by Mari Hannah
‘You know what I mean. If you ask me, she has more to give. She didn’t admit that she was late in picking Daniel up until I pushed her. That’s understandable in her position, I suppose. I don’t know, I got the impression she was holding back. Time will tell if she has something else to hide.’
‘Like the fact that she’s screwing her employer?’
‘Oh, c’mon!’ Stone said. ‘That’s a cliché if ever I heard one. She’s only been working for Parker for a few months.’
Frankie put a hand on her chest, acting as if she were about to faint. ‘David, I’m crushed that you’d even suggest that I stereotype people. If you’d had eyes for anyone but Alex last night you might’ve noticed an exchange between Tim and his au pair when we first walked into the house. It was fleeting – not destined for my eyes or his wife’s – but it was there, as plain as day.’
Stone glanced at her. ‘You don’t miss a trick, do you?’
Frankie laughed. ‘My extra-marital sensor is as good as any.’
He appreciated her intuition as much as her honesty. Turning right on to the Otterburn–Elsdon road, he drove on through open countryside. A few miles further, yon side of the village of Scots Gap, he pulled into the Parkers’ driveway and took in the house in all its glory. In the cold light of day, it was simply stunning – and that was only the stable block.
13
Alex looked out from Daniel’s window over the lush green countryside at the rear of her property. It was a world away from the bleached Majorcan landscape she’d shared with Kat less than twenty-four hours ago. Their holiday seemed a distant memory now: the sun, the pool, the wine, long conversations. Alex had no inkling of impending doom or that her life would change in an instant – from bliss to horror in a few short hours. Ordinarily, the sight of her slice of Northumberland – a tapestry of woodland, forestry and agricultural land – would lift her spirits, but not today. Today, the remote location did nothing of the kind. The stillness and lack of movement merely accentuated her isolation from the rest of the world. Not only had her life changed – she had changed.
A ring on the doorbell startled her.
Letting go of her hand, Tim shot out of the room as if he were on fire. He knew Justine wasn’t there to answer the door. Alex checked her watch, wondering what was keeping her. She’d asked her to stop at the chemist on her way home to pick up some paracetamol and expected her before now. Laying Daniel’s clean pyjamas on his pillow, she placed Wolverine on top of them and smoothed them flat before following her husband from the room. He was letting Stone and Oliver through the front door as she entered the hallway. A morose shake of the head from the detective sergeant. Without greeting them, Alex turned away, leaving the detectives to Tim. If they had no news, she was in no rush to speak to them.
In the kitchen, Alex threw a switch on the kettle. It had been boiled twice already, if only to give her something to do as she awaited the arrival of the police. She laid her hands flat on the bench, using it as a prop, and threw up in the sink, then washed and dried her face. She made a pot of coffee and was filling a milk jug when Tim arrived by her side, fussing over her as he had done all morning, making sure she was OK, which of course she wasn’t.
‘Don’t fuss,’ she said. ‘I’ll be there in a minute. Take care of our guests.’
‘They’re hardly guests.’ His tone was disparaging.
‘Visitors then. Don’t split hairs, Tim. They’re here to help.’
‘Yeah, well they’re not, are they? I may as well go out and find Dan myself for all the use they are.’
She gave him hard eyes. ‘Why don’t you then?’
Frankie was closer to the door than Stone. She could hear the couple talking, muffled voices through the kitchen door. They sounded like they were arguing. She hated this part of her job, witnessing potential victims of crime turn against one another, that gradual deterioration in relationships that seemed to come at times of stress. Often as not, there was an element of blame involved, neither party willing to accept responsibility for a missing child.
Alex turned, leaning against the counter, observing her husband. They had talked long into the night, interspersed with periods of melancholy, until they were so exhausted they had fallen into bed. Alex had lain awake, his strong arms around her, conscious of him slipping away, his breathing slowing into a steady rhythm, and then his grip relaxed and he was gone. How could he sleep?
