you have no idea at all where Daisy could be,’ Anne snapped.
‘Not yet, no. But we want to speak to anyone who met Jessica, and find out whether they have anything that might help us.’
Anne sniffed. ‘Grasping at straws,’ she muttered.
‘Perhaps, but we’re hoping that, sooner or later, one of those straws will lead us to Daisy,’ Geraldine said.
46
Someone had been ringing the bell, but Ella had stopped opening the door. She didn’t want to see anyone. If she hadn’t run out of supplies, she would never have gone out again. Now that she had left the flat, she knew she couldn’t go back. Turning away from the counter in her local corner shop, she filled her basket with nappies, wet wipes, packets of SMA and jars of baby food before hurrying back to the counter to pay. Pulling her hood further down over her eyes and praying the baby wouldn’t make a noise and draw attention to them, she handed over the cash, grabbed her change and fled. She was still feeling shocked and shaky from seeing her own face staring back at her from the front page of a local newspaper. Luckily the young man behind the counter didn’t appear to have looked at it, or at least didn’t recognise her beneath her hood.
A steady drizzle was falling, but Lily was well protected beneath her rain cover. In fact, she was probably fast asleep because she was so quiet, no doubt lulled by the soothing motion of the pushchair. As she limped hurriedly along the street, cursing her aching knee, Ella turned over various possibilities in her mind. There was only one person she knew who might be relatively unaware of the details of the news story about a missing baby. Without having seen any of the photographs splashed all over the front pages of local newspapers and no doubt shown on the news on television, Christine might have no idea that Ella was being chased by the police. There was no reason why she would suspect the unlikely truth.
The bus dropped Ella and Lily about a mile from her schoolfriend’s address. By the time Ella found the house she was looking for she was tired, her knee was throbbing and her shoulders ached from pushing the buggy. A lamp in the narrow porch lit up the front door, and she found the bell easily. If Christine turned her away, she would have nowhere else to go; nowhere she would be safe, that was. Daylight was fading fast as she rang the bell a second time, praying that Christine was at home.
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