‘Why didn’t you return my text last night?’ she asked.
‘What?’ The question had thrown him.
‘You heard me. What was so important that you didn’t answer?’
‘Alex, the police are here.’ He spread his hands in a gesture of incredulity. ‘Does it matter?’
‘It matters to me.’ She stared at him, hating him for what he’d done. ‘I was excited to be home, looking forward to seeing you and Daniel. Have you any idea how much I missed you guys? I was counting the seconds until we could all be together, the three of us, especially you and me. I wanted to go back to the way we were before . . .’ Alex bit down so hard, her jaw almost locked. She simply couldn’t say the name of the child she’d lost: Beth.
A dark shadow crossed Tim’s face. He drew her towards him and gave her a hug. Her body was limp against his chest, the strength sapped out of it. There were no tears from either of them. ‘Sweetheart, I would do anything, anything, to put this right.’ He stroked her hair. ‘You know that, don’t you?’
She pulled away. ‘Haven’t you done enough!’
‘Alex, this is not my fault—’
‘Whose fault is it then?’
‘I’m sorry. Please . . . don’t shut me out.’
‘I can’t . . .’ She fended off an attempt to draw her close. ‘Don’t touch me!’
‘We’ll talk later. We can’t do this now. The detectives are waiting.’
‘Let them.’ Alex stepped away. ‘You haven’t answered my question.’
‘I couldn’t text you. The policewoman had my phone.’
Frankie picked up the lie instantly. ‘Did you hear that?’
Stone was frowning, shaking his head.
‘He just told her that he couldn’t text her last night because I had his phone. That’s a blatant lie. When I checked his phone, I handed it right back. At no time was it out of his possession. That’s twice we know of that he’s misled people. Wily bastard, isn’t he? If he’s lying about that, what else is he lying about? More to the point, why is he?’ Frankie put a finger to her lips, her head on one side, straining to hear the rest of what was being said. There was a pause in the conversation. Frankie whispered, ‘She’s not happy.’
Alex entered the room first, Tim following behind with a tray of coffee. He invited the detectives to move through to the adjoining room. They all sat down around a dining room table that seated twelve, five chairs on either side, a carver at each end.
‘How are you holding up?’ Stone’s focus was Daniel’s mother.
She threw a question back at him. ‘Has there been any progress?’
‘House-to-house enquiries are being carried out in and around the location where Daniel was last seen. Ponteland High has also been searched. As you know, the football pitches are located at the western end of a split site shared with the Middle School. I had a chat with Justine this morning and Roger McCall has also been re-interviewed.’
He nodded to Frankie, her cue to take over.
‘Early this morning, McCall was escorted to the scene. He’s given a clear indication of the position of the car that Daniel was seen climbing into after training. Voluntarily,’ she added. ‘At this stage, we have no evidence to suggest that he was taken against his will.’
‘That’s a relief,’ Parker said.
‘Is it?’ Alex snapped her head around to face her husband. ‘I’ll be relieved when he walks through that door and not before.’
>
‘Me too, but—’
‘But what, Tim?’
‘Alex, calm down! He got in willingly . . . I mean, it sounded like he wasn’t being manhandled. That’s all I meant by it.’ Realising that he was putting himself in the firing line, Parker met Stone’s gaze across the table, a plea for help almost, an attempt to fend off a further attack and put his wife’s mind at rest. ‘That’s good news, isn’t it, DI Stone?’
‘For Christ’s sake!’ Alex said. ‘Listen to yourself! Did he have to go into that vehicle kicking and screaming to satisfy you, Tim? Does that somehow let you off the hook? My boy is out there and you think that’s OK?’
Parker was wounded. ‘Our boy,’ he reminded her.
She didn’t respond.
There was an awkward moment while husband and wife regarded one another, a moment too of remorse and reconciliation. Frankie wondered what had gone on during the night, whether they had played the blame game. What had been said; more importantly, what had been left unsaid. Would that she had been a fly on the wall.
Stone filled the silence, his focus on Alex. ‘We’ve managed to locate your ex-husband locally. He’s in Heaton.’ The area he was referring to was a residential suburb two miles north of Newcastle, around twenty miles from Scots Gap. Handy for a quick knock on the door when Rob Scott was least expecting it.
Alex looked surprised. ‘That’s news to me. As I said, I’ve had no recent contact with him.’
‘We intend to visit the school,’ Stone said. ‘Then he’ll be our next stop. Mr Scott has no idea we’re about to pay him a visit. It would help to know what kind of reception we might get.’
‘That rather depends on how drunk he is.’
‘You don’t believe we’ll find Daniel there, do you?’ The question had come from Frankie.
‘Not a hope in hell,’ Alex said. ‘He wasn’t interested in our son when we were living together. There’s no chance that he’ll be interested now.’
‘Even if Daniel wished it?’ Frankie asked.
Alex shot her a disparaging look. ‘Even then.’
‘Still, we need to check it out.’
‘Absolutely,’ Tim said.
Another dark face-off between husband and wife.
‘DS Oliver has a point,’ Stone said. ‘We must consider all the angles, including the possibility that Daniel somehow managed to get in touch with his biological father or vice versa. You said last night that he had a weekly allowance, that he was a saver rather than a spender, unlike your ex. You seemed to suggest that money is important to Mr Scott. That he uses people to get his hands on it. Maybe he saw an opportunity and took it.’
Alex considered his words carefully. ‘I hear what you say, but since Daniel was old enough to count, I’ve instilled in him the need to be careful where money is concerned. He chooses wisely when he wants something. I can’t believe he’d search for his father, let alone actively seek him out after the appalling abuse he doled out when we were with him.’
‘But you concede that it might have worked the other way?’ Stone said.
‘Absolutely. Rob would stop at nothing to get his hands on my cash, however indirectly. He doesn’t like me these days, Detective Inspector. Not since I slapped a restraining order on him before we went to court to determine custody. He likes the police even less, so watch yourselves.’
‘He has no visiting rights?’
‘Not on your life!’
‘Then maybe he nurtured a secret relationship with Daniel—’
‘I don’t think so. A child would cramp his style with the ladies. You’ll know what I mean when you meet him. Mind you, wait a few years and that might change, particularly if our son makes something of himself, especially if he manages to accrue any funds; then Rob will come crawling out from whichever stone he’s hiding under with a sob story that would make an adult weep. If there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s manipulation. He’ll play the son-needs-a-father card, no question. If that doesn’t work, he’ll try common or garden emotional blackmail, so maybe your theory has some credence. By all means, check him out.’
Stone moved on.
There was a huge discrepancy between key witnesses, not to mention a message on Justine’s phone that Parker denied sending. That fact was uppermost in David’s mind and he couldn’t wait to get started.
14
Frankie kept quiet as Stone explained to Alex that a formal interview with her current husband was required before tackling her ex and that such an interview could take place at the family home or at the station. In either case, it would have to be conducted in isolation, by which he meant not in her presence. Nodding her understanding, Alex pushed her chair away from the table, an apprehensive glance at her husband before leaving the room.
As the door closed quietly behind her, Tim Parker poured more coffee, draining the pot, suggesting he replenish it in case they needed more.
‘We’re good, thanks.’ Stone was having none of his delaying tactics. Parker was understandably nervous and that’s right where the DI wanted him. Placing his mobile on the table between them, the voice-memo facility switched on, he began the interview: ‘Mr Parker, I’d like to take this chronologically if I may.’
Way to go, David!
Frankie was itching to see how far Stone intended to push a witness who was fast becoming her number one suspect, although she was prepared to hold that thought for a moment longer. She wasn’t the only one in the room who’d noticed the formality creeping in. Daniel’s stepfather was no longer ‘Tim’ but plain old Mr Parker, whose nod was a signal that Stone should carry on. And continue he did, with equanimity.
‘I understand you had a meeting with your business partner, James Curtis, at your place of work yesterday, in the early evening.’
‘Correct,’ Parker said.
‘And that’s why you couldn’t pick Daniel up?’
‘Indeed.’
‘You told DS Oliver that after the meeting you immediately checked your phone and found a voicemail from Justine. Could you give me the gist of what was said?’ Stone pointed at his phone. ‘For the record.’
‘Yes, of course.’ A film of sweat had begun to form on Parker’s forehead and upper lip. He was a man under pressure, continually tapping his right foot on the floor, unaware that his body language was under scrutiny as he recalled the conversation. ‘Justine was very upset that I’d collected Daniel from training. This threw me, as I’d done nothing of the kind. I panicked, naturally, and drove straight home, by which time she’d climbed down. Unfortunately, her good mood didn’t last. As soon as she realised I didn’t have Daniel with me, she freaked out again. You know what the French are like.’
‘No.’ Frankie saw red. ‘Why don’t you tell—’
Stone cut her off before she could let Parker have it with both barrels. ‘I found Miss Segal very pleasant,’ he said. ‘She’s deeply traumatised by Daniel’s disappearance. I think she can be forgiven for being a little cross, don’t you?’
Parker ignored him, switching his focus to Frankie. ‘As I said last night, I thought Daniel and Justine were playing games. He’s a practical joker at times – and often involves her in his escapades – but I soon realised that it was not so on this occasion. In retrospect, I should’ve known better. Daniel wouldn’t be that cruel.’
‘What time did your business meeting end?’ Frankie studied him closely. Having found him out, she was dying to hear which way he’d jump.
The entrepreneur dropped his head, then raised it, eyebrows knitting together as if he was trying to recall the exact time. He was in no rush to supply an answer. ‘Around seven, I think it was.’
‘Are you sure it wasn’t earlier?’ Stone asked.
He shrugged. ‘It could have been a few minutes either way, I suppose.’
Frankie caught Stone’s nod – it was almost imperceptible –
a sign that she should hit Parker with the unpalatable truth. He was keen to push on with other lines of enquiry.
‘I’ve been reliably informed that your meeting ended at around six thirty,’ she said.
Parker raised an eyebrow, a casual gesture. ‘Perhaps I’m mistaken. I thought it was later.’
He was cool. She’d give him that. ‘The thing is, it couldn’t have been – if, as you say, you checked your mobile immediately after the meeting ended. Justine didn’t call you until well after McCall had blown the final whistle on Daniel’s training session at seven o’clock. It was ten past when she left the voicemail, a fact verified by her phone and yours.’
‘Then clearly I was mistaken.’
‘This morning, officers checked the CCTV at your business premises. It shows you leaving the boardroom at six thirty-three p.m. You drove away two minutes later, so you couldn’t have been at the office when you received Justine’s voicemail, could you? Where were you, Mr Parker?’
‘I told you, I drove straight home.’
‘With your mobile switched off?’ Stone asked.
‘My mobile is never off. Like you, I’m a busy man.’
Frankie got in quick. ‘Too busy to answer Justine’s call, it seems.’ Or your wife’s later on in the evening, Frankie was thinking but didn’t say.
‘The device was on silent mode during the meeting, as I’m guessing yours are now. Interruptions are tiresome in any transaction, don’t you find? Clearly, I hadn’t switched it back on when Justine’s call came in.’
Stone challenged him. ‘But she claims that you arrived home at around seven thirty-five. If you drove away from your place of work at six thirty-five it stands to reason that you stopped on the way. DS Oliver timed that journey on the way here. It takes precisely twenty-two minutes. That leaves around forty minutes unaccounted for. I’ll ask again: where were you?’
Parker said nothing.
